Four Golf Swing Basics You Need to Know

When learning the golf swing, there's so much information out there that at times it can be confusing. There's an over complication of the swing so this article will give you some simple golf swing basics that you can put into practice for great results.

The Fundamentals

To get a good swing you need a good set-up. The set-up and grip are both crucial to getting good consistent shots. So ensure that you have a good grip. Whether it's the overlap, the interlock or the ten finger baseball grip, you should have a light grip pressure you want to be relaxed. The "Vs" formed by the thumb and forefinger should point toward your right eye.

Next you want to ensure that you're set-up correctly firstly check your alignment at address. To do this imagine a line going from your ball to your target and stand parallel to this line. Then ensure that your body - hips, shoulders and feet are square, parallel to one another and to the target line. Next aim your clubface at the target.

Now that you're correctly aligned you need to ensure that your stance and posture are correct. Firstly stand with your feet shoulder width apart (the width of the stance should however vary depending on club but this is just a basic set-up for now), then bend at the hips and flex your knees

Make sure that you set-up with the weight on the balls of the feet and evenly balanced between your front foot and your back foot. You should then tilt your spine just slightly away from the target. You should now have the correct grip and set-up position just make sure that you feel relaxed and that you have a nice light grip pressure.

Basic Swing Shape

I want to just give you a quick understanding of the basic swing shape. Basically the swing moves in a circular shape, the "swing path" and the "swing plane" refer to two different but related things.

Let me explain... the 'swing path' refers to the path which your swing takes and the 'swing plane' refers to the angle of the swing path in relation to the ground.

So these terms are different but very much interrelated as the swing path follows the plane, now this plane is tilted it's an inclined plane. It's not vertical like a Ferris wheel but nor is it horizontal like a merry go round but rather it is tilted somewhere in between.

Correct Body Rotation

A lot of golfers are so focused on where their club is through the swing that they forget to rotate their body properly. Rotating your body correctly gives the swing power and accuracy. So before you begin the swing you should have your hips and shoulders parallel.

The rotation begins with the hips and shoulders. The hips complete their rotation before the shoulders in the backswing. The downswing rotation continues with the hips leading first followed by the shoulders.

The Importance of a Square Clubface

Having a square clubface from address to impact is vital for good golf. If your clubface open or closed through the swing or at impact then you are going to hook or slice the ball. Getting solid square contact with the ball at impact will produce a straight accurate shot. This of course is what you want.