Grip and setup: the free fixes most golfers skip

Two things determine most of what your golf ball does, and neither of them happens during the swing. The way you hold the club and the way you stand to it are free to change, take no athleticism, and are where nearly every self-taught fault begins.

The grip decides where the clubface points

Hold the club so that when you look down you see two knuckles on your lead hand and the V between thumb and forefinger points toward your trail shoulder. See three or four knuckles and the face will tend to close, producing a hook or a smother. See one and it will tend to stay open, producing the slice most amateurs fight for years.

This is the single most common cause of a persistent ball flight, and the single least popular thing to change, because a corrected grip feels wrong for about two weeks.

Pressure: firm enough to control, light enough to swing

Squeeze at ten out of ten and your forearms lock and the club stops releasing. At two, the club moves in your hands. Four or five is the range most coaches ask for. A useful test: hold the club out in front of you and let a partner pull it gently. If it comes out easily, you are too light. If your forearms are tense, you are too tight.

Posture starts from the hips, not the back

Stand tall, put your hands on your hip creases, and push your hips back until your upper body tilts forward. Let your arms hang. That is the posture, and it puts your hands under your shoulders where they can swing freely. Bending from the waist with a rounded back is what produces the standing-up move through impact.

Ball position, three positions and no more

Driver off the lead heel, mid irons about two ball widths forward of center, wedges just back of center. That covers the whole bag. Golfers who play every club from the same spot are compensating for one club or the other on every shot.

Alignment: aim the clubface first, then the body

Set the clubface at the target, then build your stance parallel to it. Doing the reverse aims your body at the flag and the clubface right of it, which is why so many players who feel aimed correctly are thirty yards off. Lay a club on the ground when you practice and check it every session.

Get it checked, because you cannot see it

Grip, posture and alignment are the three things a golfer cannot self-diagnose. A single lesson with a PGA professional, or a video taken from behind on your phone, shows all three in about a minute. Most players who take one lesson a year spend it here and improve more than those who take five lessons on the swing itself.

What to check before your next round

• Two knuckles visible on the lead hand, Vs pointing at the trail shoulder.
• Hips back, arms hanging, weight in the middle of the feet.
• Clubface aimed first, body second, checked against a club on the ground.

None of this is glamorous and all of it is free. It is also where the majority of amateur ball flight problems begin and end.