Ask any professional golfer what single aspect of their game has more bearing on the outcome of their shot, and in most cases they will say “setup”…
Some of the best players in the game have even gone as far as saying that setup accounts for as much as 50% of the success behind the shot.
Think about this for a moment….your golf setup is not tied in any way to your “physical skill” of being able to hit a golf ball.
You may think you have the worst golf swing in the world…but you have the ability to learn how to perform a “perfect golf setup”…even if you are an absolute beginner.
I like to use the analogy of learning how to fly an airplane to describe your golf setup….
One of the most critical aspects behind producing a safe flight is to conduct a thorough “pre-flight” check….make sure everything is set and correct with the aircraft on the ground…once you are in the air it is too late to be conducting any checks.
Your golf setup is no different…make sure everything about your setup is correct before the shot….once you are into your swing there is very little you can do to make split second adjustments.
Anyone can learn how to conduct a preflight check of an airplane, even if they have no idea how to fly…the check is not related in any way to flying “skill”.
Likewise a golf pre-shot setup routine has nothing to do with your “golf skill”…
One other important aspect is that once you have developed a rock steady routine, you do not need much practice to create a perfect setup every time…even after long lay offs from your game.
Golf Set Up
You should break your golf setup into two separate routines.
The first is an “Alignment Routine”…..this sets you body position correctly with the target.
The second is a “Stance Routine”…this sets your feet, hands and body posture correct to the ball.
The routines I am about to cover are taken from my e-book “Breaking the Distance Barrier”.
You may also find these routines described in a free three part video series on my online instruction website Highlander School of Golf
Ball Flight Laws
In order to understand the critical aspects of your alignment routine let me ask you….how often do you align yourself to the target using your feet?….
Nine out of ten golfers use their feet to align themselves to the target…so do many pros.
Yet, your feet have zero impact on the flight path of the ball at the point of contact with the club head!…
You may find this surprising but, there are only two elements of your swing that impact ball flight direction at impact….and that is:
- Club face alignment.
- Club head swing path… which is determined by your shoulder alignment.
Another aspect to remember that impacts ball flight path is ball spin…
- a straight flight path will result if the club face is “square” to the club head swing path.
- a slice will result if the club face is “open” relative to the club head swing path.
- a hook will result if the club head is “closed” relative to the club head swing path.
Now if your feet have no bearing on the flight path of the ball, it makes sense to focus your alignment routine on the two aspects that do….clubface alignment and shoulder alignment.
Let’s take a look…
Visual Distortion
If the alignment process only involves aligning the clubface and your shoulders, why do so many golfers have trouble with this process?
The one single aspect that “screws up” every golfer’s ability to line themselves up to the target is “visual distortion”….
Visual distortion results from the focus of your “dominant eye” being hindered by the bridge of your nose as you are trying to focus on a distant target.
This will happen when you are aligning yourself to the target in the “stance position”, having to look over your left shoulder at the target (case for right handers – opposite shoulder for lefties).
Check it out for yourself by closing your left eye as you look over your left shoulder to see the effect ….do you see your nose getting in the way of your focus?
If you are right eye dominant this will hinder your right eye focus and your visual judgment because you are using your left eye to carry out this process.
To avoid this effect, you need to align yourself with a closer target that allows both eyes to be equally focused in the process.
You also need to set up “visual reference lines” that allow you accurately set how you are aligning the key elements of your swing.
I recommend three visual reference lines:
- Visual reference line for club face alignment.
- Visual reference line for shoulder alignment.
- Visual reference line for accurate ball positioning and hand positioning in the stance.
Shoulder Alignment
Pick a point between the target and your clubface against which to align yourself for the shot. The point you pick should be no more than 10 feet in front of you…this way your dominant eye will not experience any focus distortion and both eyes can be equally focused on the point.
Your shoulders should be aligned “parallel’ with an imaginary line drawn from this point to your clubface. This means your shoulders will be aiming slightly “left” of the target if they are correctly aligned….right of the target for lefties.
Clubface Alignment
Aim the clubface at the reference point.
Better yet for a more precise method of lining your clubface make use of the manufactures name on the ball.
Before you even step up to the ball, aim the ball name at your target/reference….now when you place the club head up to the ball you have a precise visual reference point against which to square the club face.
Stance
As you go through your alignment routine keep your feet together. This way you can be sure that your feet are going to be square with your shoulders.
The other reason for this is that you create a visual reference line against which to position your feet relative to the ball that is perpendicular to your shoulders….that reference line is a line that splits your feet to the ball.
The reason for that reference line again comes back to eliminating any effect due to visual distortion….
The visual reference line allows you to accurately set your feet and hands in the correct position relative to the ball:
- Left foot forward and right foot straight back so that the ball position is slightly left of center.
- Hands slightly ahead of the ball.
Your posture should be set to ensure optimum swing balance:
- Not too close to the ball that you “fall backwards” on the downswing.
- Not too far that it causes you to “stand up” on the backswing.
- Weight equally balanced between each foot.
- Knees slightly flexed to allow lower body freedom that makes your trunk turn easier.
- Trunk tilted slightly forward with your arms hanging straight down so that your hands are about a hand width away from your legs.
Why using your feet to align yourself to the target causes setup problems?
Without setting a reference line to position the ball in a precise location in the stance that you know is perpendicular to your shoulders as I have just described, there is a danger of incorrectly positioning the ball relative to your feet in the stance.
Again the reason for this comes down to visual distortion setting your feet positions….a topic I will cover in a follow up blog.
This in turn impacts your shoulder alignment:
- position your ball and hands too far forward…opens the shoulders
- position the ball and your hands too far back…closes the shoulders
Try it for yourself while looking at a mirror to see how your shoulders move open and closed with differening ball positions…
The most common fault that I see with my students is that they incorrectly position the ball and their hands too far forward in the stance which opens the shoulders.
This causes the ball to start left at first because it releases in the direction of your shoulders…then it curves rights since this motion creates a clockwise spin on the ball.
If this is happening with your shots you will benefit from following the alignment routine I just described that uses visual reference lines and focuses on the club face and shoulders before setting your feet….
I have also produced three video presentations to help you and I have collected several other videos from Youtube that you can view on my “Squidoo lens” that walk will you through a complete alignment and stance routine that will guarantee a perfect setup every time…..several of which have been produced by Jack Nicklaus.
Enjoy the material and good luck with your game…
Les
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