Beginning of the Backswing
Tour player’s swings can all look a bit varied. Even though they all look a bit varied, there are key positions to their swings that resemble each other a lot. One I am going to talk to you about will be at the beginning of the backswing.
In order for the swing to be repeatable and dependable, it must be started in a good position. The first point of the swing I want you to check to make sure this is the case is when the shaft of the club gets parallel to the ground on the backswing. What you are looking for is for the club to be parallel to your target line with the leading edge of the clubhead parallel to your spine angle. Pictured below you will see different variations of the clubhead and shaft being too far inside or too far outside compared to the right position.
To practice this, you can be indoors or outdoors. Using a mirror for this is excellent as well because, unfortunately with this game, feel and real can sometimes be two different things. You feel like you’re in the right position, but really, you are not. So mirrors are like cameras in the fact that they don’t lie. To set up for this, place a club/alignment stick next to the ball pointing at your target to represent your target line. Then place another club/alignment stick just in front of your toes to represent your feet line. Set up to the ball and start to take the club back and stop the club once the shaft is parallel to the ground. If you do this correctly the club should be pointed down the stick that is just in front of your toes, the clubhead should be covering your hand with the leading edge of the clubhead parallel to your spine angle.
If you’re able to get to this point consistently then at least the beginning of your backswing will be in a good position!
- “Correct way: the club is covering the hands, shaft is parallel to target line, leading edge is matching spine angle.”
- “Too far inside: Hands have moved out in order for the clubhead to move inside, shaft is facing right of the target, the clubface is open.”
- “Too far outside: the shaft is pointed to left field, arms have become disconnected from the body leading edge is straight up and down.”
