Physiology - Part 1

My whole teaching philosophy is based around the knowledge that swinging a golf club is a simple and natural thing to do.

As long as you do it in sympathy with the way your body works, rather than fighting against it.

This means that you need to place the hands on the golf club in sympathy with the way they hang when you stand in good posture.

Doing so ensures that when the club is swung through to the impact position, the hands present the clubface squarely to the back of the ball without manipulation or contortion.

In order to place the hands on the club in the most natural manner and to have them deliver the clubface effectively, it’s useful to identify a couple of key features of the hands.

If you stand relaxed with your arms by your sides, your hands hang naturally with the palms facing slightly inward, at somewhere close to a 45 degree angle.

There is a slight angle where the back of the wrist meets the back of the forearm, and a slight cupping where the base of the thumb meets the wrist.

When you place the hands on the golf club, try to retain these angles as much as possible so that the club is held in a natural and comfortable way.

It is almost impossible to close your hand without changing your wrist angles slightly, just don't exaggerate them.

If you cannot sole the club correctly on the ground without arching your wrists, it's a sign your clubs are too upright for you, a common club fitting error.