Hello. I'm Brian Fitzgerald The Golf Doctor. And today we're going to do another installment
in our golf swing fundamentals and in particular today we're going to look at set up procedures
so if you're interested in this stay tuned. [MUSIC] So if you really want to get better at golf. One of the best ways to improve your golf
is to click on the subscribe button and the bell notification then you're on your way. So today in particular. We're going to look at set up procedures. So there are five areas that we're going to
look at in this video. Okay so the first skill were looking at today
is the distance from the ball.
So when we take our golf set up. A lot of people say how far should I stand
from the ball? It's actually a misleading argument to say
how far do we stand from the ball. Because we have got 14 different clubs in
the bag. They're all different lengths. So if I pull out my driver and I've got my
8 iron here. There are two totally different lengths at
play. So the distance that I stand from the ball
changes with every single club. And I don't know about you. But I can there is no way in the world I can
remember 14 different distances. So the way I work it out is that no matter
what the club is that's in our hands. We need to be done hand span from the end
of that club. So that makes it really easy. Whether it's a 7 iron, a driver, a 3 wood
or a pitching wedge. We need to stand one hand span from the end
of the golf club.
That just makes it so much easier and less
complicated. So the second area we're going to discuss
the day is arm position. So when we take our set up we have established
that we one hand span from the end of the club. And from this angle here a lot of people think
they need their hands up high. I think it's really over complicated it should
not be as complicated as what most people make it out. So what I like people to do is just basically
let their arms hang. Wherever the arms hang. If you join your hands together and then you
put a club in there you've got a nice angle here from me I'm down the shaft of the club.
That position there enables my hands to work
freely during the golf swing. Unfortunately, if I get my hands up here where
we have the arm in the club as an extension of each other that makes it very difficult
for me to swing and use my hands in anyway. It's locking and blocking my wrist out of
the shot. So really, all we need to do is just let the
arms hang naturally. Put our hands on the club we make sure we're
a hand span from the end of the club and then we're good to go. So the third area we're looking at today is
the positioning of the hands in relation to the ball. So we've already established that we're a
hand span. That our arms are just hanging freely. Some people think we should have our hands
in front. Now unfortunately, when we get our hands in
front and getting the arm that left arm and the club get in a straight line. That also locks my wrists into a position
where I don't want to be in.
We want to be able to utilise our hands and
release our hands through the ball. So the best position for that to be in this
just to have our hands level. If we're chipping that's a different story. But just for a standard golf shot we just
want to have our hands level with a ball so there's a slight angle there. We don't want to get those hands in front
it's just in there enough to fill in natural position for us to create a golf swing from. So the next area we're going to be looking
at is the positioning of the spine. So when I take my set up. A lot of people when they start playing golf
and some that are fairly experienced having their spine too straight. The problem with having the spine too straight
is. As I come down my stomach gets in the way.
And yeah. I could probably do with losing a few kilos. But even if I did. My stomach is still going to be in the way. So what we need to do is we need to do is
we need to tilt the spine forward. So I like to think of it as if I'm going to
dive into a pool into a diving stance. My spine is tilted forward. Now with my spine in that position. That then gives me free access down to the
golf ball. If I have got my spine straight. My stomach is in the way. So then my brain will think okay. I can't get down to the ball that way. I have got to throw it out that way and get
my hands away from my body. Which some people call casting. It's just giving yourself the chance to hit
the ball. You can do it decently. But it is not going to be consistent. And you are going to hit it with a pull or
a fade.
It is much easier to develop the correct spine
angle when we start. So it's just a diving stance. You can see there I have got a nice angle
between the spine and the legs. And once again from there I am good to develop
a natural swing. And the final area today that we are going
to be looking at. Is the positioning of our legs. So similar to that last one where we talk
about spine angle. A lot of people when they straighten their
spine. The natural reaction then is to squat down
there. Now we do need to move our body and legs and
shoulders and hips during the golf swing. Golf is a dynamic movement. We move to the right and we move through to
the left.Now the problem with that is. If I squat down. It's very restrictive I can't really turn
very well. So if I can keep my legs reasonably straight. And then we get our spine tilted forward. And then I just flex the knees. Just to get rid of a tension from the kneecaps
I don't really want to go out and have downward pressure.
But I do want that tension to be out of the
knee caps and from there once again I'm ready to go with a good swing. Now the bonus tip that I'm going to include
now. Is that we need to talk about width of stance. And over the years the width of stance has
changed. When I was growing up it was shoulder width. And to a degree it's still shoulder width. But with the amount of club head speed these
modern golf pros are generating when they hit tee shots. You probably noticed on the television that
they're certainly getting their feet wider apart.
Well they need that to create some stability
through impact. If you had a stance that's too wide it does
restrict how much you move. But these guys are generating such an enormous
amount of club head speed. They need a more solid base. Think of it if you building a Lego tower and
you're putting 30 brings up on top. And you need quite a wide base to stop it
from falling over. So the more power you generate in a golf swing. The wider your stance should be. But I think a good position to start from
is shoulder width. And the shoulder width in my opinion is measured
from the outsides of the feet not the insides of the feet.
Unless we get to that driver. There is a benefit and getting slightly wider
with the driver. So that pretty much covers my golf swing fundamentals
and set up procedures. Thank you for letting me help you with your
golf. I'm Brian Fitzgerald The Golf Doctor and I
look forward to seeing you on the next video.