Pivot
Once you have mastered the correct grip and posture, you can move on to the pivot. Here are some exercises that will help you master your pivot:
Exercise One: How to Address the Ball
Place the golf ball on the ground in front of you and rest a club behind your back as a guide to show you how straight you are standing. Spread your feet as you would if you were beginning to swing—shoulder width apart with feet slightly flared so the toes of your shoes are pointing out five to ten degrees. Equally distribute your weight on your feet. Appropriately flex your knees. Next, bend from your hip socket (with the club still behind your back as guide). This exercise will show you how to bend from your hip socket while keeping your back straight.
Exercise Two: Mastering the Back Swing
Holding the club behind your neck, across your shoulders, shift your weight over your right foot and release the instep of your left foot. While you do this, tilt your shoulders so that your right shoulder is pointing up and your left shoulder is pointing down. The left side of your club should be pointing at the ball, or right behind the ball.
During this exercise, your head does not move anywhere, but slightly to the right—and your eyes stay on the ball. The goal of this exercise is so you can see how to make your right foot, hip, and your head stay in a vertical line.
Exercise Three: Master Striking the Ball
From the final position of exercise two, shift your weight from your right foot to your left foot as you lead, or swing, with your hips and point the right end of the club to your right foot. As you do this, release the instep of your right foot so that most of your weight is now on your left foot.
After you complete this motion, your shoulders, belly button, and hips should be facing the target and your eyes are forward, not down.
Once you have mastered these three exercises with the club behind your back, you can try it with the club in your hands—using the proper posture and grip, of course.
Hand and Arm Relationship
If you have the correct grip, the correct posture, and the correct pivot, your hand and arm relationship is probably pretty good.
One way to think of your golf swing and the hand/arm relationship is to imagine that your golf swing operates like a tricycle tire. Your body is the center hub, your arms are the spokes of the wheel, your hands are what connect the spokes to the rim, and the head of your golf club is the rim. If any of these are out of line, the wheel will not turn properly. Thinking about your swing in this manner will help you to avoid snapping your wrists or allowing your hands and arms to move the club head away from the rim
One way to keep the wheel turning is to make sure you keep your right arm slightly bent and your left arm straight when you are addressing the ball—and make sure you have your elbows turned into your body.
Alignment
When talking about alignment, this refers to how you position yourself in relation to the target, or the area where you want your ball to go. If you have everything else correct, but you don’t align yourself properly to the target, you’ll be disappointed in your shot.
When it comes time to take your shot, think about nothing but the target and focus on it. If you are thinking about something else on the course, or glancing at something else, your body will gravitate toward that point, instead of your target.
Next, pick something that is in front of the ball and in line with your target. This could be something such as a particular blade of grass or a twig. Whatever it is, it should be within a foot of the ball and something that you can see when you look down at your ball. Make sure your club head is facing this target when you align your shot—and that your hips and shoulders are in an imaginary line that is parallel to the target.