by Jim Church

Created on: December 28, 2007   Last Updated: December 31, 2007

Many people doom themselves to a poor golf shot as soon as they step up to the ball. This is because they set up incorrectly. If you are one of the many, help for you is here.

We will hope that you have a correct grip. If you want more information on the correct grip, please see my article dealing with the grip. A correct grip is important because it is only through the grip that the energy your body generates is transferred to the ball and sends it flying down the fairway.

Not counting the grip, the main components of the set up are ball position and the positions of your feet, legs, body, shoulders, arms, and hands. Let's consider them in that order.

The ball should be positioned so that the club will strike the ball just before the club head reaches it's lowest point. This may be different for different people, depending on the other factors of setup. Only practice will determine the correct position for you.

Many books and teaching professionals talk about ball placement in relation to the left (or target-side) foot. I believe this is an error because the location of your feet change based on terrain and how hard you try to hit the ball. It is better if you place the ball by referencing it to an area of your chest. The proper place for my ball is on the ground just behind a line from my left nipple to the ground. This works well, because no matter how far apart or close together my feet are, the ball remains in the same place relative to my shoulders and my spine which are the swinger of the club and the axis of the swing respectively. You should take the time to determine the proper ball placement for you.
You should spread your feet just about so the inside of your feet are shoulder width apart for a regular shot. Set up so that a line drawn through your ankles is parallel to the target line.

Keep your weight in the centers of your feet while you set up.
Bend your legs slightly and lean forward a bit. Make sure you are steady and balanced. Lean slightly toward the right so that your head is behind the ball and you can see the backside of the ball rather than the top of the ball. Your shoulders should parallel the target line just as your ankles do.

Arm position is one of the keys of a proper set up. If your arms are not correct, you will know it by the errant flight of the ball. When viewed from the front, your arms and the club shaft should form a small letter "y," not a capital letter "Y." Do you see the difference, If we imagine that the hands are in the location of where the two top lines of the "y" converge and that the tail of the "y" is the club shaft then we can clearly see the difference between a good setup and a poor one. There should be a straight line down your target-side arm and the shaft of the club. If you do not setup with that straight line, then you are going to have problems making a good swing consistently.

If you setup correctly and maintain the "y" configuration throughout the swing you have improved your odds of hitting a good shot.

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