How to Backswing a Golf Club

A powerful, accurate golf swing is built from the ground up, and the very first move you make - the backswing - dictates what’s possible when you get back to the ball. This isn't about contorting yourself into a pretzel shape you saw a pro make, it’s about creating a simple, repeatable motion that stores energy and puts the club in a perfect position to deliver. This guide will walk you through the essential components of a great backswing, from the setup that makes it possible to the key movements that create efficiency and power.

Good Setup, Great Backswing: They're a Team

You can't talk about the backswing without first talking about the setup. A poor starting posture will force you to make all sorts of compensating moves just to hit the ball, making a proper backswing nearly impossible. Before you even think about taking the club a single inch away from the ball, let’s get your foundation right.

Posture: The Athletic Foundation

Standing to a golf ball is a unique athletic position. I see so many new golfers stand too upright, which leads to an all-arms swing. You want to feel athletic and ready to move. Here’s how:

• Bend from the Hips: Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart and tilt forward from your hips, not your waist. A great way to feel this is to keep your back relatively straight and push your bottom backward, as if you were about to sit in a high barstool. This is often the part that feels weird to people, but I promise you, it looks like a proper golf stance.
• Let Your Arms Hang: From this tilted position, let your arms hang down naturally from your shoulders. They shouldn’t be stretched out reaching for the ball, nor should they be jammed into your body. Where they hang naturally is precisely where you should grip the club. This creates space and allows your arms to swing freely around your body.

Balance and Stance: Your Stable Base

Think of your stance as the platform that supports the rotation of your swing. If it’s unstable, your swing will be too.

• Stance Width: For a middle-iron shot, a good starting point is to have your feet positioned directly under your shoulders. If you go too narrow, you make it much harder to rotate your hips and will likely lose your balance. If you go too wide, you lock your hips in place and restrict your turn. A shoulder-width stance gives you the perfect combination of stability and mobility.
• Weight Distribution: With an iron, your weight should be balanced 50/50 between your right and left foot (for a right-handed golfer). You don't want to be leaning toward or away from the target at address. Feel grounded and settled over the ball.

How to Backswing a Golf Club: A Step-by-Step Guide

With a solid setup, the backswing becomes dramatically simpler. The goal is not to lift the club, but to turn your body and let the club come along for the ride. The swing is a rotational action that moves the club around your body in a circle-like manner, powered mainly by your torso.

Step 1: The One-Piece Takeaway

The first couple of feet the club travels away from the ball is what we call the "takeaway." Amateurs often get this wrong by snatching the club away with just their hands and arms. To avoid this, we want a "one-piece" takeaway.

Imagine a triangle formed by your shoulders and arms at address. The goal, for the first part of the backswing, is to maintain this triangle. As you begin the swing, feel as though your chest, arms, hands, and the club start moving away from the ball together. It’s a move initiated by the rotation of your upper body - your torso. You're turning your shoulders away from the target, and your arms and the club are simply responding to that turn.

For the first few feet, the clubhead should stay relatively low to the ground and travel straight back along the target line before it naturally begins to move inside as your body continues to rotate.

Step 2: How and When to Hinge Your Wrists

So, if the body is turning, how does the club get up in the air? This happens through the natural hinging of your wrists. This is a point of confusion for many, but it can be simple. As your chest continues to turn away from the ball, your wrists will start to hinge naturally, setting the club on its upward path. For a lot of golfers, a small, conscious thought here can make a world of difference.

As you turn your hips and chest, I want you to feel as though you just slightly set the wrists. You're just adding a little bit of angle to your lead wrist. This simple feel helps prevent one of the most common faults I see: getting the club stuck too far behind your body or "sucking it inside." By setting the club with a touch of wrist hinge while your body turns, you keep the club on a great plane, in front of your chest, and in a position of power.

Step 3: Rotating to the Top

As you continue turning your hips and shoulders, your arms will lift the club to the top of the backswing. The key here is to finish your turn. A common mistake is to stop turning the body and just lift the arms to finish the swing, which disconnects them from the power source: your body.

How far should you go? Only as far as your body's flexibility comfortably allows. For some, their shoulders might turn a full 90 degrees. For others, it might be less. Trying to swing past your comfortable range of motion will only cause you to lose balance and control. A three-quarter turn with good balance is far more effective than an overwrought turn where you fall off the ball.

A great thought is to imagine you are swinging inside a big, invisible cylinder. Your goal during the backswing is to rotate your hips and shoulders while staying within the confines of that cylinder. You aren't swaying your body off the ball to the right, you are turning your center. This keeps you stable and ready to fire through the downswing.

Common Backswing Mistakes (And How to Fix 'Em)

Understanding the proper mechanics is half the battle. Identifying and correcting common faults is the other.

Mistake #1: Swaying Instead of Rotating

The Look: The hips and upper body slide horizontally away from the target, rather than turning. Your weight ends up on the outside of your back foot.

The Problem: A sway makes a consistent downswing nearly impossible. If you move off the ball on the way back, you have to perfectly time a slide back toward the ball on the way down. Good luck with that!

The Fix: Use the "cylinder" image we just talked about. Another great drill is to place a golf bag or chair just outside your back hip at setup. As you take your backswing, your goal is to turn your hip without bumping hard into the bag. This forces you to rotate around your spine instead of sliding laterally.

Mistake #2: The All-Arms Lift

The Look: The lower body is quiet, and the golfer lifts the club straight up with just their arms and hands. It feels quick and jerky.

The Problem: This isolates the big, powerful muscles of your core and legs, leaving only your small arm muscles to generate speed. It’s a recipe for weak, inconsistent shots.

The Fix: Get back to the one-piece takeaway. Place the club across your shoulders and practice rotating your upper body back and forth without swinging your arms. This will give you the feeling of a body-driven turn. Then, try to replicate that same feeling with a club in your hands.

Mistake #3: Club Gets Sucked Inside

The Look: In the takeaway, the clubhead whips around the player's body and gets far behind their hands very early.

The Problem: When the club gets this far behind you, your only option is to re-route it "over the top" on the way down, leading to slices or pulls.

The Fix: This often goes back to the takeaway. Focus on that early move, keeping the triangle of your arms and shoulders intact while turning. The feeling of setting the wrists slightly as you turn also helps keep the club from getting too far trapped behind you.

Final Thoughts

Your backswing sets the stage for everything that follows, putting your body in position to deliver the club with a powerful, sequenced uncoiling. Focus on making a "one piece" rotational takeaway powered by your torso, and let your wrists set naturally to put the club in a strong position at the top.

Knowing what to do on the practice range is fantastic, but translating that feel to the golf course can be tough, especially when you encounter an unusual lie or a tricky strategic decision. For those moments when you need a trusted second opinion, we built Caddie AI. You can describe your specific scenario - or even just snap a quick photo of your ball's lie - and get instant, on-demand advice on the best way to play the shot, helping bridge the gap between your swing mechanics and smarter on-course performance.