This pre-shot routine will help you find a balanced setup on every shot

The setup is the foundation of a solid swing. If you don’t nail your fundamentals when you address the ball, you’re making it that much more difficult to put a solid strike on the ball.

The problem is lots of recreational golfers breeze past this reality. In their pursuit of towering irons and bombed drives, it’s easy to ignore simple fundamentals. But if you want to hit the shots of your dreams, you need to build from the ground up.

A huge key when working on your setup is balance. And on this edition of Home Practice, GOLF Top 100 Teacher Tony Ruggiero stresses the importance of a balanced setup.

“I don’t know that people pay near enough attention to balance when it comes to working on the golf swing,” Ruggiero says.

With the help of Dr. Scott Lynn, a PhD and biomechanist, Ruggiero uses ground reaction force plates to find the specifics of a balanced setup.

“If we’re trying to learn a motor task, it’s good to explore the edges,” Dr. Lynn says. “If we know where the edges are, then the middle is much easier to find.”

You can use this theory and apply it to your setup to discover a balanced address position. Set up to the ball and put all your weight on your toes. Take note of this feeling, and then put all your weight on your heels. Now that you know these two extremes, it will be easier to find a happy medium i.e. a balanced setup.

“That’s a really good pre-shot routine that you can do,” Dr. Lynn says. “Right before you hit, explore your toes, heels, find the middle, and then swing … That little pre-shot trigger could really help you get balanced.”

Golf.com Editor

Zephyr Melton is an assistant editor for GOLF.com where he spends his days blogging, producing and editing. Prior to joining the team at GOLF.com, he attended the University of Texas followed by stops with Team USA, the Green Bay Packers and the PGA Tour. He assists on all things instruction and covers amateur and women’s golf.