Getting To A Full Finish

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Some of my swing problems come from the fact that I don’t get to a full finish in in the follow through, like you might see players on TV doing. Intuitively, you might be wondering why the finish is important. After all, once the ball is struck nothing else you do matters, right? Wrong.

The golf swing is a complex system that involves your body, a golf club, and a golf ball. How you perform is directly related to your flexibility, stability, strength, and technique. If any of these areas is deficient, your swing will be deficient. Mistakes trickle down into subsequent segments of the swing. Problems in the finish indicate that something probably went wrong prior to that.

To achieve maximum power, the club head needs to be accelerating when it meets the ball. If you’re not achieving a full finish, then chances are that you haven’t built up as much club head speed as you might have otherwise. That or you’re bleeding off stored power as your body resists that speed, knowing that it can’t achieve that full finish position. It’s important for the chest to stay ahead of the hands through impact, or you’ll end up in the chicken wing position after having hit a weak shot. If you’re not doing that, then that means you’re not achieving maximum club head speed because your hips are probably lagging behind.

If things are going right, then a nice finish position is simply a side effect of doing things correctly as opposed to something you have to consciously accomplish. The power you’ve generated through rotation of your hips, torso, and shouders pulls you around and puts you into that complete finish.

To achieve a full finish you need to have the flexibility and stability to get most of your weight on your left side as you come through the ball. Your hip turn leads the way through impact. You finish with your hands over your left shoulder (for a right hander) and your belt buckle and right knee facing the target (or even facing a little left of the target). If you have trouble getting to this position and staying there, it’s a sign of a lack of flexibility and/or stability.

In my own case, I’ve identified several deficiencies in my flexibility and stability that I’m targeting with stretches and strengthening exercises:

• Hip flexibility/rotation – I have no trouble with my back swing, but I have a lot of trouble achieving that finish position. My left foot normally spins out, when it should be mostly in the same position it was at impact with my body turning around it. That means my hip flexibility is a problem.
• Lack of stability in my ankles – This is a serious problem for me. It keeps me from keeping that finish pose after a good swing. I tend to fall out and lose my balance because my strength and stability lacks.
• Lack of flexibility in my lower back – I’ve lost some range of motion and it’s keeping me from making a full finish and really getting my belt buckle facing the target.

If you don’t get into a good finish position, it might be something you can practice on the range and improve easily. If you can’t get into that good finish position at all or can’t maintain it, you’re probably like me and you have some physical limitations that you should be targeting with stretches and exercises. I’ve talked about it before, and I can’t hype it enough: check out the Titleist Performance Institute website for lots of information on evaluating problems with your mobility and strength as well as an extensive exercise library with exercises that target virtually every part of the body. If you target these problem areas and develop an overall fitness routine, you will not regret it.