Moe always said, “Hit your Positions”.

Hitting your positions means that if your body is correctly positioned, the club will also follow. What exactly does this mean?

Let’s look at Reed Howard golf swing – to find the key places I look for club positions and following body positions.

Address

At address, I look for organization alignment with the trailing arm, lead arm above the trailing arm but no space between the arms.

First Move

The First movement the club is an extension of the first arm, the triangle of the arms moves and the organization moves inward but stays in front of the body.

Top of Backswing 

Hand at shoulder height, Club parallel to the ground, I don’t even mind a slight bend in the lead arm. Club face is on the plane, both palms of the hands facing the plane and club shaft are also on air. Moe’s first arm had a slight bend at the top. This can take a bit of pressure off of the shoulder as well.

I pay particular attention to this position because the top of the backswing plane is indicative of the spine tilt, arm rotation and lead hadn’t position/grip.

Mid point down-swing

The club is through the bicep; club face is matching back of the lead hand; the body is lowering into position.

Return to Impact Plane 

Club has returned to the impact plane; feet are on the ground. Trail arm is bent, the body is open to the target, and the spine has remained tilted.

Release

Club has extended down the target line as an extension of the arm. Feet are on the ground, the body has rotated open, and spine has remained tilted behind the ball.

Release Plane

The release plane (shaft parallel to the original address plane) shows trail arm extension and that the spine tilt has been maintained throughout the rotation of the swing. Notice how the pelvis is rotated but not as much as the upper torso rotation.

Finish

The shaft lifts to a high finish as the trail foot lifts. The lead leg is stable and flexed – taking pressure off of the back.