If you have read any of my articles before you understand that I firmly believe your set-up controls and sets the tone for the rest of your stroke and it can be positively or negatively influenced very easily. I learned this from Jack Nicklaus who stated that 90% of the flaws in the full swing occur and are established at address- who would know better than the greatest that ever lived? When I turned professional, I discovered that I really did not like to practice; whenever I went to the practice tee I did do for a reason and this reason was to fix the causes not the effects of my swing flaws. We want to spend our practice time wisely working to eliminate the poor mechanics in the set-up right from the start.

As golfers we understand that professionals set themselves up better and more consistently than amateurs and we also know that these set-up flaws cause poor swinging motions, but just what are they and what are they correlated too anyway? In my research I have identified four common set-up flaws and the major swing flaw that they influence. If you identify with one or more of the flaws below in your full swing motion then check your set-up and you may correct these flaws much easier than ever before.

1) Are you “lifting” the club to the top off-plane causing disconnection between your arms and your body?
2) Do you tend to over-rotate your body to the top and move the club too much to the inside off the takeaway?
3) Do you find that your lowerbody tends to be “dead” throughout the swing?
4) Is poor balance or a loss of your “spine angle” to the top a problem?

These flaws are the most common with the following Set-up Flaws (in order, as above)

1) Insufficient Lateral Spinal Bending (away from the ball)
2) Excessive Lateral Spinal Bending (away from the ball)
3) Insufficient Forward Spinal Bending (toward the ball)
4) Excessive Forward Spinal Bending (toward the ball)

(Note: There are several categories above that may overlap and I have seen swings that conglomerate several of these flaws together, but please take each of these individual set-up flaws to the extreme and it will become more evident as to how they cause poor overall swinging motions in every person!)

If you possess “Insufficient Lateral Spinal Bending” then your spine tends to be too vertical or straight up and down at address, not tilted enough to the right for the right-handed golfer. This lateral bending of the spine controls your Center of Gravity and tells the weight where to go during the backstroke, as well as, programs the correct on plane takeaway and subsequent backstroke motions. This is the most problematic set-up flaw for players of all levels- for the low handicapper, they tend to lift the club off plane off from belt high to the top, the mid-handicapper lifts the club off the start of the takeaway and tends to slide or lock the right knee to the top, and the beginner lifts the club and never allows the weight to leave the left foot to the top- the classic reverse weight shift. This side bending controls your backswing plane from address to 9:00, from 9:00 to the top, and the weight displacement to the top by keeping the right knee steady. If you are off plane, feel the right knee move excessively to the top, or have a poor weight displacement to the top then your probably have poor lateral spinal bending to the top. (Drills?)

“Excessive Lateral Spinal Bending” will cause your spine to tilt away from the ball too much laterally during the address- excessively to the right for the right-handed golfer. This type of set-up flaw will cause your torso to become too active rotationally off the start and tends to pull the club too far to the inside off the start of the backswing. If you have an over-active torso off the start then you will have a low X-Factor to the top and your power will be limited. If the club sags below plane off the start then you will find that the club will get stuck behind you at some point during the backstroke and this will cause an overly flat swing or a “lift and chop” from the top. The lower handicapper will have an overly inside takeaway off the start and then must make compensations during the rest of the swing to be on plane on the way down, the mid handicapper will have over-rotation of the torso and an overly inside takeaway causing the club to become stuck and a lift and over the top transition will ensue, while the high handicap player will just over-rotate their torso yanking the club into an overly flat and short backswing position causing a loss of distance, power and accuracy. This is the most deadly of the combinations because if you get the club short, flat, and have excessive torso rotations to the top then long irons and drivers are impossible to hit! (Drills?)

“Insufficient Forward Spinal Bending” of the spine will cause most players to leave their lower bodies in the “dead-zone” using all arms to transport the club because in order to reach the ball without leaning forward the knees must be flexed excessively. If you flex your knees to the excess your lowerbody will not be able to rotate- this over flex is great for the flexible type of player, but for most of us with normal flexibility it is deadly. This flaw is common stemming from the idea of the sitting on a bar stool concept that was popular in the past. Taken too far this type of set-up will cause the lowerbody to become restricted to the point that it is not even used in moving the club throughout the swing and the arms are required to move the club. The high handicap player enters this set-up flaw because it is more comfortable to set-up in this manner and at this stage a comfortable feeling in mistakenly though of as fundamentally correct. The mid handicap player falls into this set-up flaw because of weak and imbalanced torso core muscles reserved for the homeostasis of postural support. This is usually caused by sloppy practice habits or added weight in the abdominal area placing added stress on the rectus abdominis and erector spinae muscles in the front and back of the torso. The lower handicappers falling into this flaw tend to have the above problem with added weight in the abdominal area causing weak postural muscles, or have clubs that are not fit correctly for their bodies and are too upright for them entirely. (Drills?)

“Excessive Forward Spinal Bending” will always make you look “toe heavy” where your arms hang too far away from your body and your head hangs too much outside the toe line of your stance. When you place yourself in this type of position you will find that your balance and center of gravity will be hard to control and if you do make it to the top without falling down, most of the time you will have “stood up” at one point or the other to move your “CG” backwards so you won’t lose balance. Your body has ingenious ways to counterbalance your body and keep it homeostatically in control, if you set-up in this matter you will move around whether you like it or not. The lower handicapper tends to slide the head laterally on the way to the top allowing the upperbody to lean over the right leg too much at the top instead of lifting the head up on the way to the top. The mid handicapper most always “stands up” in route to the top making postural changes that the balance centers in the eyes and ears sense making changes occur on the way down without much effort. The higher handicapper will leave their forward bending excessive on the way to the top, restricting backstroke motions, and then on the way down stand up and lift their heads in efforts not to stick the club into the ground. In all cases the body is trying to make up for the faulty position at address at all costs through counterbalancing and monitoring where the CG and balance points are through homeostasis- no one is excluded from this action! (Drills?)

As you can see your set-up will cause your body to act and react in certain ways like you never thought possible, it is your job to understand what it is telling you. There are only two factors to control in the swing, your powerful package consisting of the clubshaft, hands, and arms AND the torso itself. If you set-up in a poor manner the clubshaft will move off plane or your body will have to move around to compensate for the poor and out of balance set-up position or these off plane clubshaft motions! Learn to understand the cues of what your body is telling you and fixing your swing flaws will be nothing more than altering your set-up and letting the body do what is normal and homeostatically correct. A video camera will allow you to understand your swing and use the pictures in this article to move your body into the positions that are most effective for your swing and its tendencies. There is no one correct set-up position for everyone but there are guidelines- use the factors above to move your swing into the positions that you need for golfing success!