I live in a mountain community and our local course is just that, mountainous. This means that there is no such thing as a flat lie from which to hit the golf ball. This is kind of an exaggeration as the tee boxes are generally level, but not always. It is a municipal course owned by the city of Denver and their budget over the years has not been very generous. A few of the more shaded tee boxes will loose their grass over the course of the season and you find yourself looking for a place to stand that is level enough to hit the shot.

I mention the above to stress the amount of awareness that you need to bring to the course when you come to play golf. Standing on an unlevel tee box can present some subtle challenges to your game and it is important to be aware of those differences. Paying attention to the level can be very important, if the ball is slightly below your feet and you are not standing close enough you could hit it off the toe.  On the course itself you are usually aware of the fact that the ball is above or below your feet and make adjustments accordingly. I say usually but that is not always the case. If your drive sliced off into the rough above a sloped fairway and the others in your foursome were all in the fairway you might hurry to your ball and (even though you selected the correct club for the job)take a hasty shot to get back into the fairway. In the process you neglect to correct for the fact the ball is above your feet and wind up pulling the next shot way left across the fairway into the rough on the opposite side.

Young Bull Elk

This brings up the importance of having a pre-shot routine that you employ with every shot that you are going to take. You cannot have a a consistent golf game without a consistent approach to the ball and a routine that you use every time. It took me years to figure this out and when I finally did the change in my overall score was amazing. Starting from behind the ball as I approach, I am thinking about the lie of the ball itself. is it standing up on the top of the turf or is it nestled down? This makes a big difference in your club selection. Next I check the ground above/or below the feet? What are the other factors that I need to correct for? Do I have trees or obstructions to get through or around? All of this plays into the club selection. Once I have made up my mind as to the club that I will use then I start my pre shot routine.

Standing behind the ball I pick out a long distance target, usually beyond the green itself. A big tree, a house across the hill, even a mountain top. Then I pick out an intermediate target about 3 to 5 feet past my ball. When I approach the ball and get into my stance I am focused on aligning my body with that intermediate target. Now I want to check and insure that my grip is correct. Next I insure that I am the correct distance from the ball. I set the club down centering the face at a perpendicular angle to the target and check to insure that my hands are comfortably hanging straight down from my shoulders. (Not reaching out or too close to my belly) Next I check my balance am I comfortably balanced on the center to the ball of my feet and are my knees slightly bent without sitting down. Is my back straight and am I keeping my chin slightly up so that I see the ball staring down a line from my nose rather than looking straight at the ball with my head angled down. Now I am ready to pull the trigger and make my shot. I have refined this to take about 30 seconds or less but the results are so much better than when I had no routine at all.

Your results may vary, and I am not suggesting that you copy my routine.  More to the point if you are not using a routine you need to develop one.  When I finally understood the importance of a good routine, I looked around for the best training that I could find to help me develop one.  I found actually two instructors online who stressed the importance of a good setup routine.  The first person I would recommend that you read is Tracy Reed.  His Ultimate Golf System is a bit pricey.  He has the most excellent video review of Tiger Woods swing that I have ever seen. And his blog is full of excellent points and advise on the whole game of golf with special emphasis on maintaining your balance through out the swing.  His free golf instruction videos are fantastic.

Obviously the second system that I would reccommend is the Purepoint system for the rock solid fundamentals that Bobby Eldrige teaches.  Bobby recognizes that we are all different in swing speed, heighth and ability and his teaching is designed to take you from where you are and help you to improve.  The  apprentice class will enable you to chart your current ability and then set goals to improve over time. The  golf instruction DVD’s that he offers cover all aspects of your game.  There is no better way to improve your golf game than by having good fundamentals and the beginning of that is a good setup routine.

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