Today we’re going to be talking about the fundamentals of golf. We’ll cover a range of golf swing basics so that you can work on finding more consistency in your golf swing.
Without a consistent approach to your swing you won’t be able to hit your shots reliably. Too many amateur golfers adopt a ‘hit and hope’ approach to their game and hope that miraculously they will be able to lower their scores. Unfortunately, hoping that your game improves isn’t a recipe for success.
To get better it will take a mixture of a golf training system as well as experience. It would also help if you choose golf equipment that is suited for you (for example beginners learning how to play golf may want to choose specific beginner golf clubs).
However, overall it is essential to get to grips with the fundamentals of the golf swing and create a repeatable system that targets the different areas for game improvement.
What Are The Golf Swing Basics?
When it comes to the basics of the golf swing there are a few core elements for you to consider. These include the aim, backswing, downswing, grip and stance.
Aim
In Summary: Working on the aim of your swing will impact the direction that the golf ball travels. Correct golf alignment can work to ensure that you increase your accuracy.
When it comes to golf swing basics, the first basic element to look at is the aim of your shots. Using alignment sticks can really help with perfecting this. Without knowing what to aim for before you swing, few other tips will make a difference. Beginning golfers often find that their ball is going off in a direction they hadn’t wanted it to. While there are several reasons for this, including club face orientation, your aim is very likely to be the main reason for the problem.
Once you develop the right stance, relax your body and make sure your posture is just right. Don’t slouch, and make sure your spine is in line. Make sure the shaft and the spine are both to the right. One of the things that’s recommended is for you to master hitting with one club before you move onto another one. Some people start with the seven iron since it’s between the driver and the pitching wedge, but you can also start with the putter and pitching wedge simply because you’ll end up using those most of the time.
Remember that your aim will determine the direction the ball will go in after impact, but your stance will determine your aim. In other words, all of these basic tools work together to ensure a perfect strike of the ball and can help you reach advanced levels of golf where you can hit shots for experienced golfers such as a golf draw vs fade.
Backswing
In Summary: A correct backswing will form as the foundation of the end result of your swing. Aligning the club face correctly will help to ensure a smooth connection with the golf ball.
Improving your backswing is the best way to improve your aim and hit a better ball. Improving your backswing means concentrating on three main factors:
- Make sure your hands track just underneath the blue line. That angle should be followed all the way up to the top of the swing. Lifting your hands too early and tracking above the blue line immediately often ends with slicing the ball.
- Make sure you see or visualize the club head moving along the blue line in the takeaway.
- When your club is parallel to the ground and the club head is directly behind you, pay attention to where the clubface is. It should be at a 45-degree angle because if it is, you can deliver a square face right at impact.
When you bring the club back, make sure you keep your arms together as if you’re holding a round ball with your forearms. As you move the arms backward, keep the ball between your arms until your swing is complete. Focus your eyes on the ball and go back as far as you want, but keep the head focused on the ball. When you’ve gone back as far as you can, then it’s time to start the downswing.
Downswing
In Summary: Getting your downswing correct is pivotal. Using your hips and shoulders will help to generate power and distance on your shot.
When you come out of the backswing, this part of the maneuver is called the downswing. When you start the downswing, use your hips first and then your shoulders. When you do this, however, the hips and shoulders have to be in sync with one another. If you’re curious about how to execute the perfect downswing, the best thing you can do is watch videos on sites such as YouTube and others. Even better, watch these videos in slow-motion and watch them more than once.
If your grip, stance, and backswing are correct, your club head will be in the perfect position to strike the ball once the downswing is complete. A great way to practice consistency with your downswing is to invest in affordable training equipment such as a golf impact bag. While hitting the golf ball is essentially one maneuver and should be smooth in its execution, it encompasses several factors, including your stand, grip, aim, and both the downswing and backswing. Once you’ve learned to master each of these movements individually, you can put them together for the perfect golf swing.
You will also want to ensure that your clubface is closed correctly so that you avoid common issues such as a slice or a hook.
Grip
In Summary: Whether it is strong, neutral or weak, choosing a grip that works for you will allow you to hit golf shots consistently.
When you’re researching golf grips, you hear a lot about strong vs weak grips as well as neutral grips, but let’s start with some basics. To begin with, if you’re right-handed, you’ll start by grabbing the golf club with your left hand and with your thumb on top. Then, you should drop the club head to where the ball is and square the club. This means you’ll want the front edge perpendicular to the target line. At this point, go ahead and bring your right hand over the top of your left hand. If you do this correctly, your thumbs will be lined up with one another.
If you’re wondering what to do with your pinky finger, you should either interlock it or hook it – always hook it when you’re getting ready to swing the club. If you’re just getting ready for a swing, you can interlock it. The strength and style of the grip will determine which one is right for you, and some of the different types of grips include:
- 10-finger grip
- Overlapping grip
- Interlocking grip
Each of these grips can be done with a strong, weak, or neutral grip. What will work best for you? With some trial and error, along with tips and suggestions from the experts, you’ll be able to determine the answer to this question to ensure that you have the proper golf grip.
Stance
In Summary: Weight distribution is essential to ensure the balance and rhythm of your golf swing is as it should be.
When it comes to your stance for hitting a golf ball, weight distribution is perhaps the most important factor and can be a key component of preventing shanks in golf. When you’re preparing your stance before you hit the ball, keep in mind that proper weight distribution affects everything, including your rhythm, tempo, balance, momentum, and rotation. Think of the way your feet feel when you’re trying to position them flat on the ground while you’re in a standing position. When you push down on the ground with the bottom of your feet, this is what is called the weight of the stance.
In golf, the correct golf stance is to place roughly 60% of that pressure in the lead foot; the remaining foot receives about 40% of the weight. It might be tempting to distribute the weight 50/50, but this can cause a lot of mistakes when you start to swing the club. When you push off that front foot to take your backswing, you transfer the pressure and more weight ends up being on the trail foot when you’re at the top of the swing. Then, the pressure shifts back to the lead foot.
When this happens, you create some torque and get some rotation, which means you’ll have more power once you swing down and hit the golf ball. That will go a long way in helping you make a perfect shot.
To Conclude
Something that all amateur golfers should work on is their ability to master the golf swing basics. This can give you a sound footing to start your golf journey and shoot both good scores and more consistent shots. It will also improve your round time to play 18 holes of golf. The next time that you go to the driving range you should focus on the five core areas of aim, backswing, downswing, grip and stance.
To get a helping hand you may also want to consider online golf instruction. Simply try a range of drills and focused shots so that you can find the rhythm that works best for you. By practicing at the driving range you will be able to improve your muscle memory and find more consistency to improve your golf handicap for when you step out onto the golf course.
