Is Posture Really Key to Your Golf Swing? Part 1

Your posture, like the grip, is an absolutely essential cornerstone of an effective golf swing that will produce long, accurate shots round after round.

As hard as it is for me to understand, just like the grip, posture is often overlooked by many people who are learning the game of golf and also by many people who are struggling with their games. They go out of their way searching for the "silver bullet" when the real silver bullet is hidden in plain view. Tiger Woods and his coach Butch Harmon are well aware of the "silver bullet" and they monitor Tiger's posture as well as his grip and alignment constantly because the best player on the planet knows how easy it is to slip out of your posture position and into bad habits which are guaranteed to cause problems in your golf swing.

That's right! Even a player as accomplished as Tiger Woods, constantly monitors his posture, his grip, and his alignment.

Quality posture is not hard to learn but it does require focus on the part of the player to maintain. Ask any successful touring professional how often he or she works on his or her grip, posture, and alignment, and I'll bet you the ranch, more often than not, they'll answer "daily." Ask the same question to a beginner, mid, or high handicapper and I guarantee you won't get the same answer.

Here's the kicker, YOU ABSOLUTELY SHOULD! All players regardless of skill level should pay strict attention to their grip, posture and alignment every time they play or hit balls.

If these fundamental concepts carry enough weight that the top touring professionals are focused on them on a daily basis, then I think that you and I should be focused on these fundamentals as well at least every time we get to practice and play.

Without proper posture as with grip and alignment, it is nearly impossible without major championship talent and a ton of time to practice to consistently hit quality golf shots. Golf is so much easier when you develop solid fundamentals and I hope you'll take the time to develop them today.

I want you to write the following statement down on a piece of paper and slip it into your golf bag. Every time you go out to practice or play, I want you to read it and remember to at least check your grip, your posture, and your alignment.

"My goal is to maximize distance, accuracy, and consistency in my golf swing with a minimum amount of time devoted to practice. To achieve this goal, I must take complete control of every variable within my golf swing that I possibly can. These variables definitely include grip, POSTURE, and alignment. I will begin my practice session or warmup with a check of these 3 fundamentals." DON'T CHEAT..write it down and read it each time you practice or play.

You'll be glad you did.

In part 2, we'll talk a little about How to find YOUR best posture.