When swinging a golf club around the body, there are a number of different checkpoints players can use to see if their club face is in the correct position.

A common mistake some golfers make is to believe they must keep the club face pointed at the ball for as long as possible during the back swing. This is not the case as a technically sound back swing moves away from the ball on an inside and upward plane. Keeping the club face pointed at the ball throughout this path would in fact close it in relation to the target.

After impact, the club face should rotate fully mirroring the positions of the back swing. If the swing sequence is correct, the follow through should be free and flowing. Follow these checkpoints and you are sure to hit straighter shots.

When executed correctly, the golf swing is a smooth movement from start to finish. Sure, you have to technically stop the club at the top to change directions, but even the transition can appear to be a smooth, even action. However, even within a smooth swing, there are a number of checkpoints you can use to evaluate the quality of your swing. In fact, check points are one of the best ways to monitor your swing positions so you can make any adjustments that may be necessary.

In this article, we are going to discuss how you can use various swing checkpoints to improve your game. We’ll talk about both the full swing and the short game, as checkpoints can be a valuable tool in both areas. If course, it’s one thing to notice problems in your swing, but it’s another thing entirely to actually fix those issues. So, once you figure out what is going wrong, you’ll need to put in plenty of hard work to correct the problem and improve your results.

All of the content below is based on a right-handed golfer. If you happen to play left-handed, please take a moment to reverse the directions as necessary.

— Before the Swing Begins

Many of the important check points you can monitor will be found before the swing even starts. Your address position is an extremely important piece of the puzzle in golf, yet many players virtually ignore this element when practicing. If you can learn how to put your body in a great position prior to starting your swing, the rest of the swing will become much easier.

So, what should you be looking for when taking your stance? The points listed below are a great place to start.

• Flexed knees. This one is the first point on our list for a very good reason. At address, you’ll want to make sure your knees are flexed so you have a solid foundation on which to build your swing. Without your knees flexed, it is going to be hard to execute important fundamentals later in your swing, like maintaining balance, making a big shoulder turn, and more. It’s easy to get last at address and keep your legs straight, but straight legs will not help you build a dynamic action. During an upcoming practice session, experiment with different amounts of knee flex until you find a stance that is comfortable and promotes an athletic action.
• Flat back. Another key point to check in your address position is the angle of your back. Ideally, you will be able to keep your back roughly straight from your waist on up to your neck. This flat back position is going to make it easier to turn both back and through in the golf swing. If you hunch your shoulders at address and let your back curve up near the top, it will be harder to achieve a great turn. And, even if you do turn effectively, your swing plane may be steeper than you would like. Believe it or not, your knee flex is actually closely connected to your flat back position, as sitting down into your stance will make it easier to keep your back flat. Use a mirror to check on your position at address to make sure that your knees are flexed, and your back is in a strong, flat position.
• Tilt from the hips. This is the last piece of the address position puzzle. Once you are in good shape with regard to your knee flex and your back, you need to make sure you are tilting forward from the hips to get your upper body out in a position to make a swing. If you are perfectly upright with your upper body at address, you won’t be able to get your swing down to the ball in a comfortable manner. You need to get out over the ball, but we’ve already discussed in the point above that hunching over with your shoulders is not the way to go. So, the only other viable option is to lean forward from your hips, which is exactly what you should do. It is the flex in your knees that will make it possible for you to tilt forward without losing your balance and falling over. In fact, when you bring all three of these points together properly, you should feel quite comfortable in your address position.

The three key address position checkpoints that we have highlighted in this section are all rather simple to evaluate, and if you are struggling with these points, it shouldn’t take you long to get on track. The great thing about working on your pre-swing position is that it’s easier to make improvements than it is when working on the dynamic portion of your swinging action. Of course, you’ll still need to put in some work to make improvements, so spend some time in front of a mirror (without even holding a club) to practice getting your body into the right spot. After a while, the right position will feel completely natural, and your ball striking will take a big step forward as a result.


— Backswing Checkpoints

Once the club gets moving, things get a little more complicated. For one thing, it can be hard to check your status as you go, since the whole swing only takes a couple of seconds to complete. By the time you have reached one backswing checkpoint, you are already well on your way to the next. So, how do you get around this problem? Fortunately, we live in an age of advanced technology, so you can simply turn to your smartphone for assistance.

By recording your swing on video, you can easily break it down frame by frame to figure out where you might be going wrong. During your next visit to the driving range, ask a friend to record your swing on your phone. Or, if you are practicing alone, find a way to position your phone such that you can take a video without having your hands on the device. If you have never before recorded your swing and watched it back, you might be in for a bit of a surprise – your golf swing may look quite a bit different than it feels.

Once you’ve made some recordings – from both the down the line and face on positions – analyze your technique using the checkpoints listed below.

• Six inches back. The first checkpoint you will want to look at in your backswing is found only a few inches behind the ball. As you are watching your swing video, stop the recording as soon as the club head is (roughly) six inches behind the ball. What you want to see at this point is that very little is happening with the swing. Your body should not be moving from side to side, and your hands should not yet be involved in the swing at all. Instead, you should be moving the club with your shoulders as you rotate the upper body away from the target. The takeaway should be very quiet and controlled, as you get the swing started gradually before things pick up later on. If there is a lot of movement going on early in your swing, work on simplifying your takeaway until your shoulders are doing virtually all of the work.
• Halfway back. In golf-speak, the halfway back position in the backswing is found when the club shaft is parallel to the ground. At this point, pause your video again and examine your positions to see how you have done since the last check. Again here, not much should have changed, other than the fact that your hands may have gotten involved a bit more. The swing should still be driven by your shoulder rotation at this point, and you should be nicely balanced with your weight pretty much centered between your feet (you may have moved a bit toward your right foot, but that shift shouldn’t be significant). It’s common for the hands to have done too much by this point in the swing, which can lead to the club shaft being way inside the proper plane. If your hands are too busy early in your swing, work on making some half-length practice swings without using your hands at all. This should help you get a feel for how you can move the club back and through without hand action. Your shoulders are a more reliable way to move the club than your hands, so always favor shoulder rotation to excessive hand action.