The Grip

The grip is all important. It controls the height, length and direction of your shots and can make or break your game. Rest the clubhead on the ground, with the bottom groove facing your target. Hang the left hand loosely beside the club before folding it over to take hold of the club.

The tip of the thumb and joint of the index finger should be roughly level, with the line between the thumb and index finger pointing up to your right car or shoulder.

Add the right hand, with the palm behind the club, which should be resting in the fingertips. Fold the hand over, with the left thumb in the pocket of the right hand. The index finger is separated slightly from the next in a trigger position, with the right thumb to the left never to the front. The V between them points to the right shoulder.

Ideally, use the Vardon grip, with the right little finger overlapping the left index finger. If you find this impossible because your hands are too small, use the interlocking grip or the baseball grip with no overlap. Look these terms up online to easily find diagrams.

Faulty grips

If the left hand is too much on top of the club or the right hand too much beneath it, you will tend to return the clubface in a closed, left aimed position. The shot will be low and hooked to the left. If both hands are too far around to the left, the grip is weakened, the club face open, and the shot weak and sliced to the right.

The Stance

With the stance (or address position), you are preparing your body to move, setting the plane of swing for a good contact and aiming the shot. Even good players have more trouble producing a consistent stance than any other part of their game.

Keep your feet shoulder width (women think ‘hip width’), left foot out a little, right almost straight, knees knocked in, weight on the insides of the feet. The arms hang in a Y shape, with the right hand below the left, pulling the right shoulder down but not forward. The arms are relaxed, the wrists dropped, and the head high, with the eyes looking down the face.

You must stand up straight, bottom out, and feel springy on the balls of your feet. Don’t sit and sag. You must bend from the top of the legs, not from the waist.

The general rule is to stand as close as possible, with the arms hanging loose and the bottom out; but feel enough space to swing the arms back past the right hip and through beneath the chin.

Ball position

Professionals say they play all shots opposite the left heel. In fact, most don’t. And this does not suit club golfers. Your swing with irons will fall opposite your nose the centre of the stance so play the ball there. If you are young and good, you can play it farther left.