Golf Fundamentals Information Blog

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Alignment is one of 4 basics of golf that you have to get master along with the grip, stance and posture. Once you have the basics right you will improve rapidly. If the basics are wrong you will find it difficult to improve. If you are not aligned properly, obviously the ball will not go where you want it to. As you can imagine if you are just slightly out in your alignment at the ball, how far will you be out when it has traveled over 200 yards. Good alignment is not difficult and here are some tips to help.

1. Take up a position behind the ball. This is your first step to achieve the right alignment. Stand directly behind the ball and make sure that you keep it between you and your target. Holding the club with the grip, pick a point on the ground that is about three feet from the ball in line with the target you are aiming for. Memorize that spot, whether it is a divot mark, small weed, broken tee peg, because you are going to use it as a reference to address the ball and to aim your club face later on.

2. Walk up to the ball and place the club head square to spot 3 feet in front of you that you had chosen earlier. Take your stance with your body square to your designated target line. Position your feet in accordance to the club, which you intend to use for the shot. The main idea here is to make sure that the lines corresponding to the tips of your toes, your knees, your hips, and your shoulders should all be in parallel to the target line. Your proper alignment, coupled with good swing fundamentals, should be enough to make the ball go straight into the hole with every shot.

3. You can make a quick check by placing your club across your shoulders and checking that they are on the target line. You can do the same with the toes of your shoes to make sure everything is square.

4. Always keep a check on your alignment, even the pros can fall into the trap of thinking they are lined up correctly when in reality they are way out.

Good basics lead to a good golf game. Don’t practice bad habits.

By: Ian Donaldson

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Having precision in the short game is the key to low scoring in golf. If you can land the ball within a close distance of the hole from inside 120 yards, than consistent pars and birdies are easily attainable. This is where accurate pitching and chipping comes in.

Pitching

Anytime a shot is about 40 to 120 yards from the green, you will most likely be pitching. As is apparent, the best club to use from this range is the pitching wedge. When pitching, set up the same as if you are hitting an iron shot, except when pitching you will have an open stance. This means positioning your feet as if you were aiming slightly to the left of the target (if you are right handed), but keep the clubface facing the target. Line up so that the ball is slightly back in your stance compared to a normal iron shot. In order to vary your distance with pitching, vary the length of your backswing. Bring the club farther back for longer shots, and vice versa for shorter shots. Just like with any normal iron shot, be sure to hit down on the ball; do not attempt to scoop it up into the air.

Chipping

Anytime you chip the ball, it should land within an easily attainable putting distance from the hole. The more accurate your chip shots are, the less accurate your putting needs to be.

With the chip, you will set up almost as if you are pitching, except your feet will be closer together. They should be less than shoulder width apart, but far enough apart that you have proper balance. Again, open your stance so your feet are positioned as if you are aiming to the left of the target. Make sure that the clubface is facing the target. The ball will again be relatively back in your stance. The key to chipping is hitting down on the ball with a solid stroke. Don’t decelerate on the downswing. When chipping, the backswing will be much shorter than the pitch shot, but again, in order to vary the distance the ball is hit, vary the length of your backswing.

Practice pitching, and chipping at a driving range and on a practice green. Obviously, you will be aiming to get the ball within a very close distance to the hole. In order to become more accurate with pitching and chipping, you must get a feel for the distance you are hitting. This can only be accomplished with a lot of practice.

By: Savannah Durbin

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A golf slice can often be cured by some simple, basic corrections in
set-up.

For instance, while a golfer can occasionally compensate for a poor
swing, you cant play well with a poor grip. It is important, if you
want to fix your slice permanently, that you take the time to check
your grip using this simple drill:

Take a blade of grass and trap it between the fleshy pad on the
underside of your right thumb and the top of your left thumb. Now,
complete your grip and swing the club to the top of the backswing. If
the blade of grass has remained in position then your grip is secure and
firm, but if the grass has fallen out, this is a sign that your hands are
separating, which causes the club to move about at the top of the
backswing.

Having the clubface in the correct position at the top of your
backswing is fundamental to correcting a golf slice. Unfortunately,
thats not an easy position to check when the club is out of sight and
behind you. The way to check the clubface position is to look up and
check the direction in which the knuckles on your left hand are
pointing.

If they are well to the right, the clubface will be closed to the target
line, which in the downswing normally produces a right-to-left hook
flight. If your knuckles point to the right, the clubface will be open and
the result will be a sliced golf shot. If the knuckles point straight up to
the sky the clubface is square to the target line.

In fact, grip faults can often be the main reason for slicing in golf, and
the problem with grip faults is that they can get into your game
without you really being aware of them. To prevent this slow decline
in technique perform the following check:

Grip the club and make sure that you can see around two and a half
knuckles on your left hand. Then take a pen and draw a small dot on
your golf glove on the last knuckle showing. To ensure your grip is
correct on every shot, all you have to do is to look down at your glove
after taking up your grip. If you cant see the dot then your grip has
probably become too weak. Likewise if you can see a knuckle beyond
the mark, then your grip is probably becoming too strong.

Many players have a golf slice by allowing their left side to slide too far to the left in the
downswing, making it difficult to square up the clubface correctly at
impact. This can be a difficult habit to correct but there is a mental
drill that could help you keep those hips from sliding.

When you address the golf ball, imagine you are next to an open door
with your left side positioned against the wall. When you swing the
club back down to the ball, imagine the wall stopping your legs from
sliding to the left, while your arms and hands remain free to swing the
clubhead on through the open door. This will prevent your legs from
sliding to the left. It will also encourage you to adopt the correct
active hand action in your downswing.

By: Dave Powell


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For a golf slice to happen, two conditions must be present. Firstly, the club face is open when it hit the golf ball. Secondly, the golf club travels a out-to-in path. In other words, the golf club cut across the target line instead of moving along target line.

So to cure your golf slice, you have to eliminate these two conditions during impact. There are few ways to overcome the problem.

1. Use a stronger grip

Slicing is caused by a open club face. A stronger grip will make it easier to close the club face during impact. To adopt a stronger grip, first grip the golf club as you normally would, then turn both your hands toward right. You should be able to see two to three knuckles of your left hand (assuming you are right-handed player).

2. Check your body alignment.

Make sure both your feet is parallel to the target line. If you left feet is more behind than you right feet, you have a open stance. An open stance will make you swing the club in a out-to-in fashion. This type of swing path will cut across the golf ball resulting in a golf slice. What you want is the club head to travel along the target line not cut across it. To check your proper alignment, place a golf club on the ground point toward the target with the shaft touching the tip of both your feet. If the club is parallel to the target line then your alignment is correct.

3. Check your club head alignment.

When you setup to the golf ball, make sure the flat edge of the club face is perpendicular to the target line. This is the most simple and basic check. Yet a lot of golfers forget to do it or do it wrongly.

4. Do not try to hit at the ball with your hand.

A lot of beginner golfers slice the golf ball because they try to hit at the ball instead of swinging through the ball. When you try to hit at the golf ball, you create too much tension in the arm and griping the club too hard. As a result, you will hold the club face open during impact because the hard grip and tension prevent the proper and timely rotation of the hands to close the club face. In a proper golf swing, you swing through the ball. Your target is the flag not the golf ball. So do not try to hit at the ball. Instead, swing toward the target and let the ball get in the way.

Depending on what is the cause of your golf slice, you may need one or more of the above fixes. But try only one fix at a time. Trying to making too many swing changes at one go will cause confusion and create other swing problems. Many times, one simple cure will fix the problem. Use the ball flight as your guide.

By: Tyler Lai

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In order to play golf, one must learn of the mechanics involved. Know that there are two fundamentals concerning the correct golf swing. These two are the pre-swing fundamental and the swing fundamental. The pre-swing fundamental is about the set-up of your body. You must first know the correct posture of the body before you even try swinging. The set-up includes the body’s alignment, the foot position, the ball position, your balance and the position of your arms and hands.

In alignment, you should position yourself parallel to the target line. Your feet should be shoulder width when in middle iron stance. The short iron stance, in contrast, should be at least two inches narrower. In the long iron stance, your feet should at least be two inches wider. The ball’s position would depend from the golf club that you select. You should balance your weight on the balls of the feet. Your hands should be just slightly in front of your zipper. Your hand’s distance from your body depends on the golf club you choose. Once you’ve mastered the set-up, you are now ready to swing.

There are three components concerning the swing: The body turn, the wrist hinge and the control area. You need to know the right way to turn your body along with the golf swing to create more power and thus have a more powerful swing. A good wrist hinge will relax your wrist and avoid injury. The control area is where you should hit the golf ball. Knowing precisely where to hit the ball will make the ball go to the direction you want to. With all these, you should now have enough knowledge and be able to begin practicing your golf swings.

Once you master the basic golf swing mechanics, you can then work on slightly more advanced techniques to improve your swing. But don’t go too fast and take your time because the basics are the most important things to learn and the advanced techniques will take more time to master.

By: Tony Newton

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