Why Basics Are Important

A player’s basics are the elements of a player’s setup.  These elements consist of a player’s grip, alignment, ball position, posture, distance from the ball, stance width, and tension levels.  All of these elements influence what happens in the golf swing, and therefore all have an influence on ball flight and contact.

I know that many consider reading and learning about these basics as something that can be relatively boring, but I can’t stress their importance enough. These basics will not be the same for every player, but they will have a significant amount of importance for every player.  In fact, the best players in the games history, including Tiger, stressed numerous times how important their basics were to them in their careers.  Jack Nicklaus focused on the basics diligently.  He used to go see his teacher Jack Grout at the beginning of every year to work on his basics and fine tuning them for the upcoming season.

Top players and tour professionals know that by understanding and maintaining the basics they play their best golf with, they can maintain better consistency in their swings, consistency in their ball striking, and improve their scoring overtime.  Better players understand that when unwanted changes occur within their basics, their swings will unconsciously adjust to compensate.  These talented players often have large amounts of natural ability and very athletic golf swings, and even still, they will often make these unconscious changes in their golf swings.  Sometimes these unwanted changes can become engrained and eventually can lead to some inconsistency in the player’s shot making and scoring.

Great players learn that their basics are variables that they can easily check and control.  They learn how much they affect the swing itself.  They understand how the basics become their swings foundation.  Imagine building your house without a proper foundation, the same applies for your golf swing.  Learn how the basics might apply best for you.  Make sure to learn the ways in which you can check and maintain the basics for your future playing careers.