Golf Swing Final Exam: The Follow Through

If you’ve ever watched a professional golf event on television, you’ve probably noticed how they finish. It’s great to see elite players hit flush golf shots and then pose while they watch where the ball lands.

It’s a beautiful image for the everyday golfer to appreciate how easy they make it look but they aren’t just pausing for the cameras.

The golf swing follow through tells the story of every golf swing. It tells the player what went right or what went wrong. The follow through will tell you everything you need to know about what happened before that point.

If you can get to a good follow-through, or finish, position, then chances are high that the rest of your swing was done properly.  A beautiful, wide follow through extension is unlikely to happen if you have a bad grip, poor setup, inside takeaway or a terrible transition though.

Today we’ll cover what a good finish position looks like and how to achieve one more consistently so you hit it better than ever.

Key Takeaways

• How your swing ends (aka the finish position) reflects a lot about your golf swing.
• Your finish position can help you understand if you’re transferring your weight properly, teach more about your posture, and balance.
• Make it a goal to hold your finish position until the ball lands so you can learn more about your golf swing.
• The next time you watch golf on TV make sure to note how different follow throughs lead to different types of shot shapes. For example some golfers finish high for a high launching shot or finish low for a punch shot.

Keep reading to learn more about the follow through so you can play your best golf.

Elements of the Golf Swing Follow Through

The golf swing follow through can tell you a lot about your swing.

As Hank Haney said in Golf Digest, “Watching a pro golf tournament can be as educational as it is entertaining. When the camera focuses on a player hitting a full shot, pay attention to how he or she finishes the swing.

You can even hit pause on your DVR and guess whether it was a draw, fade or straight shot before seeing where the ball ends up. You’ll have a better awareness of how to shape shots.”

In this section, we’ll look at the five main elements of a good follow-through to help you understand everything from the lead shoulder position, balance, posture, and more. Then we’ll review different strategies to fix these issues so your golf game is more consistent.

1. Club Behind Head

The first element in a good follow-through is making sure the club finishes behind your head and shoulders (assuming it’s not a punch shot). The hands should finish shoulder height or above while the club head will be on the opposite side of your upper body.

For right-handed golfers, the hands should finish on the left side of your head with the club head either behind the head or on the right side of the head.

The other part of this position that is important is that both elbows stay fairly low.

• The front elbow (left elbow for the right-handed player) is a little bit higher than the back, but neither one will be above your ear.
• You want to make sure your arms are in a comfortable position to rest after the shot.
• When the elbows get too high, the follow-through gets to be too forced.

This position is the most natural spot for the hands to finish after hitting a golf swing. It allows the full force and momentum of the golf swing to be gradually slowed without slowing the swing too early or too late.

This position will also allow you to maintain balance without falling over after the swing is completed.

2.  Weight On the Left Foot

Next, and possibly most importantly thing to look at in the follow through is weight distribution at finish position.

• In general, about 80% of your weight should be resting over the front foot (left foot for the right-handed player) at the follow through.
• When most of your weight finishes on the front foot, it allows you to maintain balance while shifting through the ball for maximum power.

A proper weight shift is one of the most important moves in golf and one of the biggest mistakes most amateurs make. A good weight shift allows for maximum club head speed, resulting in greater distance.

With your weight finishing on your front side, you’ll guarantee that there has been a proper weight transition through impact. It’s nearly impossible to finish on your front side without having a good weight shift through the golf swing. More on that coming up in the next section.

3. Back Heel In The Air

Going along with finishing on your front side, a good follow-through means the back heel (right heel for the right-handed player) is raised in the air. The back toe is the only part of the back foot that makes contact with the ground in the follow through.

Again, it’s important to transition weight through the impact zone. Allowing the back heel to raise in the air is a natural movement that forces weight on to the front side.

As mentioned before, it’s almost impossible for a player to finish with their back heel in the air if they haven’t shifted their weight through impact. When done properly you’ll get plenty of ground force so you can use the ground to get as much power as possible.

4. Chest Facing Target

The fourth element of a good follow-through is to make sure that your chest is facing the target. You want to make sure your belt buckle is facing the target line which ensure proper upper body rotation.

With your chest facing the target this helps accomplish three elements of a good follow through:

• Club behind head
• Weight on lead leg
• Right foot in the air

Making sure that your chest is facing the target means that you have rotated through the golf swing.

Remember, your shoulder should turn about 90 (or more) degrees on the backswing. While the hips only rotate about half as much.

This rotation creates torque and energy to release through impact.

As the rotation is released, you’ll turn all the way through impact and finish with your chest facing the target. Facing the target also allows you to accomplish the final element of the follow through which is staying balanced.

5. Balanced Golf Follow Through

The final thing to consider is to make sure you’re balanced at the end of your golf swing. 

Maintaining your balance means that you can rest comfortably in this follow-through position without falling to one side or the other.

Balance is important because it shows that your golf swing is controlled. If you swing too hard it becomes really difficult to finish the swing in a balanced position.

Make sure to swing with the right amount of intensity and power to stay balanced. It might also be a sign that you need to do some extra mobility work in the gym so you’re more balanced on the golf course.

Common Mistakes in the Follow Through

In the section above, we’ve hinted at some common mistakes and what those mean for the rest of the golf swing. Now we’ll highlight the main four biggest mistakes that amateur golfers make when finishing the golf swing.

1. Weight On Back Foot/Flat Back Foot

Too many golfers don’t have a good follow through or lose balance because their weight never shifts from the trail foot. A lot of golfers unwind the hips without first shifting weight to the lead leg.

There are two main reasons this happens.

• First is that so many golfers try to lift the ball up in the air (as if the loft of the golf club won’t do it for them). This actually can result in a change in spine angle and early extension as well.
• Second, a lot of amateur golfers fall backwards because they are trying to swing too hard. When you swing too hard, it often takes your weight backwards instead of toward the target.

If you need help with overswinging check out our guide now.

2. Front Foot Drops Back/Moves

Next, to go along with swinging too hard, a lot of golfers take their front foot and step backwards or to the side. This move often happens earlier than a player thinks and will affect the impact position too.

Swinging too hard and stepping the foot back may not seem like a big deal, but it makes it more difficult to accomplish other positions through the swing.

An overly-hard swing causes a player to lose bodily awareness and control, which leads to more and more little mistakes. Those little mistakes in a golf swing add up and result in a big miss hit that makes it nearly impossible to score well.

3. Lack of Balance

Another mistake that a lot of golfers make is that they don’t maintain their balance.

Usually the biggest reason is from swinging too hard. Which is why we suggest speed training and workouts so you can increase swing speed without trying to force it.

Balance is important because it allows your body to work in the way it was designed to work.

Without balance, a golf swing is basically free-falling through the air and the chances of hitting a quality shot dramatically decrease. There’s a reason why every golfer on the professional tours has good balance, because it’s crucial to the success of a golf shot.

4. Club Too Low

Finally, the last mistake that a lot of amateur golfers make is that they finish with the club too low.

The ideal position is for the club to be behind the head or shoulders. This is where the club can rest naturally after a powerful, controlled, golf swing.

When a follow-through is too low, with the club finishing below the shoulder line, it can indicate several different errors have occurred.

• First, it could mean that the swing path was too far outside-in. A path that is outside-in will, most of the time, create a big slice that can’t be controlled very easily.
• Next, it could also mean that the front foot hasn’t stayed flat on the ground throughout the swing and would make solid impact even more difficult.

So, when the club finishes too low, chances are good that the shot didn’t go the right direction.

Drills to Improve Your Golf Follow Through

These four mistakes are common but they don’t have to be difficult to fix. Here are a couple great drills to help solve any issues you may have with the follow-through.

Throwing A Baseball

Throwing a baseball is pretty simple for most people and can help with the right foot weight shift you need in the golf swing.

• Weight shifts from the back foot to the front.
• Weight finishes on the front side, on the lead foot.
• Back heel raised in the air, just like a golf follow through.

Those three elements are the exact same in the golf swing, but for some reason when we hit a golf ball, we think it’s different.

Practice throwing a baseball, or golf ball, and focus on the lower body weight transition. If you’re able to keep the same weight shift in your golf swing, then you’re well on your way to creating a proper follow-through position.

Who knew an incomplete swing could get fixed by simply throwing a baseball?

Hit Golf Balls Standing On A 2×4

Next, to improve balance and get into a better golf swing follow through, get a 2×4 piece of wood and lay it flat on the ground.

• Stand on the 2×4 so that you are balanced at the address position.
• Then, go ahead and hit some golf balls while standing on the 2×4.

You’ll be aware of the fact that the ground below you isn’t the most stable and swing a little bit more under control. If you can hit a shot and not fall off the 2×4, then you have good enough balance throughout your golf swing to finish in a proper follow-through position.

If you want a more traditional training aid to help with weight shift and getting weight off your right foot, check out thePressure Plate from WhyGolf. This training aid requires you to balance throughout the golf swing and makes it easy to get your weight transferred properly.

Tap Back Toe

The third drill to help with your golf swing follow through is to make sure that your back heel comes up in the air while also maintaining your balance.

• Hit some golf balls and after every one, try to tap your right foot toes three times.
• If you can tap the toe, without hesitation, and remain standing throughout the follow-through position, then you have correctly finished on your back toe.

A lot of times if you finish on your back toe there will be too much weight that didn’t get transferred properly. When you have too much weight on the back toe, you will not be able to pick up the foot to tap it very easily.

Focus on how easy it is to lift the foot and tap it on the ground. If it’s really easy, then you’ve done it correctly. If you have to shift your weight before tapping it, then that means you probably have too much weight hanging back on the back foot.

Remember, you need to move off your right foot to get maximum power in the golf swing.

Hold The Follow-Through And Push Without Falling

Another similar drill is to hold every follow-through for a 5-second count:

• If you are able to hold the follow-through for a solid five seconds, then you are balanced and have your weight in the correct position.
• Once you’ve accomplished that, have a friend give you a slight push in your back or front.
• Notice which way you fall or how hard they have to push to get you to fall over.
• If you fall forwards easily then you have enough weight on the front side of your golf swing.
• On the other hand, if it’s easy to fall backwards, then that’ll indicate that you have too much weight on the back foot.

Other Tips to Improve Your Golf Follow Through

Hopefully the drills will help you out but we wanted to suggest a few other strategies for a better golf swing follow through.

• Stretching. If you struggle getting a big enough shoulder turn or lose your balance, it might be from a lack of flexibility. Check out our favorite golf stretches that can help you limber up and improve different parts of your swing.
• Workouts. If you want to hit it longer than ever, you might need to work on your strength. Using different golf workout routines you can improve your legs, core, and upper body. This can help you stay balanced and hit it longer than ever. Not to mention help avoid golf injuries that happen too frequently from all the twisting and turning in the swing.

FAQs About Golf Swing Follow Through

Do you have more questions about the proper position in your follow through? If so, keep reading through the most frequently asked questions and answers now.

How do I keep my arms straight in the follow through?

You want to feel like you’re pushing outwards throughout your golf swing. As Golftec noted, “To keep your lead arm straight throughout the golf swing, it’s important to start at address.

Stretch your arms out and try to push your palms into the ground. This will help you feel the stretch as you take the club back into your backswing. From there, maintain the push and keep your arms pushing outwards throughout your swing.”

Take some practice swings and feel this motion to keep your lead arm straight in the follow through.

For more, read our article on how to fix the chicken wing.

How do I get my right side through my golf swing?

The most important thing to do on the downswing is to get weight from your trail foot to your lead foot. This happens in sort of a pressing down type of motion for a proper weight transfer.

As this move is happening you’ll also want to make sure your hips are opening toward the target. This will help you create lag and generate more power than ever.

If you need help with this move, check out our weight transfer golf guide.

How do you swing through the golf ball instead of at it?

Think about it like this… the golf ball simply gets in the way of your swing. Too many golfers try to hit the ball vs. trying to have a golf swing that accelerates through the ball.

My Experience

Your follow through is the final move of the golf swing and can tell you a lot about the swing itself. I try to always hold my follow through and learn from it in practice.

Oftentimes it’s easy to spot if I’m not transfering my weight properly or if my weight is getting on my toes or heels. It’s a good idea to record your golf swing so evaluate your swing, setup, alignment, and follow through.

If you notice your right side is lower than your left and weight back, it likely means you’ve swung on an inside to outside path. This type of path tends to promote a right to left ball flight as the trail hand can roll over more easily.

If you notice your hips and chest are toward the target but your right shoulder is high, this will likely lead to a fade. The club face will be slightly open at impact position resulting in a left to right shot.

Final Thoughts on Golf Swing Follow Through Position

Hopefully you have a better understanding on how to finish your golf swing and get into a solid follow-through position. Remember, the follow-through is an important position and will tell you a lot about what happened earlier in your golf swing.

If something is not right in your follow-through, it probably means there was an error in your golf swing. Learn from your follow-through position and make the necessary changes to ensure that it’s a natural, comfortable, and easy position to finish in.