How to Teach a Golf Swing

Learning a solid golf swing doesn't have to be complicated or overwhelming. This guide breaks down the entire motion - from how you hold the club to your final, balanced finish - into simple, bite-sized pieces. We’ll show you how to build a swing that’s powerful, consistent, and feels surprisingly natural.

The Main Idea: Your Swing is a Circle

Before we touch a single detail, let’s get the big picture right. The golf swing is a rotational action. Imagine the club swinging in a circle around your body. This motion is powered primarily by the turn of your torso - your chest and hips - not by an aggressive, up-and-down chopping motion with your arms. Forgetting this simple concept is where a lot of golfers go wrong from the very beginning.

This rotational movement is designed to do three things: create power, provide accuracy, and repeat consistently. When you focus on turning your body and letting your arms and the club come along for the ride, you put yourself in a perfect position to build a swing that works. Everything else we discuss stems from this one fundamental idea.

How to Hold the Golf Club

Your grip is your direct connection to the club, an unbelievably important piece of the puzzle that controls the clubface, which is the "steering wheel" of your shots. An improper hold will force you to make all sorts of compensations in your swing just to get the ball to fly straight.

It’s going to feel strange at first. The golf grip is unique, but sticking with it will pay off.

Building Your Grip (For Right-Handed Golfers)

Start by setting the clubhead on the ground behind the ball so its leading edge is perfectly square (perpendicular) to your target line. If your grip has a logo, it should be facing straight up.

1. The Top Hand (Left Hand): Approach the club from the side. You want to place the grip primarily in the fingers of your left hand, running diagonally from the base of your little finger to the middle of your index finger. Once your fingers are on, close your hand over the top.
   • Checkpoint #1: Looking down, you should be able to see the knuckles of your index and middle fingers.
   • Checkpoint #2: The “V” formed by your thumb and index finger should point roughly toward your right shoulder.
2. The Bottom Hand (Right Hand): Your right hand comes in from the side as well. The lifeline in your right palm should fit neatly over your left thumb. Your right-hand fingers then wrap around the grip. Again, its primary purpose is to hold the club, not twist it.

As for how you connect your hands, you have three common choices: the interlock (wrapping your right pinky and left index finger), the overlap (placing your right pinky in the space between your left index and middle finger), or a simple ten-finger grip. There's no right or wrong answer here, use whatever feels most secure and comfortable to you.

A small word of warning: if you are an established player, only consider changing your grip if you're battling a consistent directional miss (like a slice or hook) that you can't seem to fix otherwise. If that’s you, it might be worth getting some professional guidance.

Setting Up for a Successful Golf Shot

The way you stand to the ball - your setup - creates the foundation for your entire swing. A good setup pre-loads the athletic posture you need to make a good turn and swing with balance. Like the grip, this position feels weird to many people at first, but when you see a photo of it, you’ll just look like a golfer.

The Key Elements of a Good Setup

• Posture: Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart. From there, bend forward from your hips, not your waist. Your bottom should move backward as your chest tilts over the ball. Keep a relatively straight back in this position.
• Arm Position: Let your arms hang down naturally from your shoulders. They should be relaxed, not stiff. If you’ve bent over correctly from your hips, your hands will end up positioned directly under your shoulders, giving you plenty of room to swing. This creates the space you need.
• Stance Width: For a middle iron, a stance that’s about shoulder-width provides a great combination of stability and mobility, allowing your hips to turn freely. Too narrow and you'll struggle to stay balanced, too wide and you'll restrict your hip rotation. Your weight should be evenly split 50/50 between your feet.
• Ball Position: A simple starting point is to place the ball in the middle of your stance for shorter irons (like a 9-iron or wedge). As your clubs get longer (7-iron, 5-iron, woods), gradually move the ball forward toward your front foot. For the driver, the ball should be positioned off the heel of your front foot.

Once you are in position, take a deep breath and relax. Tension is a power-killer. You can't make a fluid, athletic swing if your arms, shoulders, and hands are rigid.

The Backswing: Loading Your Power

The backswing is all about creating energy by coiling your body. Think of it less like lifting the club and more like turning away from the ball.

1. The Takeaway: Start the swing by turning your chest, shoulders, and hips together as a single unit. As you turn away from the ball, the club will naturally swing back and begin to move upward. To keep the club on a good path, allow your wrists to hinge slightly during the first part of the motion. This simple move prevents the club from getting stuck too far behind you.
2. Staying Centered: A common mistake is to sway your body off the ball during the backswing. Instead, imagine you are rotating inside a barrel. You want to turn your hips and shoulders while your head stays relatively stable. This keeps you centered over the ball and in a powerful position.
3. The Top of the Swing: How far back should you go? Only as far as your flexibility allows you to turn comfortably. Don’t try to force a super long, professional-looking backswing. A controlled_turn_ that maintains your balance is far more effective than an uncontrolled one that throws you off balance. You are coiled and ready to release that stored energy.

The Downswing: Unleashing Your Power on the Ball

This is where everything comes together. You’ve coiled your body on the backswing, and now it's time to unwind through the ball in the correct sequence. Good ball striking comes from a simple, repeatable motion.

As you start down from the top, the first move is a small shift of your weight onto your front foot. Just feel a little pressure build in your front leg. This small move is powerful - it gets your swing moving from the ground up and ensures you strike the ball first, then the ground, which is essential for crisp iron shots.

Once that slight weight-shift happens, your main thought is simply to unwind your body. Turn your hips and chest back toward the target. Your arms and the club will follow, gathering speed and dropping naturally into a great impact position. The biggest mistake a new golfer can make is trying to help the ball get into the air by "scooping" at it or leaning back. Your club has loft built in, trust it to do the work. Your job is to drive through the ball while rotating towards the target.

For more feedback, try placing a piece of impact tape on your clubface or spraying it with deodorizing foot powder. This will show you exactly where you're making contact. Finding the sweet spot consistently is one of the fastest ways to better shots.

The Follow-Through and Finish Position

Your golf swing doesn't end at impact. A full, balanced follow-through is a sign that you’ve released all your power and stayed with the shot. An often-overlooked part of the swing, finishing well promotes good technique and balance.

As you swing past impact, keep rotating! Let your hips and chest continue turning until they face your target. This rotation will naturally pull your back foot up onto its toe. Your weight should finish almost entirely on your front foot - maybe 90% or more. Your hands and the club will swing up and around your body, often finishing somewhere behind your neck.

Your goal is to hold a balanced finish until the ball lands. Even if you hit a bad shot, if you can hold your finish, it means you committed to the swing with good balance - a habit that is sure to produce better and better shots over time.

Final Thoughts

Building a reliable golf swing is about understanding a few fundamental movements: rotating your body, setting up correctly, and letting the club work around you in a smooth, balanced motion. By breaking the swing down piece by piece - from grip to a balanced finish - you put yourself in a position to build a motion that gives you confidence on every shot.

Once you develop the fundamentals, taking your improving swing to the course is the next great step. If you're ever standing over a tough shot and need help with a smart strategy or a tricky lie, our tool, Caddie AI, provides personalized advice right on your phone. You can even take a photo of your ball's lie for an instant recommendation on how to play the shot, removing any doubt so you can commit to your swing with confidence.