Importance of good set up!

[duncan mackie]

I just stop my backswing and start my downswing. Not sure I do anything else at that point. Or maybe the transition is the period as you complete your backswing (but it's not finished) and you have started your downswing.

the transition is the period between the backswing and downswing; for some there's a stationary moment when nothing is going either way, and for others the upper body can be going one way and the lower body the other!

the issue of what's right and wrong in the timing of the elements can be argued many different ways but it is generally agreed that -
1. smoothness is key through the transition
2. the lower body leads the downswing
3. the right shoulder goes down and stays in

 

[Davey247]

Most of my bad shots come from a bad stance. If concentration on the next shot doesn't solve the problem, I had out to the range with my alignment sticks and re-configure myself.

As for sh**ks, I spoke to my pro about this last year and the advice he gave me was to concentrate on my swing being rounded and not starting the downswing by coming over the right shoulder. Then with swing speed start from scratch, hit from 50y they slowly building up the distance and the clubs. Worked a treat, free bit of advice and 45min on the range - I was sorted.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

there must be something really skewwhiff about what you are doing. there is countless people with nowhere near perfect stance, setup and take away and they don't hit Sh**ks!

I was taking the club away 'outside the line' from the word go. I got away with it (mostly) when I played a lot and I grooved a swing to counter the error - but after a long lay-off I fell out of the groove - and that swing now is disaster. So rather than get 'back in the groove' I decided to fix the underlying problem. Of course I can't mix that fix with my old swing.

The great thing is that the fix and a new backswing are enabling me to hit the ball better than ever. It all feels rather odd to be honest - as I feared (I put off getting a fix for decades - literally). But if I trust in the fix and just swing the club following the new start - my pretty good timing etc seem to be able to do the rest for me. But I have to be very diligent and concentrate on every single shot.

Of course my pro says I really need to go down the practice ground to get used to it - but I can't be bothered - so I just work on it whilst on the course.

Though stance wasn't the issue in general - with my 'new swing' it became and issue for my driving. And so now a tweak to my stance to work with my 'new swing' seems to have sorted my driving issues.

 

[delc]

Another 36 pointer and 84 gross (12 over par) today with my improved set up. This was at an away course that I hadn't played before, and included an 8 at a par 5 due to lack of local knowledge. This included 2 lost balls in water hazards that I mis-judged the distance to: Wish I could have played it again with hindsight! Nevertheless I had one of the best ball striking rounds I have had all year. My irons were almost laser like, although the greens were much slower than ours and I left quite a few putts dead on line but just short. So my score could have been much better than it was. Oh well! :mmm:

 

[duncan mackie]

Another 36 pointer and 84 gross (12 over par) today with my improved set up. This was at an away course that I hadn't played before, and included an 8 at a par 5 due to lack of local knowledge. This included 2 lost balls in water hazards that I mis-judged the distance to: Wish I could have played it again with hind sight! Nevertheless I had one of the best ball striking rounds I have had all year. My irons were almost laser like, although the greens were much slower than ours and I left quite a few putts dead on line but just short. So my score could have been much better than it was. Oh well! :mmm:

well I have got you completely wrong - i would have bet you used a DMD when playing.

learn something every day

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Glad it seems to be working for you and hope it carries on.

 

[delc]

N

well I have got you completely wrong - i would have bet you used a DMD when playing.

learn something every day

I was using a DMD, but it is only a basic one that gives the distance to the front, middle and back of the green, not to hazards. Today was one of the few occasions I could have done with a more upmarket one, as the course I was playing (Pyrford) is littered with water hazards at almost every hole.

 

[delc]

It's been about a month since I sorted out my shoulder alignment problem. I am now hitting much more solid iron shots and my game seems less on a knife edge of disaster than it was before. Even my chipping has improved. I had to make a few other minor changes, such as strengthening my grip slightly and holding my hands a bit further forward at address. Although I haven't had any spectacularly good scores yet, my game feels more solid and I have got some of my old length back again, probably because I am making a more effective shoulder turn in the back swing. My previous slight draw with the occasional snap hook has turned into a controlled and consistent slight fade. I haven't quite yet got the hang of aiming properly with the new set up, but I have been playing to or close to my handicap most of the time, so that is an improvement.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Keep going and stay patient

 

[delc]

I didn't play well yesterday. I scored 28 Stableford points but that was mostly down to a red hot putter. I hit several shanks and heeled drives. Thought I'd better go and practice on the range. The first half of my basket of balls were nearly all shanks and despair set in. Out of desperation I tried standing a bit further away from the ball at address (not normally a cure for shanking) and bingo, I started hitting decent shots again. I had been standing too upright and too close to the ball. Strange how these set up errors can creep into your game!

 

[ScienceBoy]

I just stop my backswing and start my downswing..

Nope thats pretty much it.

 

[London mike 61]

Glad it's coming together delc, it just goes to show that it is small things in the set up that seem to make all the difference .

I played a couple of rounds recently where I started to top the ball with my iron shots, after some head scratching and thinking this hasn't happened since I first took up the game, I worked out that I was straightening my right leg in the back swing ( doh!!) .

Once I started to concentrate a bit more, bingo ! , lovely flight and good distance. Now if only I could find it under all those fallen leaves!!

 

[delc]

Played much better today, but I can't give my individual score because it was a Texas scramble.

 

[delc]

I've just had another spell of not playing very well. Realised a few days ago that my stance had got far too narrow (feet too close together) on longer shots, so it was difficult not to sway. Now working on correcting this. Still a work in progress, but I'm starting to hit more solid shots, particularly in the windy conditions that have pertained recently.

 

[chrisd]

It's always good when changes bring better results.

I have driven pretty well but after a few wayward shots, on the course, i tinkered with things to see what changes would bring what results. The one that really worked for me was too increase my grip pressure, so now out of 10 instead of gripping about 5/10 I now feel it 7/10 and I definitely feel that I have more control of the club face and hit more solidly through the ball. It may not be the recommend way to do it but it works for me!

 

[John_Findlay]

I always try to concentrate on the basics when I'm out. Alignment and ball position can so easily change from round to round so I decided to invest in a set-up stick recently. Here's one. I can recommend, although to be honest, something simpler would work too.

http://youtu.be/YTyEHZn-QZ0

Anything that helps with alignment and ball position will help the scores though. I found that I had been setting up with the ball too far forward in my stance on the drives, in an effort to swing up on the ball, but actually it was leading to me hitting the bottom of the face too often with low skinny drives a result

Been using it every couple of holes or so when I'm out practicing on the course lately as I find that when I'm habitually playing for a draw off the tee I can quite quickly set up too closed on my irons afterwards.

http://youtu.be/8eOawkAOWF8

Now I'm hitting the centre of the club face a bit more often with the correct angle of attack. And yesterday I had my highest GIR of the year so far (83%) which is a vast improvement on my average of 50%.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Working hard on posture at the range as I have a habit of getting the shoulders too far forward over the front of my toes and trying to stand taller with the shoulders more level with the balls of the feet. Much taller gives me so much more room to make a proper turn. I just have to work on it as it's so easy to just lean over too far and not always feel it in the feet, or to slouch. Also have a habit of closing the shoulder line so have to keep and eye on that and almost feel it's a little open (its not if you put an alignment stick across them).

 

[delc]

The mnemonic for setting up is GASP - Grip, Aim, Stance and Posture. I personally reverse the first two by aiming the club face down the target line first, but that makes the mnemonic a bit less memorable. Aiming in golf is actually quite difficult because you have to stand facing at 90 degrees to the target line. I always look down the line from behind the ball and pick a spot a few feet ahead over which I want the ball to travel, and also something in the distance as a gross error check once I have addressed the ball.

 

[StrangelyBrown]

Getting the fundamentals right gives you a great platform to work on.

Oor BobMac gave me a small tip regarding my grip and it's transformed how I'm hitting the ball, and how I'm putting. My last three rounds have been 87, 85 and 82.

Off 22

 

[delc]

Yesterday I had a rather poor round (only 26 points) when I hit a lot of semi fat shots that scuttled low and left. Went to the range afterwards and hit a lot of similar shots. Then noticed that I had the ball rather forward in my stance. Moving the ball back a couple of inches transformed my ball striking, to the extent that I was complimented on my iron play by an opponent in a 4BBB match this morning. I pretty much played to my handicap and we halved a very good quality and toughly contested match.