Wednesday, Mar. 11, 2009

JEFF DIEHL | WATERFORD PLANTATION

The Address Position

If you're like some golfers I see, you're setting up to the ball wrong. It's an extremely common mistake to address the ball with your hands pressed forward.

In other words, at address the hands are pushed toward the target with the arms reaching left - tense - and waaay in front of the ball. I can honestly advise you that this is nothing but trouble.

Because it almost always means you'll have to pick up the club with your arms and hands on take-away (a big no-no) and "disconnect" your body from the swing. You'll end up swinging with nothing but arms. No good.

The result is an inconsistent swing, with no effective body pivot and no power.

But here's the solution:

As you begin your setup and address, allow your arms to hang in front of you naturally like wet rags. No tension.

The butt of your club should comfortably point at your belt buckle and from this position the club head looks slightly behind the hands.

Your hands are only holding onto the club - they don't roll the club back; they don't pick the club up - and they don't do any manipulation. Let the pivot do all the work. The club head will actually "lag" behind the hands.

The key is to allow the pivot of your body (not your arms and hands) to take the club back - this will get the club started on "plane."

Starting the swing correctly means you can avoid the kind of "compensations" that results in loss of power, inconsistent drives and plain old duffed shots. (Sound familiar?)

Just use what I've told you, and you'll finally increase your power, nail stunning long drives and dramatically increases your accuracy. Your golf buddies will swear you've been working day and night at your game - but it's really about using your brain.