Ben Hogan has been quoted that the swing is 90 percent complete once we take our stance. In his book the five fundemental of modern golf he devotes 40% of the book to getting into a fundementally sound stance. Ben Hogan shows us how create a stance that is athletic, able to produce powerful shots, and repeatable.

Ben devotes 40% of the fundementals towards setting up to the ball, how much time do you spend? Be honest. How would you compare the quality of your shots compared to Ben Hogan’s? Remember Ben was one of the first tour players to practice religiously. Like Vijay Signh today, Ben would spend hours each days fine tuning his swing.

The stance is how we set up to the ball as we prepared play the shot. In this example we will assume that you hit a straight ball the majority of the time.

Target Line

Determine the straight line between the ball and the target. Now, simply stand behind the ball and visualize the flight of the ball. This will be our traget line. The target line also palys an important part in determining the path of our golf swing.

Square the Club Face

With the bottom groove of the golf club square the club face by creating a T with the bottom groove and the target line. To create the straight shot the club face must be square at impact.

Many golfers fall into a bad habit of aligning their body first and then squaring teh club face. This is incorrect, it is not our bodies that make contact with the ball it is our club. The club face angle at impact in relation to the swing’s path determines it flight path. Break that habit and square the club face first.

Neutralize your Grip

Remember we are assuming that the majority of shots fly straight so we can assume a neutral grip position. The neutral grip will allow the club to square itself during impact.

Align Body

Assuming the straight shot we will square up our alignment. Heels, knees, hips, and shoulders are square to the target line. Knees will have a sligh flex centering the body’s weight over the balls of the feet. Hips will bend until the club touches the ground.

You can use golf clubs on the ground for reference points for body alignment. Try to have one a few inches out side the target line, one half way between your toes and the target line, also you could place an optional club as a ball position reference.

Check that your knees, hips and shoulders, and eyes are parallel to the target line. Feet will not be exactly parallel to the target line unless your toes have fanned out equal amounts. Use a golf club to double check alignment of your knees, hips, and shoulders; use the golf club between the ball and your feet as a reference. Your eyes should also be parallel to the target line and level to the ground. The eyes provide visual feedback to the brain and provide another means of monitoring your equilibrium. If your eyes are looking left of the ball while at address your body assumes that this is parallel to the target line and as you swing through impact the club will be travelling on an outside to inside path.

For more details on proper alignment and stance be sure to read Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons : The Modern Fundamentals of Golf. Ben Hogan spends dedicates two whole chapters on the imporatnce of setting up to the ball and how it affect your swing.

Ask yourself this, if one of the greatest golfers to ever live stresses the importance of a fundementally sound set up why don’t you dedicated the same amount of time while practicing your fundementals. Personally if my ball strike becomes inconsistent the first things I look at are my ball position, posture and grip.