Golf Swing Set-Up Position

Video Transcript

An essential element of the proper motion of the golf swing is to get set from the right position. A lot of people will take time to explain grip, which is a very important part of the start of the swing and getting in that position. For the sake of our discussion today I think the simplest position for the grip is when your arms are hanging down in front of you that is the most neutral and easy position to grip the club. If you grip it in your fingers with your arms hanging down in front of you, I like that position for the grip. Now we can spend a lot of time talking about grip, but what I would like to talk about right now is the posture as you start your swing for the proper swing. Now looking down the line, the proper posture will be a slight bend at the waist and a slight bend at the knees. I am going to get that just by feeling balanced. I don’t have too much knee bend, just a little bit of knee bend, and then I am going to bend forward at the waist where I have the balance on the balls of my feet and, I feel, in a fairly responsive position where my feet are really balanced, my weight is balanced over them, and now I am going to let my arms just hang down. You will see that my arms are fairly vertical and that as I bend forward from the hips my upper body is bent over the ball slightly at an angle. Now if I let my arms just fall down and I grip with the club in front of me, that is going to be the proper posture. As you look from the front view here, you can see that my weight is 50-50, I am gripping the club in front of me. A little bit of knee flex, a little bend forward from the hips and I really just feel like my arms hang straight down in front of me. There is a lot of talk about the position of your spine at the set up, but I think that the most important thing that you need to remember is that there is a forward bend. As I bend forward my arms hang down and my weight is 50-50 balanced on the balls of my feet. That is the ready position for a good golf swing. If you just spend a little time getting ready the rest of the swing will be a lot easier.

Paul Marchand
Shadow Hawk Golf Club
12900 FM 1464
Richmond, TX 77469

Paul Marchand is an instructor to Fred Couples and was Assistant Captain to the U.S. 2000 President's Cup Team. He is also listed as one of Golf Magazine's Top 100 Teachers.

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