BACK TO BASICS

The new year is a good opportunity to check your fundamentals

- Coach Gary Alliss

Every time a professional hits balls on the range, they’ll be checking the basics – aim, alignment, foot width, ball position... it’s all part of the set-up routine. These might not be the exciting aspects of practice, but they are the most important. All too often, however, they get overlooked.

Whether you’re a beginner or a regular player, it’s easy to fall into bad habits and for errors to creep in, especially if you’ve not played for a couple of months. How often does your playing partner remark about where you were aiming, or how far forward you had the ball in your stance?

Over the following pages, Top 50 Coach Gary Alliss helps you to nail the fundamentals and become a more consistent driver of the golf ball.

1 Posture

As set-ups go, this is pretty much perfect (main picture). You can see the slope through the shoulders, the ball position is good, and the feet are just outside shoulder width apart. If I’m being critical, my right arm looks a little straight here. If it’s too straight, it won’t fold properly on the way back. In other words, it gets in the way of a good backswing.