Set up for success

One of golf’s great mysteries is why so many golfers forget over time just how important basic set-up is in the endless hunt for a better game of golf. For those of us who make a living on the practice tee, it’s the first thing we look at – and because the theory is so simple, it’s a great way of getting students to trust you before they’ve even tried to hit a ball!

I think the most important thing to bear in mind when it comes to set-up is just how much difference small changes can make – after all, the golf swing is an interconnected being, so whatever you do to begin with will always affect the outcome. If you don’t believe me, try setting up ‘normally’ and then splay your front foot out so it’s pointing almost straight at the target. Tricky, hey? The point of this series is not to cover the ‘beginner’s guide’ stuff, but rather to give you some hints and tips to get you thinking correctly – so let’s get going…

Par tip

Tilt the spine

OK, this one is simple logic. If you’re a right-handed golfer, when you grip the club, the right hand will be lower than the left on the club. It follows that the right shoulder and the right hip must also be lower than the left. But a huge number of amateurs set up with the right hip too high. Next time you’re watching the top pros on telly, look out for their set-up position and you’ll notice this – even if it’s subtle.

If it sounds unnatural, it’s just because you’ve never thought of it! So here’s a simple drill to get you setting up with the correct spine tilt. Stand upright as shown. Now slide your right hand down your hip (lefties, do it with the left). You will now feel as if you’re leaning to the right – that’s good. Now bend over at the hip as you normally would, grip the club and feel what it’s like to get into a perfectly-tilted address position.

“Bend over at the hip as you normally would, grip the club and feel what it’s like to get into a perfectly-tilted address position.”

Why does the ‘tilt’ matter?

Because of the bottom hand being lower, when you swing the club, your body will adjust as necessary to make contact. So if you start with your hips on the same level, you’ll be forced to make a compensating error on the downswing just to hit the ball. And that means one simple route to disaster: a whole lot more moving parts than you need!

Birdie tip

Beat the wind

As coastal golfers will know only too well, it's hard to get an approach close to the hole and leave a viable chance for birdie when the wind's howling. Correct set-up is crucial to playing good wind shots. The weight must be mostly on the left side (as a rule of thumb, 60/40), but the real key is to get the right hip lower than the left hip again.
The mistake most golfers make when setting up is feeling as if they're going to power it low and hard into the wind. They make the mistake of ‘leaning’ in with the top half of the body, causing the right hip to sit too high. The correct technique is to push that left hip up and shift the weight to the left – and in so doing, you will be able to hit the ball with a more ‘sweeping’ stroke, with a shallow angle of attack. And that, together with trapping the ball with your hands in front of the ball, is what will create a low, penetrating ball flight.

“Correct set-up is crucial to playing good wind shots.”

Why does the hip angle matter so much?

If you lean down as shown, the main problem is that it will encourage a steep angle of attack at impact and that’s a recipe for one thing: lots of spin. But when you’re playing into wind, you want to minimise spin that will make your ball climb like a balloon. Rather try to trap it with a sweeping blow, keeping that
left hip high at set-up.

Eagle tip

Conquer the slopes

So you've gone for a big drive, just run off the fairway and now you are faced with a tricky shot off an evil slope. Whether or not you're an adventurous player, having good 'slope' technique is very useful to have in the bag.

It’s as simple as this: whether you’re on an uphill or downhill slope, your hips will naturally be on the same level as your feet, but what you must remember to do is get your shoulders to match the slope as well. Then, when you play the shot, try to swing along the slope in the follow-through. To make things easier for you, you need to position the ball quite far back in the stance for a downhill shot and quite far forward on an uphill shot, but far more importantly, you need to ensure that your shoulders and swing match the slope.

“... more importantly, just get your shoulders and swing to match the slope.”

Why does this tip work?

The weird thing here is that most people will try to balance when they’re on a slope, so the natural tendency is to lean back when you’re on a down slope and lean forward when you’re playing off an uphill. But that puts the top and bottom half of the body in an impossible position when it comes to making a swing. Imagine if you took those two stances and then made them ground level – what a crazy set up position! Sure, from there you might get lucky and make contact with the ball once in a while, but it’ll be despite your technique, not because of it!

Tip by Grant Hepburn

Grant Hepburn has been a regular face in Compleat Golfer for almost a decade. His CV includes time spent working with David Leadbetter, a partnership with Robert Baker in Logical Golf and an impressive list of top amateur and professional golfers. Having recently returned home, Grant has set up the South African Golf Institute and is based at the institute’s Cape Town academy at the River Club, where he versees a small, dedicated and highly-trained crew of fully-qualified PGA professionals.

For more information, phone 021 300 0140 or visit www.sagolfinstitute.com.