Once you’ve caught the golf bug, you’ll try just about anything to get better. One week, it’s a viral swing drill. The next, you’re making practice swings in the living room or staying up late studying your favorite tour player’s swing on YouTube.

While it’s tempting to believe that one swing thought can change everything, the reality is that better golf is usually built on the less glamorous work.

It’s a lesson PGA Tour pros understand better than anyone. While their swings may look effortless to us mere mortals, the game’s best players are constantly working on the basics. Just ask Cameron Young.

In the most recent episode of Warming Up with GOLF’s Dylan Dethier, Young explained that the most common advice he gives to amateurs is also the simplest: build a solid setup.

“Everybody can set up properly,” he says, “There’s nothing keeping anybody from setting up with pretty square feet, shoulders, hips. But people screw that up a lot.”

Why the setup never stops being important

While he explains that one of the biggest challenges for amateurs is a lack of time spent refining key fundamentals, there’s another surprising factor at play — one that even he still struggles with from time to time.

“Most people’s concept of reality is pretty off. Like even mine, I still fight,” Young says. 

One way Young combats this is by making exaggerated rehearsal swings to feel square because what feels correct often isn’t. 

“I fight like right over and left foot forward — like closed hips,” he says, “So, I’m always — like I mean I was out there at the range yesterday taking practice swings like this, taking little [swings] to try to just make the natural position more square.”

It’s a reminder that “feel” and “real” rarely match and that the answer isn’t usually found searching for another swing tip — but rather by spending time confirming you’re aligned and square.

The next time you’re tempted to chase a fast fix, start with your setup instead. It might not be flashy, but as Young explains, mastering the basics is often the shortest path to better golf.

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