Backswing matters for good strikes

By Kim Jeong-kyoo

Korea Times Golf Columnist

The shot quality turns greatly on how you swing the club back. Indubitably, you don't hit the ball on the backswing but it is a fallacy that backswing has nothing to do with power and accuracy. Without positioning the club correctly at the top of the backswing, there is no way that you can swing the club head squarely through the ball along the correct path and hit it solidly.

The club out of position at the top requires you to make some compensating movements somewhere on the downswing to let the club head work on the correct path and plane, which is not easy to do consistently within seconds. It costs power, consistency and accuracy.

Picking the club up too steeply on the backswing, for instance, will typically push you to either yank it down with an over-the-top move or drop it too far to the inside, only to get the club stuck behind the body. Either way, to hit the ball decently you have to make compensating movements that impair your ability to produce solid, powerful strikes.

Succinctly, a correct backswing is a prerequisite for maximizing both distance and direction, plus consistency. The backswing influences the downswing that determines the shot quality.

The golf swing is characterized by a domino effect and the backswing is directly affected by the address position. Whenever you find your swing turning sour, you need to check your pre-swing preparations first to see if you've crept into a faulty address position. You cannot expect a good backswing if you start with a flawed address position. An erroneous setup position precludes a proper takeaway.

The backswing is a passive stage of the swing and for a proper backswing you have to focus on taking the club away from the ball at a leisurely pace, or rather with the absence of brute force. It's a no-no to use any forced power during the backswing. Going wild with uncontrolled power does nothing but to deprive you of the chance to get the club into the proper position at the top.

Throw away all force-oriented thoughts and just concentrate on getting the club into the proper position at the top so that swinging the club down into the slot is a mere reflex action from the backswing.

Golf is a target game, not a power game; of paramount importance is to swing the club head along the target line through the ball with its face square to the target. The ultimate goal of your swing is not to swipe at the ball at full tilt.

Imagine yourself being a marksman in the movies, who always takes aim on the target with precision. The guy never fails to align the rifle properly before pulling the trigger. So does every archer competing in the Olympics. Every prolific archer positions the bow with precision before releasing the arrow.

The same needs to be done in the backswing. The sole purpose of the backswing is to align the club correctly as a preparatory step for the correct, powerful release of the club through impact.

For a proper position at the top, the club shaft of the driver needs to be almost horizontal to the ground and parallel to the target line. This is particularly true for golfers who set up in an upright posture. Clearly, when you swing fairway woods and irons, the shaft will get less horizontal.

Players who set up in a bent posture, however, had better get the club shaft either parallel to the target line at the top of the backswing or slightly laid off, or to put it another way, pointing left of the target.

Failure to get the shaft to reach the correct position at the top means you've failed to complete a proper backswing. A faulty alignment of the club at the top requires you to compensate for it during the downswing to move the club head toward the target. Typically, getting the club shaft laid off at the top leads to an out-to-in swing path; allowing the club to cross the line or letting the club shaft point right of the target causes an overly in-to-out swing path.

Action sets off a chain reaction, and without due adjustments you will rarely swing along the target line through impact. Granted, compensating movements cost power and accuracy, complicating the swing motion. A consistent swing that repeats under pressure situations calls for a simple motion with no superfluous movements during the swing.

After all, a simple backswing means a simple downswing. And it is the simplicity of the swing that ensures consistency, accuracy and power. Behind every superlative ball-striking always lies a simple backswing. For an effortless, uncomplicated backswing, just focus on getting the shaft parallel to the target line at the top.