Create the perfect backswing with expert advice

We all know you need to open up your backswing. It’s how you turn around that makes all the difference. To borrow some boxing analogy, high handicappers tend to cross left. Better players will throw the uppercut. Here’s what I mean – add visuals to help you see and feel the difference.

Get into a regular setup with any iron, then swing to the top and hold. Have a friend place a positioning stick at your elbow, as shown in the picture above. If you’re having trouble with consistency or speed, the alignment stick might look like the one on the left: parallel to the ground.

This indicates that you are simply rotating your shoulders, perhaps too far off the ball. Yes, you’ve pivoted, but you haven’t really “loaded” yet. This is the dreaded left cross turn that can lead to a severe lack of power and a ton of downswing path issues.

You need to add some uppercut into your backswing. Notice in the top right photo how the top of the alignment pole is angled closer to the ground. It’s this type of turn that sets the club correctly on plane and creates the “load” you need for a powerful, on-plane downswing. Consider turning while maintaining the incline established during setup. This is a simple way to always catch the ball firmly.

VJ Trolio is a top 100 golf coach who teaches at the Old Waverly Club at West Point, Mississippi.