“The feet should be set apart the width of the shoulders when you are playing the standard five iron shot. They are somewhat closer together when you play the more lofted clubs, somewhat wider than the width of the shoulders when you play the long irons and the woods.” Ben Hogan
“You should bend your knees from the thighs down. As your knees bend, the upper part of the trunk remains erect, just as it does when you sit down in a chair. In golf, the sit down motion is more like lowering yourself onto a spectator-sports-stick. Think of the seat of the seat as being about two inches or so below your buttocks. In this semi-sitting position, your body should feel in balance both laterally and back to front. You should feel a sense of heaviness in your buttocks. There should be more tension in your legs from the knees down—the lower part of your legs should feel very springy and strong, loaded with elastic energy. Your weight should be a bit more on the heels than on the balls of your feet, so that, if you wanted to, you would be able to lift your toes inside of your shoes. The back remains as naturally erect as it is when you’re walking down a fairway. Do not crouch the shoulders over the ball. You bend your head down only by bending your neck, not your back or shoulders.” Ben Hogan.
“You know why I’m so goddam good? I never move my right knee.” Ben Hogan to his caddy
Ball Position
“The basic objective in positioning the ball is to where the path of the descending clubhead momentarily coincides with the target line. Although down through the years many good players have used one ball position for all basic shots—I believe Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan both did—others have preferred to move the ball about in relations to the feet depending on the club being used. However, the trend among modern tournaments players is to position the ball identically for every standard shot. I play every standard shot with the ball in the same position relative to my feet. The position should be opposite my left heel.” Jack Nicklaus
Alignment
If you watch any footage of Jack Nicklaus hitting a golf shot, he always picked out an intermediary target as he began his setup. “I would find a leaf or some sort of mark on the grass on the target line a few feet ahead of the ball and in my mind’s eye ‘see’ a line connecting the ball and my mark line up the clubface while looking from behind the ball through my mark to the target; then, holding the clubface in position, walk around it and align myself in an address position square to the face.” Jack Nicklaus.
Shoulder Alignment Governs Path of Clubhead
“Whatever alignment you seek at address—open, square, or closed—don’t make the mistake thinking that by aligning your feet one way your body will automatically follow. The critical alignment factor is the shoulders. Remember that, unless you make a deliberate effort not to, you instinctively swing the club through the ball parallel to your shoulders, no matter where your feet may be aligned.” Jack Nicklaus.
All golfers have a dominant eye. Generally speaking, it’s the right eye. If you elect not to pick out an intermediary target in the initial phase of the setup, you run the risk of opening your shoulders—ever so slightly—every time you look at your target. This is one aspect of the setup that all students of the game should incorporate into their routines. Picking out an intermediary target and aligning your shoulders (not your feet) parallel to that target. If you hit a slice, there is a high probability that you have your shoulders open in the alignment phase of the set up.
As Jack Nicklaus said, “Shoulder alignment governs path of the clubhead. You will instinctively swing the club through the ball parallel to your shoulders, no matter where your feet may be aligned.” With an intermediary target, you eliminate the dominant eye, nudging the shoulders ever so open every time you peer at the target.
------------------------------- line of flight TARGET
------------------------------- shoulders, hips, knees, feet
Waggling
“As ye waggle so shall ye swing.” old Scottish adage.
“Waggle spontaneously.” Walter Hagen.
“At the moment you stand ready to hit the ball there is a natural tendency to tighten up in your hands, wrists, arms, and shoulders. I have found the most effective means of overcoming this tension is the waggle—abbreviated, easy, loose, back and forth movement with the clubhead. To derive maximum benefit, make these preliminary loosening-up motions in the line-of-flight in which you intend to hit the shot. The manner which you waggle you have a definite bearing on the way you start the clubhead back for the swing. Avoid waggling too much. This defeats the purpose of the waggle.” Byron Nelson.
“The essence of rhythmic swing is to be smooth, for only the smooth swing can be rhythmic. But if you get undue clubhead agitation into your preparatory movement (which is what the waggle is) you will get all the feel in your hands, arms, and shoulders, not in your legs, hips, and back, which is where you should feel that you swing from.” Byron Nelson.
“Then the waggle. About the waggle a whole book could be written. Every movement we make when we waggle is a miniature of the swing we intend to make, The clubhead moves in response to the body and the body opposes the clubhead. It is a flow and counter flow of forces with no static period, no check. There is no check anywhere in a good swing. There is no such thing as the “dead top” of a swing . . . the waggle—which is the bottom of an imaginary swing! Because unless you feel the whole of the swing in your waggle, your waggle is failing in its purpose. The whole meaning and purpose of the waggle is that you shall first feel your swing rightly so that you may then make it rightly. I remember watching Sand Herd make his first Cine pictures. In order not to waste film he tried to do without his customary fourteen waggles (shades of Sergio Garcia) and in consequence he could not hit the ball. He could not make the shot because he had not felt it.” Percy Boomer
“Unless you feel the whole of the swing in your waggle, your waggle is failing in its purpose.” Percy Boomer.
“The main thing to remember is that the waggle is just a little bitty swing that follows along the same path—for maybe a foot or so—that your full swing will travel. The waggle sets the tempo for the whole swing, so that if you’re ever fidgety and jerky with this movement, it’s going to be difficult for you to make a smooth swing.” Byron Nelson.
“If you do waggle, let the action help you preview the shot you’re going to play by waggling along the desired swing path thus, out-to-in waggles for a fade and in-to-out waggles for a draw.” Jack Nicklaus.
“Hogan,” wrote Cary Middlecoff, “placed more emphasis on the waggle than any swing theorist before.” He pointed out that Hogan himself had first become aware in 1932 of how crucial the waggle was when he observed the advantage Johnny Revolta gained by using it for short shots around the green. Hogan elaborated on this idea and applied it to his complete game.
“The bridge between the setup and the actual start of the backswing is the waggle. As a golfer looks at his objective and figures out the kind of shot he is going to play, his instincts take over: he waggles the club back and forth. Many golfers have the mistaken idea that it doesn’t really matter how you waggle the club. They think the only purpose in waggling the club is to loosen yourself up so that you won’t be tense or rigid. The waggle is an extremely important part of shot making. Far from being just a lot of minute details,
