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> C L I C K H E R E F O R C O M P L E T E D E TA I L S O N C L A S S I C C L U B ' S P R O F E S S I O N A L T E A C H I N G S E R V I C E S
W
hen talking about the ba-
sics of golf I always refer
to your grip, alignment,
stance, and posture – or GASP.
g
:
We've all heard that the grip is
the most important element of
the golf swing, which is true because
it's the only connection we have with
the golf club.
A fundamentally sound grip con-
nects both hands in a way so they
work as one unit. A good grip also
gives a player better control of the
club face and allows the wrists to
hinge correctly.
A
:
I see many golfers trying to
align their shoulders to the ac-
tual target (i.e. the flag), which in fact
they are aligning right of the target.
I imagine railroad tracks when
aligning my body to a target. My
body is on one side of the track and
the target line is on the other side of
the track.
The best way to do this is to draw
an imaginary line from the target to a
few feet in front of your ball, which is
called the intermediate target. It's
much easier to align yourself to a tar-
get a few feet in front of you rather
than a target that's 150 yards away.
Once you have your intermediate
target setup to the ball, make sure
that your feet, knees, hips, and shoul-
ders are all parallel to the target line
(intermediate target).
s
:
A good stance provides stabil-
ity and balance in the golf
swing. You want an athletic stance
with the feet about shoulder-width
apart with short and mid irons and
slightly wider for the long irons and
woods.
Add a little knee flex so the hips
are able to rotate correctly and help
keep your weight on the balls of your
feet. Too much knee flex limits the
hip rotation and puts the weight
more on the heels of your feet. Not
enough knee flex doesn't allow for
the proper rotation of the hips and
puts the weight more toward the
toes of your feet.
p
:
I believe maintaining the
posture in the swing is the key
to consistent golf.
You want to start by tilting toward
the ball from your hip joints and not
your waist. Bending at the waist
causes the back to get rounded,
which makes it difficult to make a
good, consistent swing.
After tilting from the hip joints you
want to make sure your shoulder
blades are flat so the arms hang from
the shoulders at the address position.
Good posture is the foundation for a
repeating swing.
BAsIc InsTIncTs
Grip, alignment, stance & posture are key • By jAsOn sMITh, pgA
Jason Smith (left) at work with a student on the range.
