The best shot in golf isn’t the 300-yard bomb or the jaw-dropping flop shot you see on Sundays, it’s the next one you’re about to hit. This guide is about shifting your focus from chasing perfect, once-in-a-lifetime shots to building a single, reliable swing you can trust under pressure. We will walk through the essentials, from how you hold the club to your finish position, to build your best shot - the one that is consistent, playable, and, most importantly, repeatable.
Before we get into hands, hips, and shoulders, let’s get on the same page. When you ask, “What is the best shot in golf?” most people think of a specific type of shot. A towering driver, a low-spinning wedge, a perfectly judged lag putt. But the real answer is far more personal and practical.
For you, the dedicated golfer looking to get better, the best shot in golf is your most reliable one. It’s the swing you can execute time and again to produce a predictable result. It's built on three pillars: power, accuracy, and consistency. But notice the order - you can’t have accuracy and consistency without first understanding where usable power comes from. And it doesn't come from your arms.
The golf swing is a rotational action. The club moves around your body in a circle-like motion, powered primarily by the turning of your torso - your shoulders and hips. I see so many new golfers (and plenty of experienced ones) using an up-and-down chopping motion with their arms. This is a weak, inconsistent move. To build your best, most reliable shot, you must first embrace the idea that the swing is a rounded action where you turn your body back and then unwind it through the ball. This is the engine of your swing, and the rest of the steps are about making that engine run as smoothly as possible.
Your grip is the only connection you have to the golf club, and it has an enormous influence on where the clubface points at impact. Think of it as the steering wheel for your golf ball. If it’s off, you’ll constantly be making subconscious corrections in your swing to straighten the shot out, and that's the enemy of reliability.
First, make sure the clubface is square. You can use the logo on the grip as a guide or simply ensure the leading edge of the clubface is pointing straight ahead, perpendicular to your target line.
A quick word of warning: The proper golf grip feels strange. It feels unlike holding anything else. If you've been playing with an improper grip for a while, making this change will feel profoundly weird. Trust the process. This neutral position allows the club to work correctly without you needing to manipulate it.
Bring your right hand to the club with the palm facing your target. It's a natural, comfortable motion. You don't want to bring it in from underneath or too far over the top.
A consistent grip is your first step to a trustworthy shot. Get it right, and a lot of other things will start to fall into place naturally.
Your setup is the foundation of your golf swing. An inconsistent starting position will always lead to an inconsistent swing. And like the grip, a proper golf setup can feel bizarre at first, but it is designed to put your body in the most powerful and balanced position to make a rotational movement.
Always start by placing the clubhead behind the ball and aiming it directly at your target. Everything else will be built around this reference point.
This is the part that feels strange for most people. Hinge forward from your hips, keeping your back relatively straight. A a result of hinging forward from your hips, your bottom will stick out behind you. This isn't about looking silly, it’s about making space for your arms to swing freely and engaging the powerful muscles in your glutes and legs.
From that tilted position, let your arms hang straight down from your shoulders. They should feel relaxed, not tense or stretched. This naturally places the club the correct distance from your body. A common mistake is standing too upright, which cramps the swing, or bending over too much, which leads to a loss of balance.
With your arms and club in position, take a stance that is approximately shoulder-width apart for a mid-iron. This provides a stable base that is wide enough to generate power but not so wide that it restricts your hip turn. Your weight should be balanced 50/50 between your feet.
Ball position changes slightly depending on the club.
The backswing is often overcomplicated. Its purpose is simply to get the club into a position where it can be delivered to the ball with power and consistency. Remember the core idea: it’s a rotation, not a lift.
Imagine you're standing inside a cylinder. As you start the swing, your goal is to turn your body - shoulders and hips - while staying within the confines of that cylinder. You aren't swaying off the ball to the right or sliding left, you are rotating around your spine.
As you begin this rotation, allow your wrists to do one simple thing: hinge slightly. Just in that first part of the takeaway, from the ball to about hip-high, feel a little angle form in your top wrist. This simple move gets the club on the correct plane and prevents a common fault of pulling the club too far inside behind the body.
How far back should you swing? As far as your body can comfortably rotate while maintaining balance. Don't chase a "parallel to the ground" position you see on TV if your body doesn't bend that way. A shorter, more controlled rotation will always be more reliable than a long, out-of-control one. Your backswing is complete when you’ve fully turned your torso to a comfortable limit.
You’ve stored up all this rotational energy at the top of your swing. Now it’s time to release it. The best part is, if you’ve done the previous steps correctly, the downswing is more of a natural reaction than a forced action.
The sequence is everything. From the top of the swing, the very first move is a slight shift of pressure to your lead foot. Imagine bumping your front hip just a bit toward the target. This small move does a big job: it ensures your swing bottoms out at or just after the golf ball, which is how you create pure, ball-first contact with your irons.
Once that slight shift happens, it’s time to unwind. Your hips lead the way, followed by your torso, and finally your arms and the club. Think of it like a chain reaction. This unwinding doesn't require any conscious effort to "hit" the ball. All the power you need has already been created. Your only job is to turn your body through the shot.
One of the biggest mistakes golfers make is trying to "help" the ball into the air by leaning back and scooping it. Trust the loft on the club. Your job is to strike down on the ball, and that happens by shifting your weight forward and rotating your body through. You provide the power, the club provides the launch.
The finish position isn't just a pose for the camera, it's the natural result of a well-executed, balanced swing. A a solid finish demonstrates that you’ve committed to the shot and transferred all your energy through the ball and toward the target.
As you strike the ball and move into the follow-through, don't stop turning. Allow your hips and chest to rotate all the way around until they are facing the target. As this happens:
Challenge yourself to hold your finish position until the ball lands. If you can stand there, perfectly balanced on your lead side, gazing down the fairway at your shot, it's a sure sign that you had a balanced, powerful, and complete swing - your best shot.
The best shot in golf isn’t about hitting a heroic one-off shot but about developing a feel and trust in one reliable swing. By focusing on building your shot from the ground up - with a neutral grip, an athletic setup, and a body-driven rotation - you create a move that is simple, repeatable, and effective.
While building this single, reliable swing is on you, figuring out the smartest way to use it for 18 holes is another piece of the puzzle. We created Caddie AI to be your pocket-sized caddie for just those moments. When you face a a challenging lie, feel stuck between clubs, or just aren't sure of the right play on a hole, our AI can analyze the situation and give you clear, actionable strategy in seconds. The goal is to remove the doubt so you can swing with the confidence that you're making the right play.
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