With your goals and expectations determined
and a firm commitment to practice established, the first thing
to take inventory of is the fundamentals. To begin each golf
season and throughout the season, be sure your clubface
alignment, grip, stance, ball position and weight distribution
are proper and consistent before each swing.
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TOM CLARK |
This pre-shot routine is the glue that will
prevent your game from unravelling on those not so good days,
and allow you to play even better on the good days. People will
mistakenly refer to this as addressing the ball. In fact, it
should be referred to as addressing the target. Golf is a
target game and the ball is not your target.
Before approaching the ball, stand behind the
ball looking down the target line. Visualize the path and
flight of the ball to its intended target. Now you can stand in
beside the ball and begin setting your club down behind the
ball so the bottom or leading edge is at right angles to the
target line.
You should be able to see two knuckles of
your top hand and one on the bottom hand. The grip pressure
should be light. Think that you have an open tube of toothpaste
in your hands and you don't want to squeeze any toothpaste out.
The feet should be shoulder width apart and be placed so that
a
line across your toes or heels runs parallel
to your target line.
The ball position is consistently 2-3 inches
inside your front foot (the foot closest to the target), which
for the right-handed golfer, places the ball in line with your
heart. When taking your posture, tilt at the hips first, then
flex your legs. The arms hang down in front of you at length
but not locked.
Tension is a killer to a good golf swing.
Finally, your weight distribution should be equal upon the
entire foot so that you are not on your toes, heels, or the
outside or inside of your feet.
This is a very quick explanation of the
address and there is more to it than this, but please keep the
routine consistent and be sure to keep the target in mind
throughout. Think of where you want the ball to go, not where
you don't want the ball to go.
For help with your address routine, contact
Tom Clark at the Timberwolf Academy at 691-6019.
