Golf Tip, by Steve Godley Director of Instruction, Jekyll Island Golf Club
FUNDAMENTALS – MOST IMPORTANT, MOST IGNORED
In my 25 years of providing golf instruction, many students seem to seek two elusive basics from a golf lesson—distance and consistency. The students explain that their game is “on again – off again” and that they seem to lack the distance they should be achieving. I have found that the majority of players are missing some basic fundamentals of a golf swing.
The fundamentals of golf are like the foundation of a house. A good foundation supporting a house makes for a long lasting and enjoyable home. A house with a poor foundation is livable but has many problems over the course of time. Just like a golf swing.
There are only 2 basic fundamentals to a sound golf swing. Grip and posture. We will mention the posture aspect first. You want to make sure that have set yourself in a good, athletic position. Bent from the waist, a slight knee bend, with your weight evenly on the balls of your feet. Most people that I have encountered have played some sort of athletics over the years and have no problem accomplishing this.
A poor grip is the fault seen by golf instructors. There is an old saying that “you will never see a good golfer with a bad grip or a bad golfer with a good grip”. No truer words were ever spoken. Players tend to grip the golf club in a manner which is most comfortable to them. With the club positioned more in the palm of the hand. The proper grip should be as deep into the fingers as possible. Starting at the base of the pinky finger and across to the middle joint of the index finger. The next step is to roll the hand over and locking the club under the heel pad of the hand. If this is done correctly, you should be able to hold the club with the middle two fingers of the hand. There are a couple of checkpoints that we use to insure the club is gripped properly. The “V” formed between your thumb and index finger should always be pointing at your right shoulder. And when you look down you should be able to see the first two knuckles of your left hand. Gripping the club in this manner will allow the clubface to square itself at impact, thereby eliminating the need to adjust for the slice.
If you feel that you are having a problem with these fundamentals or other areas of your game contact your Jekyll Island PGA Professional for help.
Jekyll Island offers individual lessons, corporate and group clinics, as well as 1, 2, and 3 day schools. Weekly clinics starting in December.
phone I (912) 635-2368
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