Instruction – The Proper Follow-Through

One of the biggest swing mechanics that goes unnoticed in the golf swing is the follow-through. The follow-through is vital to have consistent contact and ball flight. 

I have provided several thoughts and drills to help you have more consistent contact through focusing on your follow-through. Far too often I see students so focused on their mechanics on the backswing, they freeze up and can’t even hit the ball. It’s time to put that in the past; focusing on the follow-through allows us to be able to free up the backswing and downswing to have better contact and hit the ball farther.

The circle around my body represents me standing in a barrel. This is one of my favorite analogies I learned from Jim McLean, one of the top instructors in the world. Rather, than shifting your weight laterally to your trail side and back to your lead side, focus on rotating your chest and hips away from your target, allowing your chest and hips to rotate back and your weight to go to the inside of your trail foot. From there, allow the momentum of rotating back and your weight transferring inside your trail foot to take you to your follow-through. Think about rotating inside a barrel, rather than shifting back and through the barrel.

Once you have rotated inside the barrel on your backswing and follow-through, here are some check points for your finish to look at:

Club is behind head or shoulders.

Weight is on the lead side; if your weight is hanging back on your trail side as shown in the above right picture, this can cause numerous frustrating misses.

Trail heel is in the air (If someone is standing behind you, they should be able to see the sole of your shoe). One of the most common mistakes I see with students topping or hitting the ball thin is their trail foot still being planted on the ground after they hit. Don’t make a conscious effort to hold the trail foot down; let the foot naturally come up when you rotate to your finish.

A drill I like to have students do to talk about proper pivot and finish. The arrow going through my body represents my center axis point. I start by holding a bucket and rotate back, rather than shifting back away from my center axis point. Then from here, I rotate to my follow-through, tossing the bucket toward my target and making sure to allow my chest, eyes and arms to face my target. Make sure not to hold your trail foot down on your finish, as this results in your weight staying on your trail side and not transferring to your lead side, giving you a lot of inconsistencies in contact if you were hitting the ball. You will know you are doing the drill properly when the bucket flies to your target and not left, right or behind you. If the bucket flies behind you, this means you are finishing with your weight hanging back on your trail side and not rotating your body on follow-through.

If you are struggling with inconsistent contact, reach out for a free swing analysis at kpikegolf@gmail.com. Write in the subject “swing analysis,” and I will send you the link to send your video to me, so you can get your analysis. I would love to help you have more success and enjoy the game I love more.