The address position

The discussion of address position seems to always be the first chapter in any golf swing book. Ironically the readers of the books are evidently skipping this chapter.

I won’t go into a boring treatise on the subject here, why beat a dead horse. You should however as a student of the golf swing, understand that your address position directly effects your ability to control your ball flight and literally make correct and consistent contact with the ball.

In my opinion, the most important parts of your “address” or “setup position” are alignment and ball position. Simply stated, as a right handed golfer, if you aim your body to the right of the target and position the ball slightly behind the center line, closer to your right foot, you will create a right to left ball flight, or draw. Curving the golf ball intentionally takes knowledge, practice and skill. This ability is common to all good players. It is how they manage their way around the golf course. If you don’t set up to intentionally hit the ball in a specific direction with a specific curvature I guarantee it will not happen.

For beginning golfers just getting the ball in the air can be frustrating. If you have a competent instructor you should however be learning how to create intentional draws and fades.

If you don’t have time to devote to practicing your address position, including a consistent pre swing routine, you should at least observe the following pictures.

Here are 3 quick tips for a correct impact position. 1. Push your pelvis back. It helps keep your upper and lower body separated throughout your swing. 2. Let your arms hang to eliminate tension. 3. Make sure your ball position is really where you think it is.

The pictures are a good representation of a structurally correct address position using the Amazing Angle golf swing trainer. At the practice range I continually see variations of these pictures. Generally if the address position doesn’t resemble the pictures, good things do not happen.

So, devote some time to your address position at your next practice session. It will pay huge dividends. Join me next time for the discussion on the first move of the golf swing.

Practice with a purpose!