01

Phase One

Address & Setup

Everything starts here. A repeatable, athletic setup is the foundation for a consistent swing.

Stance width

Feet roughly shoulder-width apart. Flare lead foot 10–15° toward target.

Posture

Hinge at hips, slight knee flex. Keep spine relatively straight — don't crouch.

Ball position

Driver: inside lead heel. Irons: center to just forward of center.

Grip pressure

Light to medium — a 4–5 on a scale of 10. Tight grips kill speed and feel.

Common faults

Standing too upright

No hip hinge means arms have nowhere to swing — forces an over-the-top path.

Ball too far back in stance

Promotes a steep, descending blow with the driver — kills distance and causes blocks/hooks.

02

Phase Two

The Takeaway

The first 18 inches sets the entire swing path. Move club, hands, and shoulders as a single unit.

Key checkpoints

✓Clubhead moves back low and inside — don't pick it up immediately with your hands.
✓At hip height, the club shaft should be parallel to the target line and the toe pointing up.
✓Left shoulder (for righties) begins turning under the chin — this is the start of the coil.
✓Weight pressure stays centered or slightly into the trail foot. No lateral sway yet.
✓Hands stay relatively passive — the body rotation moves the club, not the hands.

Common faults

Inside pull / "hooding"

Taking the club too far inside too quickly leads to an over-the-top downswing and a pulled or sliced shot.

Early wrist hinge

Picking the club up steeply with the hands creates a narrow arc and makes it hard to shallow the club on the way down.

03

Phase Three

The Backswing

Create maximum coil between your upper and lower body — this is where power is stored.

Shoulder turn

Aim for ~90° shoulder rotation. Lead shoulder turns under the chin, not around it.

Hip resistance

Hips turn ~45° — less than shoulders. This differential is where power comes from.

Club position at top

Shaft parallel to ground and target line. Face matches lead forearm angle (square).

Trail elbow

Trail elbow folds and points down, not flying out. Creates a "waiter carrying a tray" look.

Common faults

Reverse pivot

Letting the weight shift toward the target on the backswing collapses the coil and leaves you with no power base.

Over-swinging

Going past parallel often means the lead arm collapses or the grip loosens — both destroy consistency.

04

Phase Four

The Downswing

The transition from backswing to impact is where elite players separate themselves. It starts from the ground up.

The sequence (critical)

1. Lower body fires first. The lead hip bumps slightly toward the target and begins rotating — before the arms even start moving down.

2. Shallowing the club. As the hips turn, the trail elbow drops to the hip. This drops the club into a flatter, inside-out attack path.

3. Lag is maintained. The wrist angle (lag) is preserved deep into the downswing — releasing it early ("casting") bleeds all the power before impact.

4. Slot = speed. When the club "slots" behind the trail hip, the centrifugal release through the ball produces maximum clubhead speed.

Common faults

Over-the-top (OTT)

The most common fault in amateur golf — the shoulders fire before the hips, throwing the club outside the target line and causing pulls and slices.

Early release / casting

Releasing lag too early wastes stored energy and produces "chicken wing" contact — thin, weak shots.

05

Phase Five

Impact

This is 1/2000th of a second. Everything before this moment is preparation — but this is what determines ball flight.

Hands ahead

Lead wrist is flat or slightly bowed. Hands are ahead of the ball at the moment of contact — forward shaft lean.

Hips open

Hips are 30–45° open to the target at impact. Upper body is still closer to square — the lag between them creates power.

Weight forward

80%+ of weight has transferred to the lead side. Staying on the trail foot (the "Reverse-C") is a power and accuracy killer.

Eyes on ball

Head stays still and behind the ball. Resist the urge to "look" at the target — the ball will tell you where it went.

The D-plane truth

Clubface controls starting direction — roughly 85% of where the ball starts is determined by face angle at impact, not swing path.

Path determines curvature — the difference between your face angle and swing path creates the sidespin that curves the ball.

A slightly inside-out path with a square face produces a gentle draw — the most powerful, penetrating ball flight.

06

Phase Six

Follow-Through & Finish

The finish is a mirror of your swing. A balanced, full finish isn't cosmetic — it's proof of everything that happened before it.

The perfect finish looks like

✓Belt buckle faces the target. Hips have fully rotated through the ball.
✓Lead leg is straight and firm — the post you rotate around. Trail foot up on its toe.
✓Club wraps around the left shoulder (for righties). Hands finish high and behind the head.
✓Weight is 90%+ on the lead foot. You should be able to lift the trail foot without losing balance.
✓Balanced enough to hold the finish for 3 full seconds. If you're stumbling, something went wrong before impact.

Pro tip

If you want to improve your impact position, practice your finish first. The body learns to sequence backward — a golfer who consistently finishes in balance almost always has solid mechanics through the ball.

The Perfect Golf Swing