Mastering The Golf Swing Fundamentals

It's amazing the number of people who criticize golf as a complicated game full of rules, some considered archaic. I just turn off when I hear this because unless you play the game regularly, you can never understand that golf is a self-challenging game with a few simple fundamentals that need to be mastered.

How simple? Well, to a novice, golf swing fundamentals may seem a little complicated but in reality, they are simple to learn and the one thing to remember, in a lot of ways, golf is played out in the mind. So let's explore the golf swing fundamentals.

Understanding The The Grip

There are three basic grip types.

The single overlap grip: This is where the pinky of your right hand (written for right-handers) overlaps the index finger of your left.

Interlock: This is the same as the single overlap grip with the exception that the pinky interlocks or wraps around the index finger.

The baseball grip: Pretty self-explanatory you hold the club like you would a baseball bat except you are swinging at a smaller ball and on a different angle. All ten fingers will be touching the grip

The trick is to find a grip type that suits you. If a certain grip feels unnatural then try something else. Practice is the key to mastering the grip of the club.

Getting The Posture Right

Many experts believe this is just about the most important of the golf swing fundamentals. Get your posture right and the game becomes a whole lot easier.

Posture involves setting up the ball, the width of your stance, knee flex, straightening of the back, bending from the hip and the angle you maintain throughout the swing. All of these are golf swing fundamentals. It may sound complicated but that's because it's broken up into parts. When it all comes together, you should produce a smooth flowing swing, one that will form the foundation of your game.

Width of your stance should be around shoulder width.

Knee flex: Your knees should be slightly bent to allow a little bit of motion but used more like shock absorbers on a car.

Straighten the back: Your back should be straight at about an eighty degree angle.

Bend from the hips: Bend at the hips not the back.

The angle the back maintains: Try to keep the same angle that you started out with. If you change angles then everything changes.

The All Important Pivot

The pivot is basically how the body moves in sync from your head to your toes. Let's examine it:

Hands and Arms

Hand and arm relationship or better known as coordination is a very important step to learning the golf swing fundamentals.

Picking out a Target

Alignment is simply picking where you want the ball to go. For example, if you are trying to get to the green then make sure your body is facing the green when finished.

There is also a mental aspect in picking out your target. If you are more worried about the water hazard in front of you then guess where your ball is going to go, it is likely going for a swim. Try to look, focus on your main objective, ignore the hazards.

Your Mental Picture

As we mentioned earlier, golf is a game that is basically played in your mind. Some consider mental attitude represents about 90% of the golf swing fundamentals.

You have to be able to play the game without thinking about all the above. That means you need to practice so your body does all the above naturally without you thinking about the next step.

How many times have you heard the expression that he or she thought about the shot too much. Get your mental attitude right and shave strokes from your game.