Breathe Easy

By Allen Kelly, Golf Professional, Parklands Driving Range, East Coast,

What is the most important part of a golf swing? Is it the takeaway, the first 18 inches of the backswing?

Is it the backswing itself?

The club position at the top of swing?

Is it the start of the downswing? Or the follow through?

Of course these are very important parts of a successful swing, but the most important part has to be what you do BEFORE you start the swing.. I'm talking about Setup.

If you are not setup correctly then what possible chance do you have of hitting the ball correctly? Virtually none, yet time and time again, students just walk up and swing, aligned too far right or left, to upright, to hunched over. They can feel it is wrong but go ahead and hit the ball anyway, of course it rarely goes where it should.

You should incorporate a Pre shot routine in your game and stick to it. It does not have to be elaborate, but should be the same every time, this ensures that when you are ready to hit the ball, you are actually ready to hit the ball.

A good way to start your routine is to think GASP before every shot.

Grip
Alignment
Stance
Posture

If the ball is on an uneven or difficult lie, have a couple of practice swings to get feel for shot then….

Grip, get your usual comfortable grip, do it before you address the ball, that way there is one less thing to think about while standing over the ball.

Alignment, you should have a target picked out, a Primary target in the distance, and a Secondary target around a metre in front of the ball. Imagine a line through the ball and Secondary target to the Primary target. Suprisingly this is called our "Target Line" Square feet, hips and shoulders along this Target Line.

Stance, make sure the ball position is correct in your stance, with a Wood the ball should be just inside your front foot, and moves more towards the centre of your stance as the club becomes more lofted. Also the feet should be shoulder width apart with the Driver, and get closer together as the club gets more lofted.

Posture, address the ball, and stand up straight and lock knees so they are straight. Bend at the waist letting arms hang naturally, place clubhead behind ball and let knees unlock. This is an athletic position. Finally tilt upper body away from target, this achieves two things.
1. Head is behind ball
2. Weight is on right side of body.

Now all you have to do is one final look at target, and then start backswing, no need to sway to get behind ball you are already there, just a smooth takeaway to the top and you are in perfect position. Practice this in front of the mirror, you will see how good your setup looks, and when this is correct your chances of hitting a solid shot have improved dramatically. Don't get lazy though and take short cuts, to improve you must practice a good Pre Shot routine and stick with it, Setup correctly every time.
Good setup = Good shots
So before each shot think…. GASP.