INSTRUCTION

from 2021 Golfing Magazine, New England Spring Edition

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Add a Little Flare to Your Setup!

There are many elements to a golfer’s set-up position that will either set them up for success or failure. Starting from the ground up, many golfers will incorrectly position their feet. This will produce a host of issues in the motion that either will not work or will need major compensations. Very rarely will I see a player position their feet with enough outward flare to allow their hips to turn fully. The legions of golfers tend to set their feet very squared off or even pigeon toed inward. With the feet are angled outward at address, the golfer can turn the hips more on the back swing but it will also allow the golfer to have the necessary hip slide forward on the downswing. Yes HIP SLIDE! All great players have a linear component to their downswing. If a golfer only turned and returned on the downswing, it would make it impossible to have the entire player’s weight get forward at the finish. The hip-slide component is one of the biggest moves that separate the expert player from the everyday player. The famed club pro at Winged Foot, Claude Harmon said Ben Hogan’s “secret” was his hip-slide! A key move to incorporate into your swing should be to flare both feet outward. Generally the right or trail foot is overlooked. When practicing over exaggerate the flare. You will see that the trail leg will extend more as the hips and tailbone push forward. Pushing your entire hip girdle forward will support your lumbar and thoracic. So in your set-up position try being more like a Mallard and not a Pigeon!

Gene Mulak is the Director of Golf at Silver Spring Country Club in Ridgefield, CT . Gene is a certified Stack & Tilt instructor. He can be reached at (774) 406-1549 or Golf@SilverSpringCountryCC.org

By Gene Mulak