You're Correct!

Setting the club at the top of your back swing means you are in a great position to make a powerful down swing and to achieve maximum shot distance.

The position that you achieve at the end of your back swing, or “the top” is crucial for this, as if you have “set the club” correctly you will have maximized the angles and leverage that are available to you during your back swing. Maximizing these angles and levers will allow you to generate maximum club head speed and you will strike the golf ball the furthest distance possible.

To set the club at the top, as you swing back away from the golf ball you need to ensure that your shoulders and upper body are rotating away from the target – to the right if you are a right handed golfer. As you are doing this, your left arm needs to remain extended and you need to cock your wrists to create a 90 degree angle between your left arm and the shaft of the golf club by the time you are half way back through your back swing, or when your hands are around chest high. As your shoulders continue to complete their rotation to 90 degrees, the club is set at the top when the shaft of the golf club is parallel to the ground and also parallel to the target line.

From this position, you will now be able to rotate your lower body towards the target, which will allow you to fire your upper body and right side through impact. As you do this and swing the club through impact, you can then use the leverage in your right arm and wrists to add additional club head speed to the movement of the club head as it strikes through the golf ball. This can only be achieved if the club has been correctly set at the top of the back swing.

Pointing the golf club shaft at the ground at the top of the back swing means that the club has gone beyond its optimal position to generate power and speed from. If the shaft is pointing at the ground either you have bent your left arm so this lever is no longer fully extended, or you have let go of the handle with your grip. Either way, you now have to use energy and compensatory movements to try to recover the position and the club head is not swinging in from the optimum position.

If the shaft of the golf club is pointing too skywards at the top of the back swing, then you have not cocked your wrists or created enough angle between your left arm and the club shaft. With less angle in your wrists than you could achieve, you are not creating the amount of leverage that you potentially could and you will not hit the golf ball as far as you could.

Setting the golf club at the top of your back swing is absolutely crucial to achieving maximum shot distance when you play your golf shots. The position you achieve at the top of your back swing influences not only power but also accuracy. To improve your golf shots, set the golf club correctly.