How to Complete Your Golf Follow Through - Chris Ryan
Chris breaks down the follow-through with 4 key tips to help you finish your golf swing correctly.
Why Watch This?
Chris Ryan delivers a structured breakdown of the four key checkpoints to ensure your follow-through is correct. If your finish feels awkward or inconsistent, this video will help you identify where youʼre going wrong and how to fix it fast. His clear, concise teaching makes this perfect for golfers who want actionable tips they can apply immediately.
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The Follow Through & Finish: The Final Piece of a Great Golf Swing
The golf swing doesnʼt stop once the club makes contact with the ball—just like a baseball swing, a tennis stroke, or even a basketball jump shot, the follow- through is what completes the motion and dictates the result. A weak or incomplete finish often means a mishit, poor ball flight, or a lack of power.
If you watch professional golfers, youʼll see that their swings all end in a balanced, controlled finish, with their weight forward and their body fully rotated toward the target. The follow-through is a reflection of everything that happened before impact—if you donʼt finish strong, chances are something went wrong earlier in the swing.
Why Is the Follow Through Important?
A proper follow-through helps:
Maximize power - A full finish ensures all your momentum goes into the shot.
Improve consistency - A controlled finish means a repeatable swing.
Enhance balance - Finishing in a strong, stable position keeps your swing smooth and controlled.
Improve accuracy - An incomplete follow-through can lead to an open or closed clubface at impact, affecting direction.
Two Ways to Approach the Follow Through
Just like the rest of the swing, there are two main ways to think about the follow- through and finish: Directive vs. Analogy-based learning. Both methods work, but different players will respond better to different styles.
Directive-Based Approach: Mechanical Breakdown of the Finish
For those who prefer step-by-step, technical instruction, hereʼs what an ideal
follow-through should look like:
Weight Shift to the Lead Side - At the end of your swing, about 90% of your weight should be on your front foot, with your back footʼs heel off the ground.
Full Body Rotation - Your chest, shoulders, and hips should face the target, ensuring youʼve completed the movement.
Extended Arms Through Impact - Your arms should be fully extended just after impact, keeping the club on its intended path for longer.
Balanced Finish - You should be able to hold your finish without stumbling. A good test? Hold your finish for three seconds after your shot.
Club Over the Shoulder - The club should wrap around your back naturally, with the shaft resting over your lead shoulder.
Drill for a Better Finish:
Try the mirror drill: Swing and freeze at the finish, checking if your weight is on your front foot, your body is facing the target, and your arms are extended.
Analogy-Based Approach: Feeling the Finish
For those who learn better through visuals and comparisons, here are a few
analogy-based ways to think about your follow-through:
The “Throwing a Ballˮ Finish - Imagine youʼre throwing a baseball or skipping a rock. Your body naturally rotates forward, and your hand finishes high toward the target. Your follow-through should feel the same.
The “Statue Poseˮ Test - Think of finishing your swing like a dramatic statue —pose like youʼre taking a picture for a golf magazine. If you can hold the finish without falling over, youʼre balancedHank Haney on How To Fo....
The “Bowl of Soupˮ Drill - One of the best drills from Golf with Aimee involves pretending youʼre holding a bowl of soup in your hands throughout your swing. If your elbows flare out or your body doesn't rotate correctly, youʼll “spill the soupˮ.
Drill to Feel a Better Follow-Through:
Take a slow-motion swing and focus on where your body naturally wants to stop. If itʼs not fully rotated and balanced, exaggerate it until it feels right.
Final Thoughts: You Made It to the Finish (Literally & Figuratively!)
Give yourself a pat on the back—you followed through and made it to the finish (yep we went there) of this guide on golf swing mechanics. If youʼre feeling a little overwhelmed, thatʼs completely normal. Golf is hard. Really hard. Even after years of playing, I still find myself tweaking, refining, and trying to piece everything together just right. But the beauty of this game is that itʼs a never- ending journey of improvement.
A proper finish isnʼt just about looking good—itʼs the result of everything that came before it. The grip, stance, backswing, downswing—each piece builds upon the last. Give yourself the time to work on each part individually and understand that progress doesnʼt happen overnight. Some days it will click, other days it wonʼt, but thatʼs part of the process.
The goal of this guide wasnʼt to turn you into a pro overnight—it was to give you a strong fundamental background so you can explore, practice, and continue learning in your golf journey. Watching these videos and reading about technique is great, but you canʼt learn the swing by just watching—you have to go out and feel it.
So hit the range, record your swing, analyze whatʼs happening, and then adjust and improve. Golf isnʼt about getting it perfect every time—itʼs about getting a little better with every swing. Keep working at it, and soon enough, youʼll be finishing strong, balanced, and confident every time you take a shot. Now, go out there and keep playing!