THE GEOMETRY OF THE SET-UP
Building stability from the ground upwards
INTRODUCTION
In the first chapter, I illustrated how the grip is the compass of the golf swing. However, since you do not strike the golf ball with your hands alone, your grip must be housed within a much larger structure in order to operate effectively and efficiently. This structure is your set-up position at address.
In forming your grip, you create a formula that offers a steadfast performance guarantee: if your hands mesh together on the club in a totally natural way, your grip will perform well. However, if your hand placement is haphazard, awkward or unorthodox, then your grip will perform poorly. It really is that simple.
Building your grip around the natural bio-mechanical alignment of your hands and forearms gives you a solid foundation and consistency in your swing that you can rely on from the outset. However, for your hands and arms to create a consistent motion, they must also have a platform or a base that can provide stability. The thin branches of a tree, for example, can only sway to and fro in the wind because they are linked to a solid trunk. Similarly the sails on a windmill can only rotate consistently because they are fixed and attached to the outside of the building.
A solid, powerful and consistent golf swing is only achievable if it, too, has a solid base able to control and harness the power. That base is the ground, and for that reason I will be explaining how and why, in conjunction with building the correct grip, the ground itself is of fundamental importance and is your starting point when developing your set-up and swing.
A solid, powerful and consistent golf swing is only achievable if it, too, has a solid base able to control and harness the power.
This chapter will examine in detail how you can build a solid address position, but before we start, one quick piece of advice: in order to become proficient at achieving the correct stance and posture at address, I highly recommend, if not insist, that you use a mirror to check your positioning. Throughout the entire golf learning process, you will find yourself continually misled and betrayed by your swing thoughts and feelings. A visual record is always the most accurate reference when learning all aspects of the swing and is particularly beneficial in forming the orthodox address position that will support a powerful and consistent swing motion.
UNDERSTANDING THE ROAD MAP OF YOUR SWING
Before you immerse yourself in the finer details of the set-up, take a moment to familiarize yourself with the chart below. This is your road map—or flow chart—for the golf swing and it shows you how, working back from the clubface, each key element of the swing is dependent on a larger, more powerful part of the body to provide support and stability. Therefore, in conjunction with building the correct grip, the ground is of fundamental importance when developing and maintaining your swing.
The Clubface is dependent on the Hands
The Hands are dependent on the Arms
The Arms are dependent on the Torso
The Torso is dependent on the Legs
The Legs are dependent on the Ground
The Ground is your Constant
THE TRIANGULAR RELATIONSHIP OF THE SET-UP
A golf swing generates a tremendous amount of speed, torque and power. The role of the set-up is to provide a platform or base that is structurally sound enough to combine both discipline and efficiency with total freedom of movement. As with the formation of the grip that we looked at in the previous chapter, it is also very important to adhere to the body's basic structural composition when creating your set-up. When this is achieved, the feet, hips and legs, when placed into their most stable and balanced position, create a triangular shape, while the body itself appears virtually symmetrical in its composition.
SPLAYING THE FEET GIVES THE KNEES ROOM TO TURN
Study the image on this page. The first detail to notice is how each foot is turned outwards at approximately 30 degrees from square. Splaying both feet a little enables the knees to move and rotate into a position where they are positioned directly above each foot. This is the strongest and most powerful leg structure possible.
When the mid-section in the body—located just above the hips—begins to rotate during the backswing, it creates a "ripple" effect that transfers throughout the lower body. The knees will instinctively follow suit and partially rotate, but if the feet remain square (pointing straight forward), there is nowhere for them to go. The end result can be disastrous because the knees are then forced to detour and bust out of the natural boundaries of the stance. As the support of the feet, knees and legs buckles, the torso will tilt or slide laterally instead of turning, altering many vital aspects of the swing dynamics.
As you position your knees at address, allow them to subtly follow the lead of the feet until you achieve a slight "squatting" appearance. Once this has been achieved, you should be aware of a slight resistance on the inside of each leg.
BALL POSITION—NOTHING MORE THAN A FLEETING MOMENT
Ball position may seem like an innocuous and relatively unimportant aspect of the set-up, but it influences many key elements of the golf swing, most notably the swing plane and path, the level of clubface activity at impact, not to mention the trajectory of the shot and the quality of the strike.
In the same way that the moon will only eclipse and hide the sun completely when alignment is perfect, so the clubface will only be able to squarely enter and exit the impact area and strike the ball powerfully when it is located in the correct position within the stance. Since every body is built differently, there is no one perfect ball position for every single golfer. Trial and error is part of the process of locating your ideal hitting area.
LEFT ARM DICTATES OPTIMUM BALL POSITION
Each golf club has a slightly different make-up in terms of the length of the shaft, the lie angle and the amount of loft on the clubface. It is only when the shaft of the club is vertical and the sole of the club is flush to the ground that these design features are accurately represented at address.
Your role during the golf swing is to create that perfect lie angle at the set-up stage and then later in the swing at impact when the left arm and the clubshaft reach their maximum length. When this happens the physical characteristics of the club—the shaft length, loft and lie angle—are restored to the form they took at the set-up. Keeping this simple fact in mind, the optimum ball position will be directly below your left armpit at address.
For most golfers, this will position the ball within a region of two to three inches to the right of the left heel. This relationship is a constant element of your set-up and the distance between the golf ball and the left heel must not vary to any great degree.
WHY A VARIABLE BALL POSITION WILL LEAD TO INCONSISTENCY
Shifting the ball position in your stance to accommodate clubs with different length and lofts will cause the natural design characteristics of that particular golf club to change. For example, it is often said that shorter irons require a more descending attack into the ball and, in view of this, many golfers will play the ball further back in their stance to achieve a steeper downswing. However, as the clubhead and the ball move to the right in the stance, the hands and arms remain in their natural free-hanging position, which is now well ahead of the ball. This removes loft from the clubface and causes it to assume a closed position, aiming left of the target.
The reverse is true when hitting a driver. Because golfers have been told so often that a shallow, sweeping blow is required to strike the ball slightly on the upswing, many golfers shift the ball too far forward in their stance. This time, when the hands and arms remain in their normal free-hanging position, they are too far behind the ball. The result is that the clubface is too open (aiming right) at address and too lofted, which is why so many amateur golfers consistently hit high slices off the tee.
LEARN FROM YOUR DIVOT PATTERNS
Good impact and ball position constitute nothing more than a brief moment in time when the clubhead is traveling along the ground for its longest and lowest period. Coupled with the correct body motion and swing plane, your divot pattern should be relatively long and shallow. If your divots are either too deep or too short, you may need to review your ball position.
WHERE THE RIGHT FOOT MOVES, THE STERNUM FOLLOWS
Although the relationship in terms of the distance between the ball and your left foot at address should remain consistent regardless of the club you are using, you can vary the position of the right foot to either increase the width of the stance to add stability to the set-up when using longer clubs or to narrow the stance when hitting shorter irons, such as wedges.
However, the key lesson to learn is that while your right foot is free to move, it is crucial that your sternum (chest bone) moves with it because it represents the body's center of gravity. When hitting a driver, for example, the clubface needs to strike the ball ever so slightly on the upswing, so the ball should be played slightly ahead of the sternum. However, if you then narrowed your stance to hit a pitching wedge simply by moving your right foot closer to the left, for example, your sternum would be way behind the ball, making it impossible to achieve the slight descending blow that is ideal for short irons. Therefore, in order to achieve the correct set-up position for your pitching wedge, you would need to move your right foot to the left and also move your upper body into a position where your sternum is marginally ahead of the ball.
The same principle applies when moving from the shorter irons to the longer clubs. Simply moving your right foot to increase the width of your stance to hit a driver, for example, will not produce the desired effect if your sternum remains in the same position as it was when hitting the pitching wedge, since it would create an excessively steep downswing.
To obtain a clear understanding of the relationship between the right foot and the sternum, take a close look at the following three diagrams:
Note: The only time that your right foot should be positioned closer to the ball than your right hip is when hitting shots where there is a displacement of weight forwards at address, such as a chip shot or a low punch shot.
PERFECT POSTURE—STRONG AND GROUNDED, LIVELY AND ENERGIZED
Any object that moves at a very high speed, such as a Formula One car, can be controlled more easily when the center of gravity is low to the ground. Most golfers, and especially those over six feet tall, will need to lower their center of gravity to gain greater consistency and solidity at address and during the swing. A good posture allows you to achieve this and also to create a solid base to the swing and provide a foundation for the optimum swing plane.
I often refer to the spine as the coat hanger of the body because when it is straight and "angular," it creates a look and feeling of strength and athleticism in the upper body that is simply not achievable when in a curved and "soft" position.
Watch a weightlifter as he prepares to hoist a huge weight, a karate expert getting ready to punch, or a tennis player anticipating a serve and you will see how the body naturally prepares itself for action. The natural posture in this state of anticipation is strong and grounded, yet at the same time lively and energized. Golf is no exception.
TWO KEY CURVES TO PRESERVE
In all of the above sports, it is easy to incur an injury if the natural shape of the spine is replaced by a rounded, lazy posture. Having said that, there are two subtle key curves that you need to preserve when addressing the ball—one at the back of the neck and the other at the base of the spine. If either of these two curves is allowed to deteriorate, the spine will sag and slump under the weight of the torso.
Curve 1: The base of the spine
In order to create the angle in the spine that determines the body plane of your golf swing, the hips must contain a certain degree of pitch at address. This is achieved by slightly raising the coccyx at the very base of the spine.
Curve 2: Behind the neck
Lifting your chin away from your chest at address gives your shoulders the room and freedom to rotate through 90 degrees around your spine angle.
HOW POOR BODY POSITIONING CAN AFFECT YOUR BALANCE
The quality of your posture determines the quality of the body and club motion during the swing. The torso is the catalyst of this motion and since it is the "middle ground" of the body, it has a direct influence on how both the upper and lower body behave. Your torso is the key to your balance—good or bad—quite simply because it represents your whole body's center of gravity.
The cause of a loss of balance can more often than not be traced back to an anomaly at address and, in particular, to poor positioning of the mid-section of the body. Most of the damage created by this set-up flaw manifests itself in the downswing when the trunk is unwinding at speed and creating huge amounts of centrifugal force.
If your weight is placed too far towards your toes at address, your weight will inevitably be thrown forwards and outwards by the rotational force generated in the downswing. If, however, your weight is set back towards your heels, the momentum of the downswing movement will throw you backwards and laterally to the side during the downswing.
As you form your address, stance and posture, make sure that your weight is positioned somewhere between your heels and the balls of your feet. Use this image to reinforce what is one of the most important elements of the golf swing.
Make sure that your weight is positioned somewhere between your heels and the balls of your feet.
THE DORSAL ASPECT OF THE SET-UP
In order to give your upper body the best possible chance to rotate around your spine instead of tilting, it is important that your right hip and shoulder are positioned slightly lower than the left at address. Although this shift from the perpendicular is only very subtle, you should feel a slight lifting of the left hip as your spine tilts away from the target. This small tilt will automatically allow your weight to transfer onto your right side as you coil your upper body around the axis of the spine.
The position is completed when the spine, sternum and nose complete a straight line. Structurally this image makes perfect biomechanical sense. The spine has assumed a linear look from top to bottom with no unwanted curves or tilts. Remember, to wind it, you must be behind it.
THE DISASTROUS SCOLIOSIS EFFECT
Scoliosis is a condition of the spine that even those with an untrained medical eye will be able to see from the image overleaf. The unwanted spinal curvature could prevent your upper body from turning fully and seriously reduce your ability to pivot correctly in the backswing. In fact, the condition is a common cause of one of the most destructive backswing faults—the reverse pivot, where the weight remains fixed on the front foot during the backswing.
The first key difference between this and the correct dorsal aspect of the set-up can be found in the right hip, which is set considerably higher than the left. You can also see that the spine snakes in the middle section of the back, pushing the whole body mass onto the left foot. The crucial effect of this poor spinal alignment is that the high right hip creates a "blocking" effect, where it simply refuses to allow anything to pass. Since it cannot turn, the right hip tilts even higher during the backswing, which makes a level and powerful upper body coil all but impossible to achieve.
It is worth remembering that most of us will suffer from a bad back at some point during our lives. Prevention is always better than cure and so it is advisable to visit a reputable osteopath once every three to six months to prevent back problems occurring and to alleviate scoliosis if you do have it.
A QUICK SCOLIOSIS CHECK FOR THE RIGHT-HANDED GOLFER
For a quick check to see if scoliosis is present, look down towards your navel. If it is positioned significantly to the right of your sternum it is worth paying a visit to a reputable osteopath. Similarly, if you stand with your left foot naturally turned outwards, it is likely that you may be suffering from the effects of scoliosis without even realizing it.
TORQUE 1—CREATING BIOMECHANICAL EFFICIENCY AT ADDRESS
In the ideal set-up position, your nose, sternum and spine should be aligned perfectly with each other. The relationship between the position of your head and your sternum at address serves three very important functions before and during the golf swing:
FUNCTION 1: TO COMPLETE THE ALIGNMENT OF THE SPINE
Keeping your nose and sternum in a straight line completes the alignment of the spine from the base of the lower back to the top of your head, thereby creating a safe and structurally sound position. Ensuring that the spine is straight reduces the risk of injury and removes unwanted strain on the spine, neck and shoulder joints.
FUNCTION 2: TILTED SPINE ANGLE PRESETS WEIGHT TRANSFERENCE
As your nose, sternum and spine complete their linear structure, your upper body will naturally tilt away from the target thus creating biomechanical efficiency. Your upper body will now be able to pivot around this pole, while the slightly angled position automatically facilitates the correct weight transference in the backswing by creating a slightly tilted axis around which the torso can rotate.
FUNCTION 3: PREVENTION OF AN EARLY TURN
One of the most common and destructive swing faults is allowing your body to turn too early. During the golf swing, the clubhead has a greater distance to travel than any other moving part of the body. In order for the hands, arms, shoulders, hips and knees to rendezvous at the top of the backswing and then again at impact at the same time, the clubhead must move faster than the rest of the body.
The correct alignment of the nose, sternum and spine governs the motion of the golf swing by preventing the upper body from turning too quickly during the takeaway and, in doing so, assists greatly in the general timing of the swing by ensuring that the clubhead has a chance to make an early start.
LINKING YOUR ARMS TO YOUR BODY
The importance of linking the smaller, more variable parts to a larger whole has been a continual theme throughout this chapter and nowhere is this philosophy more relevant than when highlighting the relationship between your arms and your body at address.
Just as the planet Earth provides the Moon with a stable fixture around which it can consistently orbit, the sheer mass and size of your torso provides your arms with a great source of permanence, consistency, reliability and control.
THINK ELBOWS TO HIPS AT ADDRESS
A link—or fusion—between the body and arms is an essential aspect of the golf swing. You create this linkage by turning your arms outwards slightly so that your elbow joints point at their corresponding hip joints. If you do this correctly, your arms will literally hang off from the upper part of your chest and gently sandwich your golf shirt between your upper arms and your body. This serves two functions:
FUNCTION 1: ALLOWS RIGHT ARM TO FOLD CORRECTLY
Positioning your right elbow joint so that it points toward the right hip at address will allow your right arm to fold at the elbow during your backswing like a hinge on a door, while the upper part of the arm remains fairly close to your chest and torso. At the start of the downswing, your right arm will straighten and revert back to its original address position at impact.
FUNCTION 2: ALLOWS CORRECT LEFT FOREARM ROTATION
It is almost impossible to create a good swing plane and to keep the clubface in a neutral position if your left arm does not initiate the correct movement in the takeaway. If your left elbow joint points to the left of your left hip at address, your left forearm will assume an over-rotated position, potentially leading to either an excessively flat backswing plane or a shut clubface in the takeaway.
Keeping the pockets of each inner elbow pointing outwards places your forearms in a neutral position and maximizes your chances of swinging on the correct plane.
ARM ALIGNMENT—A SMALL DETAIL WITH BIG CONSEQUENCES
As the sternum moves from the sweeping position required to hit a driver to create the compressive angle required for hitting shorter irons, pitching and chipping, the positioning of your arms changes slightly. For example, when the sternum is angled backwards in order to sweep the ball off the tee with a driver or a long iron, your forearms should be square to each other and the target line. However, when you set up with the sternum slightly ahead of the ball to produce the steeper downward blow required to hit a pitch shot, for example, your right forearm will naturally be set noticeably higher than the left, while the alignment of your forearms will be slightly left of target.
SUMMARY—BUILD YOUR SWING FROM THE GROUND UPWARDS
The purpose of Law 2 is primarily to provide the golf swing with two important functions. Firstly, it allows your body, when positioned at address, to effectively punch in the coordinates for the type of strike and shot you wish to play. Secondly, it will enable you to position your body in its most efficient and powerful state in anticipation of the burst of motion that it is going to be created.
The information provided within this chapter can also serve as a detailed graphic menu for injury prevention. The waiting rooms of osteopaths, physiotherapists and chiropractors the world over are filled with amateur and professional golfers suffering with back ailments.
Another key focus of this chapter is that you must first look to the ground in your quest for consistency. Any golfer who focuses purely on refining the upper half of the body to the point of perfection, but disregards the role of the legs is destined for a lifetime of frustrating golf. However, the golfer who builds his or her swing from the ground upwards will always have a stable base upon which they can create a good shoulder turn or coil behind the ball. If you are in any doubt as to your swing priorities, refer to the "road map" of the swing on this page.
Finally, always remember that the purpose of the set-up is to provide a balance between discipline and mobility that will stand you in good stead for the rest of the swing and set you on your way to learning how the legs and torso move in Law 3—Groundforce Dynamics.