Watch part 2 now to see how you're moving your body in the opposite direction of the pros!
Rock forward, then rock back
Teaching yourself to get in the perfect golf swing setup every single time, that's what "Five Minutes to the Perfect Setup" is all about.
It's a review of material that has been covered previously. Now we're going to provide a sequence of exercises as a drill for you to practice over and over again. .
Once you've gotten all the repetitions you need - 15 minutes a day for a month - you're not going to know any other way to setup to a golf ball, and that's the goal.
Rock Forward, Rock Back
First things first. With your eyes open, you're going to sway forward, then rock back onto your heels.
Do it five times with your eyes open; rock forward, then rock back, five times.
After the fifth one, do the same thing with your eyes closed. Rock forward, then rock back, keeping your eyes closed.
You want to pay attention to the sensation in your feet.
Feel your heels and feel your toes. Feel the distribution of weight. Then, on the last one, settle into balance.
You should notice that you settled in slightly over your ankles, and you should feel nice and relaxed at this point.
Shrug Shoulders, Depress Shoulders
Shrug your shoulders, then depress your shoulders to "get in the box"
Now that you're balanced, you need to connect to your core and get "in the box." This is key for proper posture in your golf swing setup.
Shrug your shoulders up to your ears. Feel all the muscles in your neck tighten up, then pull your shoulders down.
Once again, you'll be doing this five times with your eyes open.
With each repetition, try to feel and be aware of all those back and shoulder muscles that you may not have even been aware you had.
You're trying to activate those muscles in your back so you'll be able to feel when it's wrong and when it's right.
Now do the same thing again, with your eyes closed. Get your shoulder blades moving, feel your back muscles engage, and start to activate those core muscles.
Make sure your belly is pulled in.
By now you've done 10 reps, so you should be starting to feel that your muscles are engaged.
Hinge from the Hip
For the third exercise, you're going to hinge forward from the hip, this is an important step in achieving proper spine tilt in your golf setup.
Let your weight drop slightly back onto your heels, relax your knees, and let your arms hang down.
Stay in the box as you bow forward.
Now do it again; bow forward and let your weight drop back.Pay attention to where your weight goes on your feet.
Again, relax your knees, stay in the box, and let your arms hang forward.
Repeat this exercise a total of five times with your eyes open. Concentrate on feeling everything.
Bow forward, then hinge from the hip to get into your golf swing setup positon
Now repeat the exercise with your eyes closed, paying close attention to where your weight is.
You may have to do it a little more slowly at first when your eyes are closed.
Hinge your body forward and let your hips drop back behind you so your weight settles in over your ankles. Relax your knees and let your arms hang down.
As you go through the motions with your eyes closed, feel where your weight is resting. Let your arms hang and practice good balance. Make sure you can feel your muscles engaging.
Lean Inside the Ankles, Rock Forward, Rock Back
Lean inside your ankles, rock forward, then rock back to get anchored and balanced in your golf setup
In the fourth exercise you're going to get yourself anchored to the ground. This is an important step in achieving balance and stability in the golf swing setup.
Roll your ankles slightly to the inside. Don't move your knees; just roll your ankles slightly to the inside.
Once you're in good posture, rock forward onto your toes, and then rock back.
At address, many golfers will tend to be out on their toes, just as a result of bad habits. If so, as you go through this exercise you're going to find a point where you feel more relaxed, balanced and athletic.
Again you'll do this five times with your eyes open, and five with your eyes closed to allow your mind to activate its kinesthetic awareness. That's the physical awareness; knowledge of your body's position and balance.
When you do the exercises with your eyes closed, you will find it very easy to feel when you're off balance in either direction.
A lot of golfers tend get out on their toes, and this exercise will highlight that issue.
Hip Bump/Axis Tilt
Final step: Add the hip bump and axis tilt. We call this the secret to the perfect golf setup
Now you're in a good posture, you're in the box, and everything's set up well. The only thing left are your hands; you can't quite reach the club.
It's time, then, to add that little bit of hip bump, that little bit of axis tilt, to your setup.
This will slightly change the position of your hands, allowing you to get your right hand on the club a little better, and get you into a better position at address.
Once again, you'll repeat the movements - a little bit of hip bump, a little bit of axis tilt - five times with your eyes open, and five times with your eyes closed.
Just add a little bit of bump. You'll notice a little more weight set into your left hip as you get into a good posture there.
Practice, Practice, Practice
This routine will to allow you to get the perfect golf swing setup every single time. Just repeat the drills as follows:
Each set consists of 5 reps eyes open, 5 reps eyes closed.
- Rock Forward, Rock Back
- Shrug Shoulders, Depress Shoulders
- Hinge from the Hip
- Lean Inside the Ankles, Rock Forward, Rock Back
- Hip Bump/Axis Tilt
Repeat 2 more times
Do this five days a week, and you will have done 1000 repetitions in one month. After that month of drills, you'll set up like this by default.
It should take you about 15 minutes to go through all the drills and repetitions.
If you do this for a month, your body and brain will start to become aware of what it takes to build the repetitions in there, activating the muscles so you set up perfectly every single time.
This will allow you to get into a great setup position every time, and give you a much better head start on your golf swing.
