Finishing on the Back Foot
Swing Fault
Stephen Puryear, PGA
Most golfers know you should not finish the swing on the back foot. You hit thin and fat shots with irons and high pushes and slices with the driver. It is an obvious flaw that is very apparent on video. Many times your playing partners, or a random person on the range, will try to help you get to the front foot but your results are not very good. The reason is your swing is too steep. The more you try to finish on the front foot, the steeper your impact becomes.
The fault of finishing on the back foot is a reaction to a steep element prior to impact. In this case, the arms are too steep and the club is crossing the line. This creates a very steep angle coming into the golf ball on the downswing.
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| Steep at the Top |
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| Steep Downswing |
With such a steep back swing and approach to the ball, the move to the back foot is a reaction that shallows and widens impact. While the backing up move prevents burying the club into the ground, it does not produce very good golf shots.
Those of you who finish on your back foot should work on creating a more shallow approach to the ball by lowering your arms at the top of the swing and approaching the ball from this shallow position. I think you will be surprised at how much easier it is to finish on the front foot and hit the ball solid.
Golf lessons make great gifts for Christmas. Give the gift of better golf!
