Balance and Posture for Better Swings

Everything counts when playing golf - proper equipment, your level of fitness, posture, stance, grip, balance, and swing are all important. With proper guidance and moderate practice you can master a good grip and achieve a good swing.

There are many programs available to help you increase your fitness level as well. The things that seem to elude many are the proper stance, posture, and balance. It’s crucial to get these set correctly and here’s how you can do that.

Improper body tension has a tremendous impact on your swing and lowers your scores like nothing else. Of course a firm grip and a proper swing contribute to the quality of your game as well, but tense body makes your mind tense and this affects everything.

So to begin lets take a couple of deep breaths and loosen up the neck and shoulder muscles. Don’t worry if your head moves slightly - many good players move their heads a few inches during an elegant and powerful swing.

Place your heels about a shoulder width apart, take a good grip and address the ball. You need to place your heels a little further apart when doing low numbered iron and wood shots, and a little less for chips. Slightly bend your body at the hips while keeping your back and waist straight. Jutting your butt is acceptable as long as you don’t exaggerate.

Distribute your body weight slightly forward toward the balls of your feet and let your arms swing freely. Do not tuck your chin into your chest - keep your eyes pointed away at the ball to achieve this.

You should be well balanced and completely relaxed at this point. Try lifting your foot - if you can do that without falling over, your weight isn’t balanced.

If a slight nudge can push you left or right, you’re out of balance and you don’t have a firm stance. If a slight shove can push you over backwards, your weight is too far back on your heels.

If you place your weight too far back toward your heels, you will tend to swing too much from the inside to outside. This will result in a hook. To avoid this verify that your kneecaps are almost directly above the balls of your feet.

Examine your stance. Your shoulders should be level and aligned along the target line. If you’re right handed, your left foot should be slightly open and an imaginary line running across your eyes should run parallel to the target line when you swivel your head to the left. When in the proper position your weight remains equally balanced while your spine will angle slightly away from the target.

You need to remain balanced throughout the swing. Practice a backswing-to-downswing - you should be moving through a single swing plane throughout which will be difficult to maintain if you’re out of balance.

Your weight moves to approximately 75% on the inside of the back foot, 25% on the forward as you move into the back swing. Through the downswing to impact the percentages will reverse.

Remember that your swing evolves from your setup - master stance, balance, and posture and a good swing will come.