Like most casual players, you enjoy weekend golf, you probably even wish you could play more, but we all have busy schedules, right?
That being said, you’d like to improve and start shooting lower scores. You know that a little practice on your golf technique during the week would help, but what should you work on?
How can you get the most out of your time on the driving range without paying for an expensive lesson?
We’re here to help. We’ve come up with 5 basic golf techniques that every beginner or weekend warrior should master.
Keep it simple. Use your limited practice time to focus on these 5 golf techniques and watch your scores drop in no time.
5 Basic Golf Techniques
If you search around the internet, you can probably find 50+ golf techniques, but that’s too much to digest. We’ve simplified it down to the following five:
Proper Golf Stance
What Is It?
To put it simply, your golf stance is how you stand when taking a swing.
This is a critical piece of your setup and a golf technique that shouldn’t be ignored.
How To Do It
There are two parts of your golf stance that need to be correct. First, how far apart are your feet?
The proper stance includes your feet being slightly wider than the width of your shoulders.
Second, you need your stance to be properly aligned to your target. The best way to check this is to set up to the ball and lay the club down at your feet.
If you’re aligned correctly, the club will be parallel to your target, approximately 10-15 yards left of your target (right-handed player).
Why It Is Important
This golf technique impacts your shots in several ways. If your stance is too narrow, you’ll fall off balance, but if your stance is too wide, it’s hard to make a complete turn and clear your hips.
A good rule of thumb is to practice your setup at the driving range using the golf mat as a setup alternatively if you have the space and can practise at home you can always purchase a study mat from someone such as Sigpro Golf Mats where you can nail down your accuracy.
Of course, alignment is critical. It’s very hard to hit your target if you aren’t properly aiming at it.
Correct Golf Grip
What Is It
Your golf grip is how you hold the club. Similar to how a handshake is how you start a conversation, your golf grip is the beginning of your golf swing.
How To Do It
There are 3 different types of golf grips (overlap, interlock, 10-finger). Overlap and interlock are the most popular, but 10-finger can work as well. The key is to determine the best one for you.
Why It Is Important
Poor golf technique related to your grip can ruin your shot before you even take the club back.
Gripping the golf club incorrectly can cause hooks, slices, pulls, and pushes.
This is a critical fundamental if you want to play better golf. (P.S. Don’t forget to clean your golf clubs as dirt can also ruin your shot!)
Proper Hip Turn And Rotation
What Is It
Have you ever wondered what is the biggest difference between weekend golfers and players on the PGA tour? The answer might be hip turn and rotation. It’s how you use your hips throughout the golf swing.
How To Do It
As you start your backswing, you should turn your hips and rotate your weight to your right side (right-handed player).
As you start to bring the club down, you need to rotate your hips out of the way (also called “clearing your hips”) and let the club swing through the ball.
Why It Is Important
If you’re a Happy Gilmore fan, you know that Chubbs told him “it is all in the hips” – he wasn’t wrong.
Quickly clearing the hips and creating space for your swing will give you more power and help you hit the ball more consistently.
Precise Golf Ball Position
What Is It
In the first golf technique, we talked about your stance. The ball position is where the golf ball is in relation to your feet.
Back in your stance would be near your right foot and up in your stance is near your left (right-handed players).
How To Do It
The correct ball position will vary based on the club you’re using. For example, when hitting a driver, you want to use your best golf tee, tee it up high in the front of your stance, and rip it.
If you’re hitting a wedge shot, you want the ball in the middle of your stance. Basically, the longer the club, the more up in your stance (front) the ball position should be.
Why It Is Important
The ball position impacts how you strike the ball. We talk about angle of attack in golf technique #5, but you want to hit down on your wedge shots, while up on your driver. Make ball position a part of your pre-shot routine. Before you swing, check that the ball is in the correct place.
Accurate Angle Of Attack
What Is It
The golf technique of angle of attack sounds complicated but is actually quite simple. It’s the angle of your club when it strikes the golf ball.
How To Do It
A common mistake by casual players is to try and lift the ball in the air. You actually want to hit down on the ball and let the loft of the club get your shot airborne.
The only exception is your driver. The driver is the one club that you want to hit with an upward motion.
Why It Is Important
The angle of attack is critical if you want to hit crisp and consistent iron shots.
If your angle of attack is too shallow, you’ll scoop the ball, duff the ball, and hit it far.
Playing Better Golf – It’s As Easy as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
In order to get better, you’ll need to spend some time at the practice range, but you don’t have to invest hours and try to remember 50 different swing thoughts.
Be efficient with your practice. Keep it simple and focus on these 5 golf techniques.
Golf is more fun once you start hitting the ball better. Instead of bogeys and doubles, start making birdies and pars. Enjoy your time on the course!