Swing Basics

The five most consistent fundamentals cited across instruction: grip, posture, alignment, ball position, and the sequence of the downswing (lower body initiating before the upper body). Of these, downswing sequence is most responsible for power and contact quality. Grip is most responsible for ball flight. A poor grip creates compensations throughout the swing that mechanics work alone cannot correct.

An over-the-top move happens when the shoulders initiate the downswing before the lower body, sending the clubhead outside the target line. The fix is to start the downswing by bumping the left hip toward the target before unwinding the shoulders. A useful drill: pause at the top of the backswing and consciously feel the hip move first. The feeling is often described as beginning the downswing before the backswing is finished, which is an accurate description of what good ball strikers actually do.

Lower body first, then torso, then arms, then clubhead. The left hip clears toward the target to start, followed by the torso rotating through, the arms dropping into the slot, and the clubhead releasing last through the impact zone. Reversing this sequence and hitting from the top with the hands and arms first is the single most common cause of over-the-top paths, weak ball striking, and lost distance.