The Natural Golf Setup - A Solid Foundation Delivers Solid Shots

It's difficult to Golf Talk without discussing the importance of having a solid foundation to support your golf swing.

The Natural Golf wide stance, single plane setup always reminds me of Moe Norman. As we said in our earlier post Tuning Up The Natural Golf Swing For Accuracy And Distance , Moe spent his life striving to hit a golf ball to a target consistently, and is considered to be one of the two best ball strikers in the history of the game. To achieve this, he created his own golf swing - the single plane swing - which became the Natural Golf swing.

The single plane setup starts with a wide stance. In order to swing a golf club on one plane consistently or repeatably, we need a solid foundation from which to swing back and forward through the golf ball. That solid foundation comes from a wider stance than in a traditional golf swing. In the single plane swing the feet are placed just outside the shoulders, setting up a strong triangular base with the feet, legs and torso.

Over this foundation, or golf stance, the arms and shoulders can be rotated into the back swing without throwing the golfer off balance. By keeping the lead arm and wrist straight with the club becoming an extension of the arm, and folding the trailing arm toward the body as the club moves into the back swing, the lead arm and club stay on one plane traveling around the golfers torso.

See if you can visualize this: The club head behind the golf ball is facing directly at the target, the players arm and the club stay on one plane through the back swing, that single plane is maintained through the forward swing - bringing the club face precisely back to the same position facing the target when it goes through the ball. That's what gives Moe's Natural Golf swing so much consistency. In fact, once you are comfortable swinging the golf club this way, you can actually hit the ball with your eyes closed!

It all starts, however, with that solid foundation. You will be pleasantly surprised how sturdy you feel by simply moving your feet further apart when swinging the golf club.

From this wide setup we are able to turn the shoulders to begin the back swing without turning or "winding up" the hips. With the single plane swing, the lower body remains relatively still and parallel to the target line. No swaying, and no "coiling" of the body to produce torque or club head speed. Club head speed and torque comes naturally with a single plane golf swing on a solid foundation.

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Hit ‘em long, straight and often!

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