How to Improve the Turn in a Golf Swing

A bigger, smoother turn is the secret ingredient for adding more power and consistency to your golf swing. It’s what separates the clunky, arms-only swing from that effortless, powerful motion you see from skilled players. But improving your turn can feel like a vague piece of advice. What does it actually mean? This guide will break down the turn into simple, manageable pieces, showing you exactly how to build a better rotation from the ground up so you can stop forcing shots and start swinging with authentic power.

What Really Makes a Good Golf Turn?

Before we start fixing things, let’s understand the goal. A proper golf turn is a rotation of the upper and lower body around a stable spine angle. Think about it less like a a side-to-side slide and more like coiling a spring. On the way back, you coil your body to store energy. On the way down, you uncoil that energy through the golf ball. It isn't about swaying your body away from the target or lifting the club up with just your arms - it's about rotating your torso against the resistance of your lower body.

When you get this right, a few fantastic things happen:

• Effortless Power: The "stretch" you create between your hips and shoulders in the backswing is a massive source of clubhead speed. This is where power truly comes from, not from swinging harder with your arms.
• Rock-Solid Consistency: A good rotation keeps the club on a stable, repeatable path. Swaying side-to-side forces you to make last-second compensations to get back to the ball, which is a recipe for inconsistency.
• Crisp Contact: Turning correctly allows you to deliver the club to the ball from the inside with a descending blow (for an iron), leading to that compressed, pure sound of a well-struck shot.

Step 1: Get Your Setup Right for Rotation

You can’t build a good turn on a faulty foundation. Your setup posture determines whether your body even has the ability to rotate properly. If you stand too upright or slump over, you’ve blocked off your own movement before you even start the swing.

The key here is hinging from your hips, not your waist. Stand up straight, place a club across your thighs, and then push your hips back as if trying to tap a wall behind you with your backside. You should feel a slight stretch in your hamstrings. This will naturally cause your upper body to tilt forward, creating the perfect spine angle. This position is the axis around which your whole turn will happen.

A lot of golfers feel self-conscious here. They say it feels weird, as if their bum is sticking out too much. But that feeling is your sign that you're doing it right. This "athletic" stance does two important things: it creates space for your arms to swing freely past your body, and it puts your center of gravity in a stable position to support a powerful rotation.

Your stance width also matters. For a middle iron, position your feet about shoulder-width apart. If your stance is too narrow, you’ll be wobbly and unable to create much torque. If it's too wide, your hips will be "locked up," unable to turn freely. Finding that middle ground gives you the perfect blend of stability and mobility.

Step 2: Start the Backswing with Your Body, Not Your Hands

The first 18 inches of the backswing - the takeaway - is where many good turns go to die. The most common mistake is snatching the club away from the ball using only the hands and arms. This immediately throws the club off plane and disconnects it from your body’s true power source: your torso.

To fix this, you want to feel a "one-piece takeaway." Imagine your arms, shoulders, and chest are all part of a single triangle. The first move back should be driven by turning your chest and shoulders, allowing that triangle to move away from the ball as a single unit. Your hands and arms are just along for the ride.

A great feeling is to focus on your left shoulder (for a right-handed golfer). As you start the swing, feel that shoulder turning away from the target and slightly downward, under your chin. If you find your arms are separating from your body, try placing a headcover or a glove under your left armpit. If it falls a foot into your backswing, you know your arms are becoming independent instead of turning with your chest.

Step 3: Creating Separation and Depth in the Backswing

This is where real power is born. Coaches often talk about the "X-Factor," which is the separation, or difference in rotation, between your shoulders and your hips. This separation creates tension and torque - like twisting an elastic band - that you'll unleash in the downswing.

The goal at the top of the backswing is to have your shoulders turned a full 90 degrees (or as much as your flexibility allows), while restricting your hip turn to about 45 degrees. To make this happen, your lower body needs to remain relatively stable. Think of your right leg as a post that you’re turning against. You want to feel load and pressure building on the inside of your right foot and thigh, but without your right knee buckling outwards or sliding backward.

Secondly, your turn needs depth. A common fault is turning the shoulders on a very flat, merry-go-round-like plane. A proper turn involves shoulder tilt. As your left shoulder turns away, it must also move down toward the ground. This helps keep the club on the right plane and gets it into a powerful position behind you. At the top of your swing, you should feel like your back is facing the target. If you just lift your arms, your club is up, but it's not truly back and loaded.

Step 4: The Downswing Turn - Uncoiling the Power

So, you’ve coiled the spring. Now it's time to release it. The biggest mistake golfers make here is trying to unwind everything at once, usually led by the arms and shoulders. This causes an "over-the-top" move, steepening the shaft and leading to pulls and slices.

A powerful downswing sequence happens from the ground up. Here’s the order:

1. The Shift: Before your backswing has even fully finished, your hips should initiate the downswing with a small, subtle bump toward the target. This shifts your pressure onto your left side and clears space for the club to drop into the slot.
2. The Unwind: With your weight moving forward, your hips can now start to rotate open aggressively. Critically, your hips should unwind *before* your shoulders. This momentary "lag" between your lower and upper body is what keeps the club on an inside path and multiplies speed.
3. The Delivery: As your hips and then torso unwind, they pull the arms and club into the hitting area. The club head is the last thing to fire. This sequential unwinding is what produces that effortless speed and compresses the golf ball for a pure strike. The feeling is that your hands are passive until the very last moment.

An easy way to feel this is to think about your belt buckle. At the top of your backswing, your belt buckle is pointing away from the target. In the downswing, try to get your belt buckle to point at the target before your chest does. That's the feeling of leading with the hips.

Drills to Feel a Better Turn

Talking about the turn is one thing, feeling it is another. here are a few simple drills you can do at home or on the range to burn in the right sensations.

1. The Crossed-Arms Drill

This is the best drill for feeling true torso rotation without your arms getting in the way.

• Get into your golf posture and grab a club, crossing it over your chest.
• Without a club in your hands, simply rotate back, focusing on getting the butt end of the club pointing down towards the ball. Feel the coil in your upper back and core. Notice your left shoulder points down.
• Now start the downswing by bumping your hips and turning them open first. Feel your chest lag behind initially before it turns through, with the club pointing down and then at the target as you finish. This ingrains the feeling of your body leading the swing.

2. The Stability Ball Drill

If you have a tendency to sway, this drill will force you to turn properly.

• Place a medium-sized stability or exercise ball between your knees and get into your setup.
• Squeeze the ball just enough to keep it in place. Make slow half-swings back and through.
• The ball forces your lower body to be stable. You'll instantly feel that to take the club back, you HAVE to rotate your torso against your stable legs. It’s an immediate cure for swaying off the ball.

3. The Step-Through Drill

This is great for feeling the correct downswing sequence and shifting your weight forward.

• Take your normal setup. As you take your backswing, let your left foot come in to touch your right foot.
• To start the downswing, step your left foot back to its original position (or even a little toward the target) and plant it.
• As you plant your foot, immediately unwind your body and swing through. The step creates a natural forward momentum and forces the lower body to start the downswing sequence correctly.

Final Thoughts

Improving your turn all comes down to focusing on rotation over swaying and sequencing over brute force. It's about coiling your body around a stable axis on the way back, and then firing from the ground up on the way down. Work on these feelings in slow motion, use the drills to find the right sensations, and soon you'll transform your swing into a powerful, repeatable motion.

I know this type of change takes practice and patience. Sometimes you need a second opinion or a quick reminder when you’re out on the range feeling lost. Working on your game with a tool like Caddie AI acts as a coach in your pocket, ready to provide that instant feedback. You can ask it to analyze a swing videoto see if you're swaying, or ask for a specific drill to combat your flaws right in the moment. It removes the guesswork and gives you the structured guidance needed to work on the right things, turning practice into real, measurable improvement.