Golf Swing Stance Positions Photo - Golf Tips
Shoulders, Arms, Legs, Hips and Head Position in the Golf Stance
Sep 18, 2009
The golf swing is a chain reaction of movements which starts with the golf stance. The better the address position, the easier it is to make a good one piece takeaway to start the swing, which gives a golfer the best chance of finding the correct swing plane. Although the impact position in a golf swing is dynamic, the stance should be as close as possible to the impact position. Copy the positions in the photo below to improve your golf swing.
Shoulder Position in the Golf Stance
- Because the right hand sits below the left on the grip the right shoulder sits below the left in the stance. Dropping the right shoulder in this way has many effects on the rest of the body.
- With the right shoulder below the left the spine tilts back away from the target, which encourages the club to be swept away on the inside. The right shoulder position in the stance is crucial but many club golfers have their shoulders too level, which makes it much more difficult to attack the ball from the inside on the downswing.
- To make a smooth one piece takeaway on the backswing the stance should be relaxed. It is particularly important to keep tension out of the arms as a tense upper body leads to a forced takeaway. To relax the arms many golfers use a waggle to dissipate the unwanted tension.
- Notice in the photo of the stance from behind, a line through the arms points roughly at the target and reflects the shoulder alignment. Many club golfers have poor grips that directly influence this line. If you have a photo of your own stance and find a line through the arms pointing left or right, check your grip to make sure it’s neither too ‘weak’ nor ‘strong’.
For the golf swing to contain power and club head speed the legs and hips have to work efficiently. The set of the hips is dictated by the spinal angle, which is tilted slightly away from the target. This means the left hip should be slightly higher than the right hip.
The weight should be on the inside of the right foot. This is very important to contain the torque of the spring like turn on the backswing. If weight is on the outside of the right foot the right leg will collapse under the stress of the shoulder turn. If a golfer suffers from tilting, or a reverse pivot, it is very important to set the legs and hips correctly.
Golf Stance Head Position
- The most important part of the stance is the head position as it has a direct influence on the swing path of the takeaway. The head should be set back slightly reflecting the spinal angle.
- Most important of all is the angle of the head. Notice in the photo the pros left ear is visible, not the right. This means the eye line is aiming slightly right of target and encourages a slightly inside takeaway. Very few club golfers manage to achieve this crucial head angle. For any golfers who slice, setting the head set to the right will quickly help improve the swing.
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