Meadow Links & Golf Academy - Lesson of the Month

February 2008 Lesson
Written by Mike Deiters

Download a copy of this lesson here.

Pre-Swing Fundamentals

As we head into the 2008 golf season, now is a good time to review pre-swing fundamentals. Pre-swing fundamentals simply being what we do prior to making the swing. The better our pre-swing fundamentals are, the more potential for a better swing motion. Let’s take a look.

Grip

Obviously our only connection to the club is through our hands. How we place our hands on the club will have a huge influence on our shots, good or bad!

1. More in the fingers.
2. General sense of palms facing each other.
3. Avoid gripping too tight, arms relaxed.

Posture

How we position our body in regards to posture is also going to have a huge influence on our swing motion, whether good or bad.

1. Athletic and balanced.
2. Slight bend in knees, tilt from waist.
3. Flat back if possible.
4. Arms relaxed and hanging.
5. Spine serves as an axis of rotation.

Alignment

Our goal with alignment is to get our body parallel with our target line. This, in my opinion, is one of the more difficult pre-swing fundamentals to do consistently. Please practice knowing your body is aligned to your target. If you don’t, you will begin to make swing compensations for poor alignment.

If you have any questions or comments, please direct them to mikedeiters@pga.com.