Written By Joe Saia

So many golfers don’t pay enough attention to their finish in the golf swing and it’s often an overlooked part of the golf swing. The finish can actually tell the player a lot about what they’re doing in their golf swing and what mistakes they could be making. Many times players can improve their golf swing by just improving their finish, or picking up on warning signs in their finish. The next time you’re hitting balls on the range or struggling on the golf course think about these key factors in the your finish.

Grip Pressure

It’s essential that a player has the proper grip pressure if they want to hit consistent golf shots with accuracy and power. So many players grip the club too tightly and it kills their golf game and swing. The finish is a great point in the swing to check your grip pressure. When you’re standing over the ball make sure that your grip pressure is a 4 or 5 on a scale of 1 to 10. Then hold your finish after you hit the ball and pay attention to what your grip pressure is. If its tighter than a 4 or 5 then you are tightening your grip pressure during your swing and that could be the cause of poor shots.

Weight Transfer

Transition Golf blog Rory McIlroy finish.
Rory McIlroy has 22 wins on the PGA TOUR, including 4 major championships. He finishes with all of his weight on top of his front leg and holds the finish with good balance. Rory always holds his finish even if its a bad shot.

If you’re struggling with hitting the ground behind the ball or topping the ball then try improving your finish. So many players don’t finish with all of their weight on their front leg and this is the cause for poor golf shots. They hang back and try to lift the ball in the air and finish with their weight on their back leg. Pay attention to your finish and make sure that all of your weight is on top of your front leg. This can definitely improve the earlier parts of your swing and contact. You should be able to hold this position for at least 3 seconds with good balance.

Club Rests Across The Shoulders

Transition Golf blog Rory McIlroy finish.
Rory ranked 2nd in driving distance on the PGA TOUR in 2022, averaging 321.3 yards off the tee. You can see how the club finishes resting across his shoulders. Note that the club is almost parallel to the ground and not vertical.

Paying attention to where the club is finishing and having it finish in the correct position can definitely improve a persons golf swing. A lot of amateurs will finish with the club vertical or won’t complete their finish and this could be the cause for poor shots and a loss of power. Make sure that the club is resting somewhere across your shoulders in the finish. This will ensure that you are continuing to swing through impact and not decelerating. Finishing with the club resting somewhere across your shoulders can also improve a players swing path in some instances.

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