---
title: "The golf swing explained phase by phase: from setup to finish"
description: "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."
url: https://www.teeup.es/en/blog/el-swing-de-golf-por-fases
lang: en
updated: 2026-09-30
---

# The golf swing explained phase by phase: from setup to finish

Published: 2026-09-30 · Reading time: 7 min

## 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:**

1. Top hand (left for right-handers): the handle runs across the base of the fingers, not the palm. Close the hand over it.
2. Looking down you should see **two or three knuckles** of that hand.
3. Bottom hand: covers the top hand's thumb.
4. 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](/en/blog/como-corregir-el-slice).

---

### (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](/en/blog/como-hacer-un-buen-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.
---

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