The Importance of Finding Your GAP (Grip, Alignment, Posture)

In order to be a good golfer, you need to know how to keep the ball in-play.

The ball doesn’t care how far it’s hit, and smashing the ball long-distances doesn’t necessarily translate to low-scores. If you can pound the center of the club-face and hit the ball on-line, then you’re in-business.

Along those lines, no one-swing is the same as another; and learning how to score (well) has more to do with playing-&-managing your game than dealing with the intricacies of your swing.

If you’re one of those players who’s prone to (trying to make improvements by) “going down the rabbit-hole” in terms of how you swing the club, then you might be a perfect candidate for replacing your current-process/approach with a simple-checklist.

After all, today’s subject-matter happens to be a quick-fix as opposed to a lengthy-project; a simple solution that’s also worked wonders for a five-time major-championship winner. Given that it’s been working for this 6-foot, Nike-donning juggernaut, it’s destined to do the trick for you.

If Jordan Spieth’s brutally-honest assessment of his own game (and) following his (14 over-par) missed-cut at the 2020 US Open checks-out as a prime-example of how this maddening-game can drive us crazy, then the antithesis of Spieth’s mentality has to be the mindset that Brooks Koepka employed amid his three-year tear that amounted to four major-championship victories.

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As is often the case when fans-&-reporters react to any professional golfer who’s been in a league of his own for an extended period of time, those who were fortunate enough to watch Koepka play in a different stratosphere have been asking questions about his mindset-&-approach ever since; and the average-amateur responded to Brooks’ successes by setting his sights on the one key piece of information that’s been (hiding and/or) missing from his uninspiring game.

After Koepka captured his second (out of three-total) PGA Championship titles in 2019 at Bethpage Black, one could argue the then four-time major-champion was so giddy with excitement that he dropped his guard and, ultimately, divulged his most-coveted swing-thoughts. While it would be unreasonable to pretend that Brooks’ unveilings were the kinds of earth-shattering tips that (Azinger conceals; and) have the potential to revolutionize every golfer’s game, his insights still ring true; and the simplicity that’s inherent to such advice happens to be precisely what most golfers need.

So, does Brooks like to think about getting steeper with his swing-plane? Nope.

How about getting flatter? Negative.

His take-away? Wrong again.

Staying on-balance? Go Fish.

Transitioning the club? No sir.

The length of his swing? Ok, this isn’t getting us anywhere…

Rather than gearing his focus towards the physical-motion of the swing, Koepka hones-in on all that happens before he takes the club-head back; or how he prepares for (executing) the shot with his grip, alignment, and posture.

By setting-up to your ball with the proper grip, alignment, and posture; you’re putting yourself in-position to be successful. Let’s start with the basics of the grip:

Landing-on an inter-locking grip, an over-lap one, or (even) a baseball-grip is your choice; and trial-&-error is the only way you’ll be able to know (for sure) what works for you. For Koepka, he utilizes an interlocking-grip while (also) making sure his lead-hand is positioned so that it’s slightly strong.

Like all of the top-players, Koepka rests his trail-hand on top of his lead-left thumb and wraps the fingers of that same-hand around the grip to the point where his grip-pressure is a 4 or 5 out-of 10. As Davis Love III says, you want to make sure that your hands are “opposing” and that you’re applying equal-pressure to the grip with both hands.

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While modern-day teachers are more inclined to tell their students to grip the club firmly with both hands so that they can maximize their distance, traditionalists like Sam Snead preferred to hold the club’s grip as if he was holding a baby-bird; snug enough that the bird won’t fly away and not so tight that he’d be hurting it.

To check your (hold-on the) grip, place your hands on the grip and, then, swing the club with as much speed as possible; without losing your balance. If your grip feels restrained, uncomfortable, or your hands lose-touch with the grip; you may have to alter your grip.

Sometimes, golfers that can’t perform toe-tappers at the completion of their swings find themselves off-balance due to their grip’s deficiencies; specifically their grip-pressure and their tendency to hold the grip more in the fingers or more in the palm of either or both hands. For the most part, golfers who hold the club (too much) in the palm of their lead hand also tend to utilize a weak-grip; a grip that allows the player to see less than two-knuckles on their lead-hand at-address.

As the Golden Bear has told us more than once before, there’s no substitute for having a fundamentally sound-grip; and if the palm of your trail-hand along with the bottom two-knuckles of your lead-hand aren’t (both) facing your intended-target at address, then you best believe that Jack has his doubts about your grip.

Once you have confidence in your grip, it’s time to move-on to your alignment. If your club-face, feet, hips, and shoulders are pointing towards your intended-target at address, you can rest assured that you look like a golfer. Without proper alignment, achieving-consistency is a stretch. During your next range-session, work on your alignment by (either) putting a club on the ground or an alignment-stick (as long as it’s straight) ; and make sure that your object of choice is parallel to the line you’ve created with your feet.

Despite the fact that not all players should address the ball with the exact-same posture (depending on your physical-build) , there are certain-hallmarks of proper posture that you should know. Slouching is a no-no, as is a deep-bending of the knees, and nor do you want your posture to be so rigid that you’re placing unnecessary stress on your body; like Will Zalatoris did before he ended up with a slew of back-related injuries. Mainly, keeping your feet at shoulder-width apart is a good baseline to abide by; and don’t forget to keep your feet-widest on the driver and most narrow on chip-shots.

As a few top-instructors have pointed out with Brooks’ posture, the five-time major-champion looks more like an athlete over-the-ball than a golfer. Specifically, Brooks utilizes a wide-stance w/ his feet, (a) moderate knee-bend, and he leans forward from the waist-up; while setting his hips back in a way that accentuates the look he has with his upper-body and how it hovers over the ground/his-ball.

Over the ball, Brooks’ hands-&-arms are positioned comfortably in-front of him and his entire-posture has an angular shape to it that can be attributed to the way he sets his hips/back-side (-back). Also, Koepka’s shoulder-line, in-relation to the ground (perpendicular to the ground) , runs directly through the tips of his feet; meaning he’s in a perfectly stacked-position.

If you’re skeptical about (what you stand to gain by) taking a hard-look at your grip, alignment, and posture, then I’d urge you to do some research of your own; so you can see for yourself how legends like Jack, Arnie, Brooks, Raymond Floyd, Gary Player, and Ben Hogan (among others) go-about their craft.

All-the-time, golfers commit the kinds of swing-errors that seemingly never go away; and their faults hang around because they misdiagnose the source of their problems. Had these amateurs known that many of their in-swing mistakes happen to be the byproducts of grip, alignment, and posture related-inputs , they would’ve probably solved the Rubix-cube that’s been needlessly interfering with their ability to enjoy this game a long time ago.

Instead of heading to some golf instruction chain-company that has hopes of turning you into a lab-rat that’s been funneled into some rigid, intricate swing-model system, you’re better off relying on yourself; by learning what your best interpretation of GAP looks like. That way, you’ll actually walk-away (having saved your money and) with a stronger-game and a clear-mind; which certainly beats being utterly overwhelmed-&-confused.

Cover Photo via X