Quarry One Minute Golf Clinic: Back to the Fundamentals

Every fall when the weather turns nice again, I see a steady stream of golfers wanting to tune-up their game. Most haven’t played much over the summer, whether they were vacationing or just trying to stay cool indoors. The most common change I see in a player’s swing from spring to fall is that they aren’t setting up properly to the golf ball.

Their grip might be the same, their swing might look or feel similar to them, but it starts from a shaky foundation or set-up position. This sets up a chain-reaction of compensations in order to make solid contact and hit great shots. Like Jack Nicklaus once said, “It’s much easier to let a good swing happen from a solid set-up, than to stop a bad swing from happening as a result of a poor set-up.”

Jack Nicklaus 1986 Masters

So what’s the biggest thing that changes in the set-up during the time off? I’m glad you asked…

From my experience working with players–including myself (yes, golf pros are more than capable of making mistakes on the golf course as well)—the biggest thing that changes with time off is that the player tends to lose the relationship between the shoulders and the hips, called spine tilt, at set-up. For example, it would stand to reason that if I took my golf grip (assuming I am right handed golfer) with my left hand first and then added my right hand below that, my shoulders would then be aligned the same way.

This happens because my arms are the same length and because my right hand is lower on the grip than my left. This “tilt,” which can often be viewed by looking at where the golfer’s shirt buttons are pointing, is a necessary piece of a golfer’s set-up as it sets the stage for a strong pivot as well as a good path for the arms and club to travel on. The common mistake here is that the golfer will start with the shoulders much too level at address, as a result of having the head too much “over” or “on top” of the ball. While this can be great for short-game shots, it’s disastrous with a longer club or a driver in your hand!

So how can I check it?

1. Stand up straight and hold a golf club by the grip end in front of your body to where the club is bisecting your torso in half.  The grip should be in front of your shirt buttons while the head should be hanging straight down in front of you.
2. While keeping the club pressed against your torso, bend from the hips and loosen your knees as if you were going to hit a ball.
3. From here, I’d like you to feel like your left hip bumps forward towards the target slightly as your right shoulder lowers slightly. Done correctly, you will now notice a few things from the face-on view:

• Your right shoulder will now be correctly lower than your left shoulder
• Your shirt buttons will now be “tilted” away from the target
• Your head will now be behind the golf ball, instead of in front of it

This presets many GREAT things to happen including a solid pivot weight shift, and path for the hands and club to follow. Try it out and watch that solid contact come back in hurry!

The Quarry One Minute Clinic is a service provided by The Quarry Golf Club. Sean Etheredge, Head Golf Professional at The Quarry, provides these weekly tidbits of useful knowledge. If you have a special request, e-mail Courtney Lewis, clewis@quarrygolf.com.  

Sean Etheredge, Head Golf Pro at The Quarry, is also a golf instructor.