There’s no one perfect way to swing a golf club, but there are specific positions that have proven to be consistently successful.

In this article, I would like to show you five, time-tested positions that we can all strive to achieve. You don’t have to match these positions perfectly, but the closer you get to them the better your swing will be fundamentally.

Remember, don’t perform major surgery when an aspirin will do. These are suggestions for improvement, not a guide to completely overhaul your swing.

No. 1: The Bump

• Everyone strives to begin the downswing from the ground up and here is a great example of the hips doing all the work.
• The weight is on the inside of the rear foot at the top, thus allowing the hips to “push off” something during the transition. Too many golfers allow their weight to move to the outside of the rear foot at or near the top of the backswing.
• The shoulders have turned enough to allow the hands to move around the body, not just lift to the top, to load up the weight on the rear foot.
• From the top, the weight bumps forward in the direction of the hips. For most people, moving the weight into the left toe from the top is enough to make things work correctly.
• When the hips spin, the weight moves into the left heel and the right shoulder is thrown out and over.

No. 2: Back and Down

• I’m often asked what the right shoulder does during the downswing, and here is a great photo of how it stays back and down from the top into the transition.
• The arms have worked across the body so that the left arm is somewhere around the right shoulder, which is not for everyone, but it seems to work for this player. I suggest having the left arm between the shoulder and the right ear for most players.
• As the hips bump, the rear shoulder stays back, or at least it does not rotate forward just yet. This causes the arms to work more downward, not outward, for a split second. That moves the club into an inside delivery position.
• When the right shoulder dives forward and toward the ball in a wood-chopping motion from the top, the path is shifted left and you will tend to hit down too steeply into the ball.
• Looking at her legs in the right frame also shows us that she has not spun out from the top while her shoulder moves downward.
• You can feel the hips bump rightward to drop the rear shoulder, or you can drop the right shoulder to move the hips laterally. It’s all about your feel of what happens, but biomechanically the hips lead the pivot during the transition.

No. 3: Right Forearm Inline

• If there was one secret of consistent ball striking that I feel we could ALL get better at, it would be working into impact with our rear forearm and club shaft inline.
• Having the rear arm and club shaft inline provides maximum support with positive alignments that allow the club shaft to return very closely to its address position. The closer you can get to that position, the better it is for you in theory. My thought is to try your best not to change it too much up or down from its position at impact for the best results.
• The best ball strikers in the game have the right forearm and shaft inline at impact. Check out Trevino, Price and Hogan if you don’t believe me!
• The key to achieving this position is to have the proper transitional motion from the top, coupled with a solid pivot of the upper body through the ball. It’s not the easiest position to achieve, but the payoff is worth the hard work.

No. 4: Left Arm and Club Shaft Inline

• Impact in a perfect world would be an in-line condition as shown above. Whenever the shaft lags behind the hands at impact, or vice versa, it’s hard to coordinate the closing rate of the clubface, as well as the club’s dynamic loft. This leads to off-line shots and inconsistent trajectory.
• This is the impact position of a very high ball hitter. His head is behind the ball and the club is being returned to the ball with a ton of speed.  This player is using the exact static loft designed into the club (within reason).
• This type of impact condition produces the correct amount of spin as determined by the difference between the angle of attack and the dynamic loft of the club. That’s known as spin loft.
• In order to achieve this position, golfers must have the lower body working into a posted position so the right shoulder can “cover the ball” a touch more. When the right shoulder lags too far down and behind, the hands will tend to flip.
• Too much lateral head slide will move the lowpoint forward, and you will tend to reduce the dynamic loft of the club too much. This results in shots that come off too low.

No. 5: The Proper Low Point

• The very best fundamentals in the world cannot overcome a faulty lowpoint. If you cannot hit the ball solid, you will never play your best.
• I have charted the low point in the left frame, showing you that this player hit the ground AFTER the ball has left the blade, NOT before.
• As you’ve probably heard before, you must hit the little ball (golf ball) before the big ball (the earth).
• The key to controlling your lowpoint is to have a proper pivot motion, which is how you twist and turn during the swing. Weight displacement will also affect your lowpoint.
• If you have trouble with your low point, draw a line in the grass and try to make divots after the line on the targetside. To do this you MUST move your weight forward to some degree.
• Lowpoint control is very difficult on the flattest of lies, but to reach your full potential as a golfer you must practice lowpoint control on the most hilly of lies.

Again, these positions are general ideas of what I like to see my students achieve during the swing. There is NO one way to swing a golf club that works for everyone, but these fundamentals are generally helpful. Experiment with your swing and see where you compare to these great professionals and hopefully you’ll gain the insight you need to get better!