HOW TO BUILD YOUR GOLF SWING This process is multi fold
Learn what YOUR neutral grip is The CORRECT ball position for every club The CORRECT swing shape How far back YOU can take
club How to play within YOUR style You will have many options to choose from and we'll show you how to find ones that will work for you. Once you have all of your "components" you won't need to experiment any longer!
WHERE TO START - GRIP AND POSTURE
While this may be obvious to some you would be surprised by number of people that work on their swing without starting with their grip. There is a neutral grip for any golfer! That grip is where YOUR arm hangs down from shoulder socket and angle of YOUR target side hand. It makes no difference whether you use an overlapping, interlocking, and ten-finger (baseball) grip. What IS critical is angle club lies in your hand.
To find YOUR neutral grip, first take your address position, but without a club, and let both arms hang downward from shoulder sockets with NO TENSION. Most golfers will find that their target side arm hangs somewhere between middle of target side thigh to inside of thigh (depending on width of stance and/or width of chest). As you look down at your target side hand pay attention to angle it hangs. Some of you will see two knuckles of hand, some will see three, and some may even see four. It doesn't matter how many you see! Whatever number, this is YOUR bodies way of telling you its natural tendency and that is neutral angle for YOUR grip! When you place your target side hand on club it should be at same angle you just saw.
The club then runs diagonally from between first and second joint of index finger to base of pinkie finger. Close fingers and then close hand with heel pad on top of shaft with thumb to backside of shaft. This supplies pressure from heel pad downward and last three fingers exert pressure upward. Then take lifeline of trailing hand, located between thumb and heel pads, and place it on thumb of target side hand. The lifeline against thumb exerts pressure here; right forefinger should be separated, in a "triggering position", but with no pressure. It is important to understand that forefinger and target side thumb both be on same side and angle of shaft for best support. The trailing thumb should be on target side of shaft. You never want thumbs to exert any pressure. Finally, in order for hands to work together, they must be parallel to each other.
POSTURE
Regardless of player's level of golf anyone can get into a posture that looks as good as any Tour Player, it takes no athletic ability to get into a proper posture! For full swing shots, other than a Driver, inside of heels should be as wide as outside of hips (for a Driver inside of heels as wide as outside of shoulders). Push hips sockets back and up so that pelvis is at an angle, not horizontal to ground. As you push hips back, and up, this will lower chest and place weight toward back of arch of foot. Simply unlock your knees, you'll feel a little pressure above kneecaps, and let arms hang limply downward from shoulder socket. There should be NO TENSION in arms or shoulders. Some players like to tilt their upper bodies slightly away from target as final set-up adjustment and just because your trailing hand is lower than target side hand this is acceptable, just don't overdue it. Now you have YOUR grip and posture.
BALL POSITION
Ball position is most misunderstood portion of entire set-up. There have been many opinions about ball position. Some say one position for every shot, others say move it around depending on club. All of guesswork is taken out however if golfer would set club at address as manufacturer designed it. All clubs, except for Driver, are designed so that grip end of club is ahead of clubhead if soled properly, this means shaft leans forward, not vertical or backwards! If you address ball, with say a 5 iron, and shaft is vertical then even before you swing you've added loft and turned it into a seven iron! That same 5 iron is designed to have approximately 8 degrees of forward lean at address. The best players in world, using that same 5 iron, have upwards of 15 degrees at Impact! This turns it into a 3 iron! Having said that you have option of setting up to ball with shaft vertical as long as you can get into proper Impact position…the shaft leans forward at Impact!
The player also has "option" of starting with shaft, and hands, at a mid-body position. We also need to cover where ball is located in relation to player's upper body, not feet. The width of stance changes during course of a round but width of upper body does not. In addition, target side shoulder socket is low point of arc and fulcrum of target side arm swing. Therefore ball with a wedge will be in center of chest, in line with sternum, for full swing shots, 5 iron under target side of chest, and Driver at low point, which is shoulder socket. This could vary depending on whether player has exceptionally wide shoulders, but for most part these locations will be fine for irons but target side shoulder socket IS LOW POINT and Driver MUST be played at this location for straight shots! Back of this location produces a fade, with no manipulation, and forward of this location produces a draw, with no manipulation. You may see some players playing ball back, or forward, of target side shoulder socket but these players must either change shoulder location at Impact, by leaning backward with upper body, or must manipulate clubface to hit a straight shot.
AIM and ALIGNMENT
As you take your grip you must be sure leading edge of clubface square. The leading edge is edge closest to ball. Always set clubface first, perpendicular to target line, then set your feet, knees, hips, eyes, and shoulders parallel to target line.
