Many times as a clubfitter we have to know what makes a golf swing tick before we can figure out how to build a golf club to fit that golf swing. Here is a checklist I developed to help remind me of the order of things.

Having your clubs custom fitted will make it easier to accomplish all the elements of your swing correctly.

Some things are timeless

  • Check grip, good golf begins with a good grip. Both V’s should be parallel
  • Check stance. Feet should be shoulder width. Inside of feet should be about outside shoulders
  • Check alignment. Feet should be perpendicular to target
  • Check Posture. Spine angle should be about 35° to 45° depending on height, arm length, etc.
  • Knees bent with weight on inside of the feet. From down the line bent and face on bent in.
  • Front foot should be turned out at about 20° angle toward target with back foot perpendicular to target
  • From this stance, arms should hang straight down from shoulders and be at or just slightly in front of feet.
  • Back should be straight and head up so shoulders can turn underneath the chin.
  • Golfer should be balanced with weight centered through his ankles. If you push gently from front, back, or either side the golfer should be stable and you should not be able to cause him to lose his balance.
    • From this position when golfer takes the club back with left arm straight on take away, the toe should be pointing up when the shaft is parallel to the ground on back swing.
    • When shaft is parallel to ground at the top of the swing the toe should be pointing down
    • When shaft is parallel to ground the right arm should be straight on follow through and the toe should be pointing up
  • Swing should begin with a slight forward press of the hands before starting back.
  • Back Swing should be pushed back by left hand, arm, shoulder while the upper body turns around the spine.
  • Down Swing begins with slight forward slide of hips toward the target before the hips rotate.
  • Down Swing continues with left side pulling the club downward toward ball with right elbow tucking into the side.
  • At this point in the swing the wrist cock should be maintained.
  • As the body continues to turn and pull the arms through the swing you will see the wrist cock begin to release about around 7 o’clockish for good golfers.
  • The club face should contact the ball because the ball is in the way with no hitting involved and on a downward direction where it strikes the ground after impact.

These are things you can look for. The golf swing is a sequence of movements. This is the swing sequence and if anything is out of sequence you can probably trace the why of a later event to whatever is out of sequence. If you pick the club up with the right hand to start the swing, all bets are off. Just as you have to build the foundation before you can build a house if you do not build the foundation the house will fall down.

If the grip isn’t right…