The one thing you have to keep in mind is from the top of the backswing to the finish is a non-stop fluid motion. When the golf club starts down there is no slowing down or stopping of the club head. Many things take place during the downswing and they all have to be in sync with one another to make for solid impact.

Ninety-five percent of the final part of the swing (moment of impact to finish) is a result of you swinging the golf club from the address position to the top of the golf swing correctly. If you get the golf club in the correct position at the top of the backswing, you will up your chances of hitting a solid golf shot.

Let’s take some time and discuss what takes place from the moment of impact to the finish. I will break it down into two sections. First, what happens to the golf club and secondly, what happens to the body.

1. At the very moment of impact, the clubface should be one or two degrees closed.

The clubface was square at address and as the golf club swings back to the top of the backswing, the clubface rolled open. As the golf club swings back down, the clubface has to swing back to square.

2. It will begin to roll closed and continues to close until the toe is pointing up, when the shaft is pointing parallel to the target line. As the arms and hands swing the club from the parallel position up to the finish, the club continues to close.

Let me share something with you right now. If I asked you what you think you have to do to hit the golf ball further I am afraid your first response will be the same as most of the golfing world. Swing harder. Yes, that is a start, however; the clubhead speed must be properly applied.

The ability to have the clubhead make solid contact with the golf ball with maximum speed is the combination of the golf club, arms, and hands moving in concert with the upper and lower body. This combination is referred to in golf as “timing”. Simply put, the most abused word in golf. Everybody uses it and not too many people know how to do it.

At the moment of impact the knees are in the same position as address. Yes, the left knee moved away from the golf ball towards the center of your stance.

3. Now your left knee is moving back to its original position.

4. At this moment the left hip has moved towards the target an inch or two and is turning back and out of the way. As the arms and hands pass the middle of the right leg, the right knee will begin to move parallel to the target line and the right heel is beginning to turn up.

When the club reaches the point after impact where it is parallel to the ground and pointing parallel to the target line, the left hip is behind you, the left knee is almost fully extended and the right knee has passed where the golf ball was on the ground. At this position, the body is moving at maximum speed and it will soon begin to slow down as it approaches the finish.

When the golf club passes through the 9:00 position the upper body will begin to straighten out with the right shoulder turning to the top and the shoulders will soon become level to the ground.

From the moment of impact, the top of your belt must remain level to the ground all the way until you have reached the finish. The shoulders will react the same way from the moment of impact all the way to the finish. The feeling you want is for the right shoulder to remain an inch higher and when turning to the finish, level to the ground.

When the golf club and your body has stopped turning your right heel is pointing toward the sky, your right knee is pointing to a parallel line with your target, your belt buckle will point towards the target and level to the ground, your body is tall and the shoulders are level to the ground. If your upper body is facing left of the target that is acceptable.

As the right arm begins to unfold and the left hip moves one or two inches towards the target before it begins to turn out of the way, the downswing is in full swing mode. In other words the game is on. No holding back, no stopping and no bailing out. There is no turning back.

As the force of the arms swinging down the lower part of the body is moving out of the way. There are some very important moves that have to take place for a solid shot with maximum clubhead speed.

The speed of the arms and hands and the tension in the lower body is what creates the clubhead speed you are in search of.

1. When the hands pass your belt buckle the right knee will begin to move down the intended line and the right heel will come up off of the ground. At the same time, the body is moving parallel to the target line and the left knee is about to become involved.

2. The purpose of the left knee at this moment is to distribute the force from the downswing and maintain a strong foundation for a solid finish. The left leg must straighten out 90% of its maximum, it can not over extend.

Snapping the left knee or overextending it can cause injury. If you snap the knee too soon it will also weaken the foundation and the downswing will not have any stability.

As the golf club starts down it must remain on the same path it went back on. The path is a slight arc going back down into the back of the golf ball. The only way you can remain on this path is to start the right arm first and then the rest of the body can follow. If the right shoulder starts first in the downswing the golf club will have a tendency to swing outside the arc too much and if the left hip starts first in the downswing the golf club will have a tendency to start inside the arc too much.

The golf club has to stay on this correct path until impact. The combination of the left hip turning back out of the way and the right shoulder following the arms will enable the golf club to stay on the correct path. At any time if there is a change in direction of the body, the club will come off of the path.

At impact the left arm is long, the left arm has turned out of way, and your bottom half has moved back towards the address position. The right arm is now long (speed of downswing has made the right arm longer than at address), the right shoulder and head are slightly behind the golf ball, and your right heel is off of the ground.

At the top of the backswing the clubface is open and as it begins to swing down, the face has to start closing immediately. The closing of the clubface is a long process that has to happen during the entire down swing. The clubface can not square up at the bottom of the hit. If you try to square the clubface up at impact, you have to be extremely quick and strong. 

The only case where you can “take more time” squaring the clubface in the golf swing is if you hook the ball. Getting the face back to square is not a quick flick of the arms and hands either.  Remember, it is a long process that starts at the top of the backswing.

By the time the shaft reaches your right knee, the clubface has to be square or close to it. You only have three more feet for the face to be one or two degrees closed and it is moving at 75-115 mph. If the face is open more than this amount, the ball is slicing to the right. 

There have been a million words written on the couple of feet before impact and I know that the absolute death of the downswing lies in the last couple of feet. If you have started the downswing with the right shoulder or left hip, this will be a very difficult way to improve your game.

I do not believe the masses have the strength or the need to swing the body first in the downswing. Their arms simply cannot keep up. 

Making sure the golf club is swinging on the arc is the first and foremost part of the downswing. If you can swing the golf club on the arc with maximum clubhead speed, you will head down the road of success with your golf game. The body compliments the arms swinging the club; it is not the opposite.

When you addressed the golf club, your right hand was even or slightly under the left hand. As the golf club begins to swing back, the left hand is slightly on top of the right. At the top of the backswing, the left hand is on top of the right, and now the golf club begins to swing down and as the club approaches the golf ball the right hand will roll over the left near and at impact. From that moment on, the right hand will be on top of the left. 

The roll I just mentioned is referred to as the “release”. This is yet another golf word that has had a million words written about. The release takes place just before impact and will insure a clubface that is slightly closed. 

Another topic that comes up in this part of the golf swing is “timing”. The timing aspect of the game is when the body works in concert with the arms and hands. When the left hip turns out of the way at the moment the right hand rolls the clubface closed at impact, this is what is referred to as perfect timing. 

Let there be no misunderstanding, it is certainly easier to write about timing the golf club correctly than to actually do it. The easy way out is to instruct students to hit one million golf balls, and that ought to do it. One million golf shots divided by 50 years is twenty thousand golf shots a year. I can not say I have hit 20 thousand golf shots a year, I can say I have averaged 10 thousand and my timing is not always exactly how I would prefer. 

On the flip side, if you are not swinging the golf club back and down on the correct path with the correct posture and aim, you can hit 2 million shots and your timing is NOT going to be in any different place than if you hit 200 shots a year.

Now you are ready to start the downswing. You have arrived safely at the top and now you need to return to the bottom in one piece.

1. When you are ready to start the downswing, the very first move is for the right arm to begin to straighten out and return to the exact same position it started in. The right arm has to start to come unhinged as soon as you begin the downswing. 

Many people have written about this topic. As a matter of fact, it seems like every time anyone goes near this subject, the entire golf world throws the four letter word “cast” at you. The terms “cast” or “casting the golf club” were used in the 60’s and have escalated to the point where if you mention any other way of swinging the golf club down other than “pulling on the handle” or creating drag and creating a tight angle with your arms, the golf world is ready to pounce on you.

The good news, bad news is the terms “pulling on the handle” and “creating a tight angle” have kept me very busy for the past 25 years. If you are trying to practice the above mentioned phrases, I feel very confident you’ll end up hitting too many shots to the right. The ability to hit a golf ball squarely with the correct timing has more to do with how many hours you can dedicate to the game than it does with how hard you can pull on the handle of the golf club.

Your ability to create clubhead speed lies in the speed you can swing your hands, arms and golf club not in how fast you can pull the grip end of the golf club. Clubhead speed is created from you generating width in the right arm on its journey back to the golf ball.

Swinging just the hands, arms and golf club back to the golf ball with maximum clubhead speed independent of the lower and upper body is not the answer either. Swinging the golf club back to the golf ball on the correct path with maximum clubhead speed is the combination of the hands, arms and golf club swinging in conjunction with the lower body moving out of the way and the upper body turning back towards the target. The upper and lower body CANNOT swing independent of each other.

As the right arm begins to unhinge:

2. The left hip moves one or two inches towards the target

3. Then the left hip should start to turn out of the way so the hands, arms, and golf club can have a place to swing to after impact.

As you begin the downswing there are many parts that you must follow in order for you to swing the clubhead back on the correct path with maximum amount of speed. By now you know the right arm must begin to unfold first and then the left hip moves one or two inches towards the target and then it turns back and out of the way.

4. As the right arm begins to unfold the left arm must remain long during this entire time.

Your left arm should NOT be rigid and locked, but long and relaxed.

When you moved the golf club back to the top of the backswing it swung back on an arc. The arc was slightly inside a straight line away from the target. The club has to swing inside and up on the arc. When the club passed 9:00 it has to start swinging up.

When you swung it up, the right shoulder turned back and out of the way, now as you swing the golf club back down, the right shoulder has to stay back as long as possible so the club can swing back down on the arc.

5. The golf club has to swing back down on the same path it went up on.

What happens next? For the first couple of feet in the downswing, not much happens- then it all starts to go. As the left hip moves out of the way, the left knee will begin to head back towards its address position.

6. When the clubhead gets halfway back to the golf ball, the right knee will begin to turn towards the target and your weight will start to move from the right side back to the middle of your stance.

As the golf club leaves the 9:00 position, it has to continue on the arc until you reach the top of the backswing. There are a number of moving parts that must be in place during this journey. First and foremost the right shoulder must continue to turn.

The right shoulder can not stop or change directions. If the right shoulder stops or tilts up, the golf club will swing up too much. If the right shoulder turns too much the golf club will not go up.

As the right shoulder continues to turn in the backswing, the right hip must not follow it. The right hip has to resist turning so you can develop resistance. If you develop resistance in the backswing with the bottom half of your body, you will build up tension and that is where the ability to develop clubhead speed comes from.

As the right shoulder continues to turn level to the ground, the left knee will continue to turn more towards the golf ball. You have to make sure you do not allow the right knee to pass the golf ball.

As the right shoulder continues to turn, the left shoulder will move from the address position towards the golf ball. As the right shoulder continues to turn, your head will move slightly to the right (away from the golf ball). Your head will move a couple of inches as a result of the right shoulder turning out of the way. The head does not slide back and away from the golf ball with the lower body.

1. During this process the right knee never moves.

During the entire backswing, the left arm has remained long, not rigid. The right arm will begin to fold after the golf club leaves the 9:00 position. The reason the left arm remains long is to provide you with plenty of width in the backswing. Width in the backswing is the reason you can develop clubhead speed. If the left arm remains long you can swing the clubhead on the arc, and by swinging it on the arc you will be able to build clubhead speed in the downswing.

When the golf club arrives at the top of the backswing there are four parts that have to be in the correct place. The first thing that is extremely important is for the golf club to be pointing towards the target or slightly left of the target. Now what does this mean? When you address the golf ball, the ball is on what we refer to as the “intended ball flight line”, and your feet are parallel to that line. At the top of the backswing the shaft has to aim parallel to your heel line or parallel left of the target.

Getting to the top of the backswing is no easy feat. Now that you have reached the top let’s check to make sure all of the moving parts are in the correct place. Your checklist should start at the bottom of your feet and go all the way to the top of your head.

2. At the address position the weight is evenly distributed between both feet.

3. The arms and hands start the golf club back in a one-piece-take-away which includes the right shoulder turning.

4. As the right shoulder continues to turn, the left knee will turn slightly towards the center of your body.

Don’t forget, the right knee never leaves its original position. As the top half of your body is turning, the right knee must remain in the exact same position. When you are addressing the golf ball, the right knee has a slight flex. During the back swing, the right knee can not slide backwards nor can it straighten out and it can not flex more. The right knee is the foundation of the backswing, it takes on all of the force of the right shoulder turning and the hips resisting from turning. The right knee has to maintain this rock solid foundation so you can continue to turn the top half of your body against the bottom half.

When the golf club has reached the top of the backswing, the right knee will be there to support the upper golf club, arms, hands and upper body. If there is one part of the body that has to be in the correct position at the top of the backswing, it is the right knee. The function of the right knee is not only the foundation of the backswing. In the next section you are going to find out the value of the right knee in the downswing as well.