Often when you make a change in your golf swing, things feel weird. It’s only natural that when you have been doing something wrong for an extended period and you then make a complete U-turn, your brain is going to resist it.
We often refer to this as “feel vs real.” What you feel as being correct typically isn’t what is really happening in your swing. Any change you make in your swing sometimes will be counterintuitive.
Recognizing key positions within the golf swing will go a long way toward taking full ownership of your golf swing and cultivating the correct feel when it comes to making changes. These key positions can be broken down into four points: setup, top of the backswing, impact and finish.
Setup is obviously the starting point and foundation of the golf swing. Any imperfections in your setup will cause other parts of the swing to break down. Always make sure that your fundamentals are in order, including grip, posture and alignment.
The true starting point of the golf swing, though, is the top of your backswing. Think of it as the starting line of your downswing, and there is a race between your hips, shoulders, arms and hands to get the club back to the golf ball.
Often, though, golfers never complete their backswings, which throws off all the timing on the downswing. Most golfers don’t know what it feels like to make a full backswing. Depending on the body’s flexibility, your top backswing position might be longer or shorter than your playing partner’s.
Don’t be concerned with how far the club goes back or gets at the top of the backswing. There are players we see on Tour who fully rotate their bodies but look like they are only making a three-quarter swing.
On the opposite side of this, John Daly has had an amazing career taking the club past parallel on his backswing, which is credited to his flexibility. Is either one better than the other? No; if you maximize your body’s rotation, you can then start creating the right feel for completing your backswing.
Not completing your backswing doesn’t allow a golfer to sequence their downswing correctly back to the golf ball. Typically, the shoulders haven’t turned 90 degrees to a point where the left shoulder (right if you are swinging lefthanded) doesn’t get underneath the chin. The lead arm will also chicken wing, and the hands never get above the shoulders. This all will cause the body to pivot incorrectly and transfer the weight on the backswing.
To create the correct feel for a complete backswing, start by standing upright with your back straight and legs locked. Hold the golf club out in front of you and fully hinge the club head up toward the sky. The shaft of the golf club should be parallel to your chest while your left arm remains straight. This will help you feel what it is like to fully set the club with your hands and wrists.
While maintaining your wrist hinge, tilt your pelvis to create enough spine tilt that mimics a 45-degree angle. Your back should stay relatively straight. If you lean from your waist, your spine angle will curve, creating more of a slouching posture. Soften the bend in your knees at the same time so that you feel like your weight is on the balls of your feet. Keep the shaft of the golf club parallel to your chest by maintaining your wrist hinge.
Rest the shaft of the club on your trailing shoulder. If you must let your left arm fold slightly to get the club there, that is OK. Rotate your shoulders as far back as possible. The goal is to get your left shoulder underneath your chin while maintaining your spine angle. A good feeling here is to make sure that your left shoulder is slightly lower to the ground than your right. If your shoulders are level, you have lost your posture and have not fully rotated.
Fully extend your hands away from the body and toward the sky while maintaining your spine angle and posture. A good indication of a complete backswing is where your shoulders have rotated twice as much as your hips, weight is on the inside of your back heel, and your hands have raised above your shoulders. Don’t be surprised if it feels like you are stretching more than you have before.
Tip provided by: Alex Fisher, PGA & Top 25 Instructor
About The Author
