Beginners Guide To Golf

Hi,

Stand erect with your feet shoulder width apart, lock your knees and place your arms behind your back. With your shoulders relaxing in a backward position and your head facing straight ahead, bow forward (you should be bent at least 30 degrees and feel slight pressure in the back of your thighs and lower back). Now, slightly flex your knees and remain balanced. Finally let your arms hang relaxed in front of you, like an elephant’s trunk does. This should put you into the correct posture to swing a golf club at the ball.

For more easy to follow golf swing tips visit golfingvalley.com

Technorati Profile

Hi again,

When you swing a golf club it is basically making a circle in the air. If your body moves up or down on the swing, the arc of the swing will move higher or lower in relation to the golf ball. This will cause the impact to be off the equator of the ball and will make the ball flight either too high or too flat along the ground. Your body must remain level to ensure a good accurate shot.

Let’s take a look at the 4 main areas which will badly affect your shot:

1. Knees - If your knees start in a certain position during the address and change their position i.e. straighten up or bend more during the swing, this will cause impact to be off and compromise the shot.

2. Feet - If you start the backswing with your feet firmly placed on the ground and list a foot during the top of the swing or during the downswing, the solid impact with the shot will be compromised.

3. Arms - If your left arm (right handed golfers) is folded at moment of impact this will cause huge loss of power in the strike compromising the shot’s strength and most likely accuracy too.

4. Spine - If your spine moves up 2 inches or more during the backswing it must drop 2 inches or more during the downswing in order for the clubhead to contact the ball squarely. If not, solid contact with the ball is compromised.

Clearly, it is best to keep all these areas at the same level during your swing. If they do change it is usually close to impossible to return back to the original position just before impact. So perfecting your golf swing technique is very important!

Hello there,

I have been asked over and over by both beginner golfers and advanced golfers how to position the body for a good swing. It’s really simple!

Posture is the foundation of a good golf swing. It is important to put good balance and posture into your pre-shot routine. A ritual of the events leading up to the swing is important to maintaining accuracy and drive. This all starts with posture of the golfer’s body.

Five basic steps in creating good golf posture:

1. Distribution of weight evenly between the soles of the two feet and not too much on the heels or toes is essential.

2. Bending over is done from the lower back or waist. Try to minimise curvature of the spine. It should feel like you buttocks are sticking out.

3. Avoid touching your chest with your chin. This will allow a more clean rotation. Touching you chest with your chin will only force the spine to bend giving a swing which is not accurate.

4. Flex the knees a bit. If you plumb-bobbed a golf club over your kneecap
it should rest directly above the centre of your foot.

5. Arms need to hang naturally with gravity. If done correctly, there should be a gap of about 4-6 inches between your wrists and you legs. This is enough of a gap for your arms to swing past your body freely.

Quick Posture Check

Standing sideways in front of a mirror, dangle a golf club from your shoulder. The shaft should hang down the centre of the shoulder, in front of the kneecap and end should dangle over the ball of the foot. If it is not like this, you are making a mistake somewhere and your posture is incorrect so you will need to double check.