The finish is where a full swing ends: weight on your lead leg, belt buckle facing the target, trail foot up on its toe, and you standing tall enough to hold it. It is also a check on everything before it. If you can hold the finish for a few seconds, your swing was likely on balance; if you stumble or fall back, something earlier pulled you off it.
Swing through to a full turn
Keep turning through the ball until your belt buckle points at the target or slightly past it. Your chest faces the target and slightly up toward the sky, and your trail shoulder ends closer to the target than your lead shoulder.
your whole body unwound to face the target.
Finish on the lead side
Let your weight finish on your lead leg, with the pressure in your lead heel. Your hips end up over your lead foot, not hanging back between your feet.
your lead leg holding you up.
Let your trail leg release so your trail foot comes up onto its toe, with your trail knee pointing at the target. Only light pressure stays on that toe; you should be able to tap it on the ground. Don't pin the trail foot flat. Let it turn so the bottom of the shoe shows from behind.
trail toe resting on the ground, barely touching.
Let your knees come together and keep your hips up. The knees shouldn't split apart or droop to one side, and your hips shouldn't sag toward the ground.
Stand tall and hold
Finish stacked and tall: head over shoulders, shoulders over hips, hips over your lead leg. A slight arch in the lower back is fine. Avoid a big backward arch (the "reverse C"). TPI warns it puts compressive and shear load on the lower back, though studies so far haven't shown a consistent link to back pain.
tall and light in the upper body, not leaning back.
Hold the finish for three seconds, relaxed. Use it as a check: if you can hold it easily, the swing was likely on balance. If you have to step to catch yourself, look earlier in the swing, usually at weight that never got to the lead side.
posed, still, and comfortable.
Feel it
Stacked on your lead leg and relaxed, with your upper body, head and shoulders feeling light rather than heavy. Your trail toe just rests on the ground. You face the target and could stand there until the ball lands. If you feel yourself falling back, or arching to stay up, the weight didn't get forward in time.
Fix-its
- You fall back onto your trail foot Your weight never reached the lead side. Use the step drill: lift your lead foot on the backswing and plant it to start down, so you have to step into the shot.
- You finish leaning back in a big arch (reverse C) Finish taller and stacked, hips over your lead foot and head over your hips. A slight arch is fine; a big one loads your lower back. If your back hurts, stop and see a professional.
- Your knees split apart or your hips sag Feel like you're squeezing a newspaper between your knees through the finish, and keep your hips up.
- Your trail foot stays flat and your turn stops short Let the trail leg release so the heel comes up and the knee points at the target. Keep turning until your belt buckle faces the target.
- You can't hold the pose for three seconds Slow down. Only add speed when you can still reach the same finish and hold it.
Drill
- Start at the end: pose the full finish (weight in your lead heel, trail foot on its toe, belt buckle to the target, club shaft across the back of your head), then swing to the top and back into that same finish. Add speed only when you still finish there.
- Without a club, let your arms hang and swing them back and through like a golf swing, letting your legs join in, and finish stacked on your lead leg. Then repeat with a club and small swings.
- Hit balls with one rule: hold every finish for three seconds. Check weight on the lead leg, trail knee to the target, and that you can tap your trail toe.
- Step drill: lift your lead foot on the backswing and plant it as you start down, then hold the finish. It stops you falling back.
- Film one swing face-on and one from down the line and pause at the finish: hips over the lead foot, trail heel up, belt buckle toward the target, no big backward lean.
Sources
- GOLF.com — 15 nuggets of golf wisdom from our newest Top 100 Teachers (Jennifer Hudson) (2025)
- GOLF.com (Mark Immelman) — Try reverse engineering your golf swing (2020)
- GOLF.com (Dana Dahlquist, Top 100 Teacher) — This drill improves golf swing balance (2023)
- GOLF.com (Gia Liwski) — How to finish balanced with every golf swing (2023)
- GOLF.com — 60 essential tips every golfer needs to know (Tattersall, Doniger) (2020)
- GOLF.com — Tommy Fleetwood's easy drill for maintaining swing balance (2024)
- TPI — Most Common Swing Characteristics that Cause Lower Back Pain
- Smith et al. — Risk Factors Associated With Low Back Pain in Golfers: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis, Sports Health (2018)
Last checked 2026-10-26.