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One commonality in all great golf swings is good balance. You will never see a great ball-striker falling all over himself at the finish of his swing.

Just watch the pros. They will hold their finish for at least two seconds. Great balance starts at the setup. The weight will be distributed between the balls and heels of the feet.

Many amateurs reach for the ball because this gives them the feeling of power. But, in reality, all they do by doing this is overuse their right side and throw themselves forward up on their toes through the impact area.

A good, static, balanced address position will have only a slight knee flex and a 20- to 30-degree bend from the hips forward. The arms should feel like ropes, just hanging down from the shoulders at address. This means no tension in the arms at address.

Almost every amateur I have ever taught has too much tension in the arms and hands at address. This tension will creep into the shoulders and will greatly affect your balance throughout your swing. In a nutshell, you must have a light enough hold on the grip in order to feel the clubhead throughout your swing. “If your hands are tight your shots go right.”

Byron Nelson said in all of his writings that you couldn’t stand too close to the ball. I’m not sure this is entirely correct either, but I know I would rather see somebody too close to the ball than too far away.

Good, static balance will also be helped if you understand the second bend in the address position. Of course, the first bend is the bend forward with your upper body to the ball, and the second bend is a slight side bend to the right with your upper body. This is necessary in order for the golfer to coil behind the ball while turning around the spine.

In order to keep good balance on the backswing, the weight must flow into the inside of the right heel while keeping the back knee slightly flexed. The downswing generally starts with the lower body, but don’t force the issue.

Many amateurs simply throw their bodies at the ball on the downswing . In so doing, they end up in an off-balance position at the finish of their swing. Since the swing takes about two seconds to perform, it is quite ludicrous to think you can actually influence your downswing by thinking about it. It would be a far better idea to just think of a balanced position at the finish of your swing.

A balanced finish position would include:

* Belt buckle facing the target and chest facing left of target.

* Knees touching.

* Weight on the outside of the left foot.

* Both elbows relaxed and behind the head. This would mean that your arms are soft at the finish of your swing.

So, if you keep your arms and hands soft and relaxed at address and throughout your swing, you will be able to improve your balance.

A good drill for you to try is to get two pillows and stand on them. If you can keep your balance while standing on the pillows and swinging your club, your balance and your golf swing will improve considerably.

So, remember, the No. 1 fundamental in all great golf swings is balance. Watch the pros and learn from them.

Dr. Jim Suttie, the 2000 PGA Teacher of the Year, is director of instruction at The Club at TwinEagles in North Naples and at Cog Hill Golf Club in Lemont, Ill. He also is a Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher and rated No. 15 by Golf Digest. Suttie coaches the FGCU men’s golf team. E-mail him at jmsuttie@aol.com or go to jimsuttie.com.