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The vast majority of the students I teach express the desire for more consistency. As I explain to them consistency begins with proper pre-swing fundamentals; grip, posture, ball position, and alignment. If there are flaws in the pre-swing there will be compensations in the swing motion, so proper pre-swing fundamentals are a must if you desire consistency. These fundamentals are the easiest part of the golf swing to fix due to the fact that they do not deal with motion. They can be and should be learned away from the ball at home, in front of a mirror. However people resist change in this area because of the bad feelings it can produce, but I promise if you commit to the change you will see great results.

The pre-swing area I would like to discuss is posture. Although I feel that the grip is the most important fundamental, the posture is often overlooked and neglected. When we talk about posture we are effectively talking about spine angle, and there are two very important angles we must obtain. The first angle is how we tilt our spine toward the ball or bend over. This angle allows our body to turn correctly and not slide laterally. to accomplish this angle we want to bend at the waist with our rear end sticking out and up so that we have a flat back. the amount of bend depends on the club you are using. We want to bend over so that our spine forms a ninety degree angle with our shaft angle. After you have bent over then you want to bend your knees, but make sure your rear end stays out and back remains flat. Learn to perform this skill in front of a mirror. Stand so the mirror is showing you a down the line view and repeat putting yourself in the correct position until you can repeat it without looking. Use the mirror as a check to make sure each repetition is performed correctly, this is the fastest way to learn this skill.

The second spine angle we want to achieve is getting our spine tilted away from the target. This angle allows our pivot to turn our upper body behind the ball in the back swing. We want to achieve this tilt again with our hips. For the right handed player you want to set your right hip into your left hip so that your left hip is higher than your right hip. Be careful that you do not just lean to the right or that your weight does not lean to the left side. Your weight should be balanced between your feet. Again you want to perform this skill while facing your mirror.

If you will take the time to sharpen your posture and be very precise in your set up when you play and hit balls, you should see some big improvement in your golf swing.

Michael Brisbane, Director of instruction
Cedar Creek GC, Birmingham, AL