Through this setup checklist for every recording for guaranteed solid contact

Welcome to playing Smart, a regular game allowance column with golf.com that will help you become a smarter, better golfer.

This year I was emphasized – sometimes on a borderline obsessive quantity – my setup. In the winter I promised 2025 to make the year of Fundamentals, and I did my best to keep that plan all summer.

Why the obsession with boring Fundamentals? Because they are the basis of a good golf walk. If you have not nailed the basic, you seriously limit your ceiling. Every time you go to a swing coach, the first thing they will do is check the basic principles – attitude, posture, alignment, grip, etc. Sometimes the problem comes with your swing of an error before you even take the club back.

With that in mind, I always try to get better in my pre-shot fundamentals and that includes asking for advice from some of the best teachers in the game about them. Such a conversation came last winter with GolfTop 100 -teacher Jeff Smith on Cabot Citurs Farms. During our conversation, Smith gave me a quick checklist to continue for every shot to ensure that the foundations are arranged.

Use this setup checklist for guaranteed solid contact

Closing a nice flat lie is always preferable to turning a kind of slope, but in this game you will encounter a number of unequal lies. And when that happens, you must make a few adjustments to your setup to ensure that you generate solid contact.

1. Stabilize your base

First things, you must have a stable basis on your downhill leg. When you end a uplop, it is your trail leg and vice versa for Downlopes. Find the downhill bone and make sure it is stable before you do something else.

“If I don’t do that, I could float and drift the hill as soon as I start moving,” says Smith. “And now there is no chance that I will find that golf ball.”

2. Make the slope level

Your next step will yield your shoulder level with the slope. If you are on a appeal, you will tilt back and if you are on a Downslope, they tilt forward.

“You want to match your shoulder line with the line of the ground,” says Smith.

3. Set your club length

Yes, every individual club will always be the same length, but the effective The length of the club can change based on the slope that you turn off. So once you stabilize your basic and have set your shoulders, you can determine where you hold the club on the grip.

“Let your arms fall and hang them naturally,” says Smith. “And so we will find the club length.”

With your arms in a natural way, you can now put the club in your hands and determine where you hold the club on the basis of the low point of your swing arch of the unequal lie.

“For every shot that is different, if I have the same three -step process, I suddenly have the right length of the club to easily get to the ball, but I don’t have a club where I put it in the ground for too long,” says Smith.

4. Determine the ball position

Now that you have the right club length, you have to determine where the ball should be placed. For that you have to make some practice fluctuations and find the bottom of your swingbog.

“As soon as I find the bottom, I will place my ball there,” says Smith. ‘

Run away

It may seem annoying to continue this checklist for every swing, but if you have a shot from an unequal lie, it can be a game changer. This checklist takes the guesswork out of your setup, so by the time you are waving the club, you don’t have to worry about making even more adjustments. You can just walk away and know that you are going to make solid contact.

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