Full swing · Backswing
The six phases of the golf swing
The golf swing is usually broken into six positions. They are not arbitrary: each one is a checkpoint where a specific fault becomes visible that is invisible everywhere else in the swing.
Knowing them is also what makes swing video useful. Comparing two swings at the same elapsed time tells you almost nothing, because no two swings have the same tempo. Comparing them at the same phase tells you what actually changed.
1Address — the position everything else inherits
Your setup before the club moves: grip, posture, ball position, alignment. It matters disproportionately because it is the one position you have unlimited time to get right, and because errors here force compensations everywhere else. A large share of faults that look like swing problems are address problems that the swing is working around.
2Backswing Parallel — the first honest checkpoint
The point where the lead arm is parallel to the ground on the way back. This is where the takeaway reveals itself: whether the club stayed on plane or rolled inside, and whether your body turned or your arms simply lifted. It is early enough that a fault here is still cheap to fix, before the rest of the swing is built on top of it.
3Top — the end of the backswing
The moment the club stops going back and starts coming down. Look at the shaft direction, how much your shoulders have turned relative to your hips, and whether your lead wrist is flat or cupped. Wrist position at the top is one of the strongest predictors of where the clubface will point at impact, which makes it one of the highest-value things to check on video.
4Downswing Parallel — where sequence becomes visible
The lead arm is parallel to the ground again, coming down, with roughly a right angle between arm and shaft. This is the retained-angle position, and it is where casting shows up unmistakably. If the angle is already gone here, the stored energy has been spent before it can reach the ball, and no amount of effort later in the swing recovers it.
5Impact — the only position the ball reacts to
The single frame before the ball moves. Everything else in the swing exists to produce this one position: face angle, path, low point and shaft lean at the moment of contact. Worth remembering that impact is not a mirror of address — the hips have opened and the hands have moved ahead of where they started, and a swing that returns exactly to address is one that has lost its low point.
6Finish — the receipt for everything before it
A balanced finish is diagnostic rather than cosmetic. If you cannot hold it, something earlier was out of sequence or over-powered. It is the one checkpoint you can feel without any video at all, which makes it the most portable feedback you have on the course.
Common questions
Why six phases and not three or eight?
Different coaches use different counts, and none is uniquely correct. Six is a practical compromise: enough checkpoints to isolate where a fault begins, few enough to actually compare between swings without the analysis becoming its own hobby.
Which phase should I look at first?
Address, almost always. It is the cheapest to change and the most likely to be quietly causing whatever you noticed later in the swing. After that, work forwards in order — the earliest fault in the sequence is usually the one causing the others.
Can you see all six phases on a normal phone video?
Address, Top, Impact and Finish are usually clear. The two parallel positions are the ones that suffer at 30 frames per second, because the club is moving fastest there and may simply not have been captured close to parallel. Slow motion mode helps more than any other single change you can make.
Does the camera angle change which phases are useful?
Yes. Down the line is better for swing plane, club path and the parallel checkpoints. Face on is better for weight shift, low point and shaft lean at impact. If you only film one, film down the line — but expect a face-on view to answer different questions.
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ReadLast updated August 18, 2026