The Proper Way to Start Your Backwing to Get the Most Power

Updated January 20, 2022

How do you start your backswing? That's a tough question for a lot of people; they really don't know how they should start their backswing. I'm going to give you some real good ideas that might help you relax and hit better golf shots.

What to Avoid in Your Pre-Shot Routine

As we're ready to hit our golf shot, a lot of people freeze over the golf ball. What they are doing here is going through a mental checklist of ideas. They stare at the golf ball for quite some time and they don't move and as a result they get a very jerky takeaway. Many times they take it away with their hands and arms.

Now, that's really not the way that a good player takes the golf club away. From address or set-up position, the first move in the backswing comes off a little waggle forward. A waggle is simply letting the club move back and forth from a soft grip pressure, nice and relaxed, get a little feel for the clubhead. It almost gives you a little pre-determined path of the impact position or the attack track as well.

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Don't Forget to Waggle

Once we waggle, we're getting set to hit our golf shot and to start the backswing. So that's a tremendously important component of taking the golf club away. When I do that you'll also notice that my feet move just a little bit, that again gets me tension free as opposed to freezing in one position.

Move Toward the Target

Now, as I start the golf club away I'm really preceding it with just a little micro move to the target. So the first move in the backswing is actually a little push forward and then we rebound off that. Now, I've seen people over do that and make it a big move, it's very small.

In fact, it's almost imperceptible in the tour players, but almost every one of them does it. It is a natural way to start the swing. So again, it's a little move right at set-up and then you rebound off it and what you rebound off with is everything. And that means the club, the shaft, my hands, my arms, shoulders and a little push off my whole left side. My right side sort of releases and everything goes away in a classic one piece take away action.