THE PLAYERS COACH

golf fundamentals for alignment

Goal 1 Building a Fundamental Foundation
Goal 2
Establishing a Baseline for Putting

Whats required this week…

→ 1 day, 1 hour at the golf course (2 days at the course would be great!) If you have a second day at the course this week, please try and play at least 18 holes, so we can get a target score to start with. If you know your average score for 18 holes, you don’t have to do this step.

When you play, the key swing thought should be only on tempo! You can add one swing thought in your pre shot practice swing from the video analysis (if you decide to upgrade to that option). Never have more than one swing thought when hitting a golf shot!

→ 4 days spending at least 30 minutes at your home or office doing drills inside. Can do more if you want! We don’t want to start to fast in order to avoid burnout.

→ Follow the practice plan with consistency!

After realizing your strengths and weaknesses with the self evaluation worksheet can now tailor a practice plan to develop the key full swing fundamentals used by all the best players in the world.

What needs to be done first:

→ Refine the basic key fundamentals
→ Develop consistent contact, part 1
→ Find your personal tempo and make it repeatable

Do you know what most PGA Tour pro’s check first when they start hitting the ball poorly?

→ ALIGNMENT!Yes, alignment seems very simple, but you would be amazed with how bad golfers are at setting up correctly. I would say 99% of my golf students line up on average 15-20 yards away from their intended target. If you are reasonably athletic, your mind sub consciously is aware of where the target is even though are you not consciously aware. How do you improve your awareness? This is discussed in the complete game plan (next program for your development).

In the setup, 2 things are important:

  1. Alignment – you can find golf alignment sticks here
  2. Awareness  – Read more here

Below are all the key fundaments for addressing the golf ball for a full swing ↓

Set up check #1 Grip… 

ProperGripgolf-grip

Grips are very personal and effect your feel and this is why…Golf is an art, which is creative and involves feel. If your grip is creating issues, and a qualified golf professional can tell you WHY to change it, try to model the grip above. I am one of the few coaches that will not change your grip first.

Set up check #2 Stance

Neutral stance is shoulder width apart. This creates the correct width to turn properly and stay in balance

Stance varies in width, but it is very minor adjustments. Driver is slightly wider because it is a faster swing, so we need more stability by getting our feet wider.

If you get too wide, it is hard to turn. Too narrow, makes it hard to stay on balance

Weight distribution should be slightly on your front leg (for right handers, left leg).

We want to do this because it will promote us to hit more down on the ball, creating more back spin and help us keep the face more square. Most amateurs try to help it up in the air, HIT DOWN.

Set up check #3 Alignment

IMG_2567

Most golfers put a club down for the feet and point their feet directly at the target. This causes your your club face to be pointed to the right of the intended target (for right handers). Make sure your club face is pointed at the target on all golf shots, and set your feet parallel to the club face.

Set up check #4 Ball Position

Start with the shortest club (sand wedge/Pitching wedge middle of the stance and the ball progressively moves forward in the stance until it is inside the left heel for the driver). You may see professional golfers put their wedges behind middle of stance for full swing shots, but this is advanced and we will not address it until the next program.

Set up check #5 Posture

SetupWillMackenzie

Get in an athletic position, like you would defending someone in basketball or a short stop in baseball. Weight should be in the middle of your feet (in your shoe laces). Most amateurs look like they are sitting in a chair, with too much knee flex and their weight on the heels or too far on the toes.

TIME TO PRACTICE…AT HOME

Whats required of you… 30 minutes at your home or office. Follow todays plan exactly how it is described! *Makes for an entertaining work break!

Objectives

→ Build Full Swing Fundamentals

→ Develop Proper Impact

Phase 1 Indoor Pitch shots ( 10-15 minutes)

  1. Learn how the proper technique for hitting pitch shots. If you can learn how to hit a pitch shot, it will improve your ball striking. Its all about the proper impact position. A pitch shot is just a smaller version of the full swing, but better. Pitch shots are a better way to practice because it is slower and smaller, allowing you to ingrain and feel the proper impact position.
    1. Practice the 5 set up fundamentals before each pitch shot swing
      1. Make sure you are aiming at something. Best if you can focus on the landing spot. This will help you develop feel for when you go back to the golf course
      2. Add on – get soft practice balls and hit them against the wall or in your back yard. Soft Practice Balls
      3. Add on 2 – Just like above, using the impact ball trains you on how to get in the correct impact position
    2. Hit 20 pitch shots into the wall with soft practice balls

Phase 2 Indoor Full Swing Technique (15 minutes)

  1. Very slow practice swings When I say slow, I mean very slow! Stop at each check point position to make sure you are in the right position. Do NOT hit golf shots, just rehearse the proper positions without a golf ball. Reason: Allows you to focus on correct movement because you are not worried about the result of the shot.
    1. 3 sets of 10 swings (5 swings super set)
      1. Pause for 3 seconds at each position in swing (see video below )
      2. After each set do 5 slow motion swings without pausing (super set)
      3. 30% full speed practice swings. Be aware of the correct positions throughout the swing
    2. Add on – I require all of my students to purchase the saber stick.
      1. Benefit of heavy club – improves your technique 10 times faster than a lot weight club
      2. Beware – go slow with a heavy club! Going fast will mess up the sequencing of your golf swing when you go back to a normal club
      3. Heavy club is designed to improve your swing changes faster. If you are looking to improve your swing speed, that is a completely different method, which we will discuss in the complete game plan.

Repeat this practice routine at least 4 days this week. If you have more time repeat this practice cycle as many times as you can!

As you can see, it doesn’t take much each day to improve. Follow this plan all week and we will see you in week 2 for your next practice plan!

Heavy Club Drill (use heavy end of saber stick)

Proper Pitch Shot Technique

2 feet together drill


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