Backswing vs Follow thru

Complete follow through. The biggest fallacy in golf is the big 90 degree backswing and too many try to overswing. The important thing is the torque at the top of the backswing (if your backswing is done properly, you should have difficulty talking at the top). You sometimes can generate more clubhead speed with a more compact backswing because you're still accelerating when you strike the ball.

Well Matt let's see

The followthru is the product of everything that came before it

The backswing sets you up for success or failure

Which do you think is more important?

The "traditional" (as in what has been taught for at least 50 years) golf swing is a 90 degree shoulder turn with a 45 deg hip turn and shaft position parallel to the ground at the top. This also involved a slight lifting of the left foot on the backswing. The issue is that most people don't have the mobility to execute a 90 degree shoulder turn without over turning the hips or lifting the front foot too much. What happens is too much weight gets on the right foot and it is difficult to get the weight on the front foot at impact. The pros have been going to a more compact backswing where the arms are parallel to the ground (looks like a 3/4 swing). There is also a minimal weight shift to the back foot. There's two variations - Stack and Tilt (which is more rotational) and the Don Trahan swing (www.swingsurgeon.com; he is the dad of DJ and teaches a golf swing that has more of an upright swing path and caters mainly to golfers with mobility problems; he also advocates the use of a 43.5 or 44" driver); the so-called "in da mitt and tru da tree." The late Moe Norman had an extremely compact single-plane swing but could drop a 3 iron within a 3 yard circle every time. If you want a good golf swing, go to Revolution Golf (www.revolutiongolf.com - there is also a Facebook page) and watch some of Paul Wilson's swing videos (particularly the "anti-slice" series). There is also a teaching pro, Eddie Kilthau, a volunteer at www.allexperts.com (also has a Facebook page). Don Trahan's swing works for me because I am tall (6'1") - a rotational single plane swing doesn't work for me (too horizontal) and I use some of Paul's (swinging easy and starting the downswing with a hip bump and almost touching the knees; the reason people slice is they try to swing hard), Eddie's (particularly the palm down palm up drill to illustrate motion of the front arm as an assembly during the swing). Even according to Golf Digest, the two plane swing is meant for a taller person with long arms and the extremely horizontal single plane swing (where one almost swings like a baseball bat) is meant for people with short arms. The key ingredient is a test where you hold your upper arm into your side and try to touch your shoulder with the thumb up - over the back of the shoulder = rotational single plane, above the shoulder= two plane.

See a PGA professional. All this stuff is probably just confusing him more.

As long as the golf pro is one that can teach a swing that works for your body structure (tall, short, limited mobility, etc).

The backswing does set up for success or failure. Agreed. There a couple fallacies in golf. One is the mindset that one has to make the classic "parallel at the top" BIG 90 degree backswing to hit the ball far and generate clubhead speed and most of those that try don't have that kind of mobility. Also, the rotational golf swing (one plane) isn't for all body types either (there was an article in Golf Digest about how you determine if you should use a 2 plane vs 1 plane swing and that is by holding your elbow at your side and trying to touch your shoulder with "thumbs up" - two plane if you can't touch your shoulder blade and rotational if you can touch the rear of your shoulder blade). Too long of a backswing: 1. Difficulty shifting weight to front foot due to overshifting to right foot (and that is also accompanied by the left foot coming off the ground). 2. Turning hips too much because golfer is not limber enough to make a full shoulder turn (90* shoulder turn with 45* hip turn is text book), causing a loss of torque at the top. Huge power loss. 3. Swaying 4. Casting the club 5. Loss of balance 6. Lower back pain Stack N Tilt and the Don Trahan (the Swing Surgeon) "in da mitt and tru da tree" limited shoulder turn have been what I have been using now for 3 years. Having a compact backswing has gotten rid of about 99.9 percent of swing faults that I used to have and I have almost no instance of back pain. Considering the swing has 3 parts - backswing, downswing and follow through.....

BAMMMM i got all of you on this one.... but good try to everyone who responded. hahahahaha (Dont look to much into the preveious statment and get upset at me) the mose important thing is the IMPACT ZONE. its that area about two foot behind the bal to about two for forward of the ball. Example: FURIK. Step back swing double cross at the top and hes on Plane threw the IMPACT ZONE. Example B: Ricky Fowler great back swing but on his down swing he seperates his lead arm from his chest with his driver. he has great hand i cordination so he can do this but its not what you would teach someone. becouse he dose this his fallow threw isn't Perfect. So i refer to my original statement IMPACT ZONE as long as your on plane and accelerating threw it that all that matters.

Thorpe has a rather unusual follow-through and he is a 13 time winner on the Champions' Tour. Irwin would have been the epitome of the rotational golf swing - it is so horizontal that it almost looks like he is swinging a baseball bat instead of a golf club.