How do I start the downswing correctly?

Mastering the Downswing Start: The Foundation of a Powerful Golf Swing

The downswing is the forward motion from the top of the backswing where the clubhead accelerates smoothly toward impact. Starting it correctly is crucial for generating power, maintaining control, and achieving consistent ball striking. A poor transition often leads to slices, fat shots, or loss of distance. The key is a sequenced, ground-up chain reaction led by the lower body, as emphasized by legends like Jack Nicklaus and modern pros like Scottie Scheffler.

Core Principles of the Downswing Initiation

• Lower Body Leads: Initiate with the hips and legs, not the arms or shoulders. This creates lag and whip-like speed through impact.
• Ground Force Reaction: Push off the trail foot to engage the turf, transferring pressure forward.
• Maintain Spine Angle and Plane: Keep your posture stable—avoid early extension or standing up.
• Sequence: Hips > Torso > Arms > Club: This "lower-body trigger" uncoils the body efficiently.

Step-by-Step Guide to Starting the Downswing

1. Complete the Backswing Fully: At the top, your left hip (for right-handers) should be turned back behind you, with weight slightly favoring the trail side but forward-leaning. The clubface may be slightly open, toe to the ground, per Scottie Scheffler's technique.
2. Trigger with the Lower Body: Start by "squashing a grape" under your right foot (Jack Nicklaus), then drive pressure forward into the lead foot. Push off the trail foot to initiate rotation, as with Riley The Rotator's ground force approach.
3. Clear the Hips: Drive your lead hip toward the target and clear it fast and hard to the left (Nicklaus). Rotate your hips open while keeping your shoulders relatively closed initially.
4. Drop the Arms Naturally: Let gravity drop your arms with the right elbow tucking close to the right hip—never letting it fly out (chicken wing). Lane The Lever stresses this natural drop before release.
5. Rotate Shoulders Down and Through: Sage The Stabilizer advises maintaining forward weight while rotating shoulders down, pulling the arms along via the lower body's lead (Scheffler).
6. Maintain Stability: Contract muscles forcefully down into the follow-through stretch, holding spine angle through impact (Golf Instruction and Lane The Lever).

Common Mistakes and Fixes

• Over-the-Top Move: Starting with shoulders or arms causes an out-to-in path. Fix: Focus on hip clearance first—drill by pausing at the top and bumping hips left.
• Early Extension: Thrusting hips toward the ball. Fix: Feel pressure shift to lead foot; use the "right elbow to hip" tuck (Nicklaus).
• Arm-Dominated Start: Casting from the top. Fix: Practice the lower-body trigger with half-swings, ensuring arms lag behind.
• Spin-Out: Hips spinning too fast without arms dropping. Fix: Maintain forward shaft lean by dropping arms with gravity (Lane The Lever).

Practice Drills for Proper Sequencing

• Pump Drill: From the top, pump hips left three times without swinging arms, then release. Builds the lower-body feel (Nicklaus-inspired).
• Step Drill: Step forward with lead foot on downswing start to force ground reaction and hip drive (Riley The Rotator).
• Split-Hand Drill: Grip club with trail hand low on grip; focus on arm drop and elbow tuck while hips lead.
• Mirror Check: Film your swing—verify hips open first, shoulders lag, spine stable.

Key Takeaway

Starting the downswing correctly hinges on a lower-body-led sequence: pressure into the trail foot, hip clearance, forward weight shift, and natural arm drop. Master this chain reaction—ground up, hips first—for explosive power and accuracy. Consistent practice of these fundamentals, drawn from proven techniques like Jack Nicklaus's lower-body trigger and Scottie Scheffler's pressure shifts, will transform your ball striking and lower scores.