Indoor Training: Backswing

Titleist Instruction Video Tips Our Instructors

From Justin Parsons On March 31, 2021

In Part 4 of his five-part indoor golf training series, Titleist staff member Justin Parsons shows how you can use a mirror to build a sound backswing. Moving the club off the ball and setting it correctly... at the top of the backswing is critical because it sets you up for success where it matters most - at impact with the golf ball.

As Justin mentions, there are many different ways to swing the club, but the farther you stray from the fundamentals, the more compensations you have to build into your swing in order to return the club face to the ball. When you keep the club in balance and swing on-plane, your swing becomes much simpler and more efficient and your game will become much more consistent.
As you work on your backswing in the mirror, keep the keys from Justin in mind:

1. The most important moment in the backswing is the takeaway. Make sure that the club remains in front of your body (not rolled behind you) is a big key.

2. Half-way back, a good reference is to look at the angle of the club shaft. Ideally, if you were to extend a line through the shaft and the butt of the club, that line would touch the ground at the ball or slightly inside it. This is a great checkpoint for getting the club "on-plane".

3. Unless you have a very large turn, at the top of the backswing, your club shaft should ideally point slightly left of your target line (for a right-handed golfer). When the club shaft points right of the target line (for a right-handed golfer) this is called "across the line" and frequently requires a difficult compensating move to reroute the club and get it back on-plane.

In Part 4 of his five-part indoor golf training series, Titleist staff member Justin ... Parsons shows how you can use a mirror to build a sound backswing. Moving the club off the ball and setting it correctly at the top of the backswing is critical because it sets you up for success where it matters most - at impact with the golf ball.

As Justin mentions, there are many different ways to swing the club, but the farther you stray from the fundamentals, the more compensations you have to build into your swing in order to return the club face to the ball. When you keep the club in balance and swing on-plane, your swing becomes much simpler and more efficient and your game will become much more consistent.
As you work on your backswing in the mirror, keep the keys from Justin in mind:

1. The most important moment in the backswing is the takeaway. Make sure that the club remains in front of your body (not rolled behind you) is a big key.

2. Half-way back, a good reference is to look at the angle of the club shaft. Ideally, if you were to extend a line through the shaft and the butt of the club, that line would touch the ground at the ball or slightly inside it. This is a great checkpoint for getting the club "on-plane".

3. Unless you have a very large turn, at the top of the backswing, your club shaft should ideally point slightly left of your target line (for a right-handed golfer). When the club shaft points right of the target line (for a right-handed golfer) this is called "across the line" and frequently requires a difficult compensating move to reroute the club and get it back on-plane.