Lesson Tee

All Together Now

Turn everything through for a better finish

Rotate As One: Keep turning your club, hands, arms, head and body.

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By Sean Foley

Photos by Stephen Szurlej

October 2011

Two common pieces of advice for the follow-through: "Keep your head down" and "Swing out to right field." The first one is intended to help you finish your swing before looking out to see the shot; the second is to help you swing on the correct path. But I've told many golfers, including Tiger Woods and Sean O'Hair, a better swing thought for the follow-through is: Let everything rotate together. Your club, arms, body and even your head should rotate toward the target as the club swings through impact.

The problem with swinging out to right field is, it often causes you to hit hooks or pushes because you're not swinging on an ideal in-to-in path. And keeping your head down too long can prevent you from rotating your body properly, so you reverse pivot, with your weight shifting to your back foot as you swing down.

If you focus instead on turning everything through together, your weight naturally will shift to your front foot, your swing path will improve (no more pushes), and you'll start hitting straighter, more powerful shots. Give it a try.

Foley Files: How To Get Your Swing Back
Players sometimes tell me they lost their swing mid-round. Physiologically, it's impossible to "lose your swing." What they're feeling is tension, and it's coming from the fear of hitting a poor shot. Fear often produces cortisol, a hormone activated by stress that acts like a defense mechanism for the body and can hamper the timing and rhythm of your swing. My advice is, when you start to "lose it," focus on your breathing. I don't mean take deep breaths; just pay attention to your normal breathing rhythm. It'll help distract you from the anxiety long enough to hit a good shot.

SEAN FOLEY, a Golf Digest Teaching Professional, works at the CoreGolf Junior Academy, outside Orlando.