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guidesThe golf swing explained phase by phase: from setup to finish
Grip, posture, backswing, transition, downswing, impact and finish. What each phase does, the typical error in each one, and the order in which to fix them.
The golf swing explained phase by phase
A golf swing lasts a little over a second, and seven things happen inside it. Trying to control them all at once is why so many players stall for years.
The good news: they are not fixed simultaneously, they are fixed in order. And the first two phases — the ones that happen before anything moves — decide more than the other five combined.
The order to work on it
| Priority | Phase | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grip | Determines where the clubface points |
| 2 | Posture and alignment | Determines the swing path |
| 3 | Impact | The only thing the ball perceives |
| 4 | Backswing | Sets up everything above |
| 5 | Transition and downswing | The sequence |
| 6 | Finish | A symptom, not a cause |
Work on your finish before your grip and you are painting a house with no foundations. Start at the top of this table.
(01) The grip
It is the only part of your body touching the club, so it decides where the face points at impact.
How to set it:
- Top hand (left for right-handers): the handle runs across the base of the fingers, not the palm. Close the hand over it.
- Looking down you should see two or three knuckles of that hand.
- Bottom hand: covers the top hand's thumb.
- The "V"s formed by thumb and index finger on both hands point towards your right shoulder.
The three joining styles:
| Style | How | Who for |
|---|---|---|
| Overlap (Vardon) | Bottom little finger over top index | The most common |
| Interlock | Little finger and index interlocked | Smaller hands |
| Baseball | All ten fingers on the handle | Beginners and less hand strength |
Typical error: gripping hard. On a scale of 1 to 10, a 4 or 5. A tense grip locks the wrists and kills speed. If your forearms tire, you are squeezing too hard.
Expensive error: a weak grip (one knuckle visible). It is the number one cause of a slice, developed in how to fix a slice in golf.
(02) Posture
Feet: shoulder width with mid irons. Narrower with wedges, wider with the driver.
Knees: lightly flexed, not squatting.
The tilt: from the hips, not the waist. Back straight, chest towards the ball. A trick: stand up straight, let your arms hang, then push your hips back until the club reaches the ground.
Weight: even between both feet and in the middle of the foot, not on heels or toes.
Arms: they hang. If you have to reach to get to the ball, you are standing too far away.
Alignment: feet, hips and shoulders parallel to the target line. Not pointing at the target: parallel to that line, like railway tracks. It is the most widespread conceptual error in amateur golf.
Ball position:
| Club | Where the ball goes |
|---|---|
| Wedges | Centre of stance |
| Mid irons | Slightly forward of centre |
| Long irons and hybrids | A little further forward |
| Woods | Well forward |
| Driver | In line with the left heel |
(03) The backswing
What should happen: the club moves away from the ball with shoulders and torso, not hands. The first 30 centimetres are one piece: hands, arms and shoulders together.
Then the torso rotates around the spine, the wrists hinge naturally, and weight moves to the back foot without the hip sliding outwards.
Signs it is working:
- Your back points at the target at the top.
- Your lead arm is reasonably straight, without rigidity.
- You feel tension in your side and in the glute of your back leg. That is rotation.
The three classic errors:
| Error | What it produces |
|---|---|
| Swaying | You lose your centre and never return to the ball |
| Lifting the arms without turning | No power and inconsistent contact |
| Overswinging | You lose control without gaining distance |
What almost nobody knows: a well-rotated three-quarter backswing produces more distance than a badly-rotated full one. Speed comes from rotation, not from length of travel.
(04) The transition
This is where the swing changes direction, and where the shot is decided.
The rule: the downswing starts from the ground up. Weight moves to the front foot first, then the hips turn, then the torso, and the arms and club arrive last.
The universal amateur error: starting with the shoulders or hands. The back shoulder throws forward, the club comes down outside the line, and you get a slice or a cut shot.
How to train it: you don't think it, you train it. Feet-together swings, half-speed swings and sequencing drills. It is impossible to fix by thinking mid-shot.
(05) The downswing and impact
Impact is the only thing the ball perceives. Everything else exists to arrive here properly.
What good impact looks like:
- Hands ahead of the clubhead (with every club except the driver).
- Weight mostly on the front foot.
- Hips open to the target, shoulders squarer.
- With irons, ball first, then the ground. The divot starts after where the ball was, not before.
- With the driver, an ascending strike, as explained in how to hit a good drive.
The most useful test there is: impact spray or a sticker on the face. Ten balls and you see exactly where you are striking it. A centred strike is worth 15 to 25 metres over a toe strike at the same swing speed.
(06) The finish
The finish is not something you "do": it is what happens if everything before it went well.
How it should look: almost all your weight on the front foot, chest facing the target, back heel up, and balanced long enough to watch the ball land.
That makes it a free diagnosis:
| If you finish... | Probably |
|---|---|
| Falling backwards | You never transferred your weight |
| Losing balance forwards | You went too fast from the top |
| Unable to hold the position | Swing too long or too hard |
If you cannot hold the finish for three seconds, you are swinging beyond your control.
How to train it without going mad
One thing at a time. Work on a single element for two or three weeks until it is automatic. Changing focus every session guarantees nothing sticks.
Film yourself. A phone from the front and from the side at 30 fps teaches you more than any feeling. What you think you do and what you do rarely match.
Half speed. Seventy per cent of your speed reveals errors that full speed hides.
Spaced lessons. One every three or four weeks. The coach sets the direction and you work in between.
The Teeup Academy has drills with scoring by phase and progress tracking, so you know whether the change is working rather than guessing.
Frequently asked questions
How long until I have a decent swing? With lessons and regular practice, six to twelve months to play full rounds with a repeatable swing.
Where do I start fixing things? Grip and posture, always. They cause most of the errors that follow.
How many knuckles should I see in my grip? Two or three on the top hand. Only one indicates a weak grip and produces a slice.
What is the transition in the swing? The change of direction between backswing and downswing. It should start from the feet and hips, never the shoulders.
Should I turn more or lift my arms higher? Turn. Distance comes from torso rotation, not from how far the arms travel.
Is it normal for a change to make me worse at first? Completely. A grip or posture change feels strange for two or three sessions before it settles.
You don't learn the swing whole: you learn it in layers, in order. Grip, posture, impact. The rest follows once those three are in place.
The Teeup Academy has the structured drills, and the app has the course network to check whether the work shows up on your card.
Download the Teeup app and book your next round.