One of the Most Important Posts I’ve Ever Made: The Vertical Finish
One of the Most Important Posts I’ve Ever Made: The Vertical Finish
What do Jack Nicklaus, Moe Norman, Bruce Lietzke, Hale Irwin, Annika Sörenstam, Calvin Peete, and Greg Norman have in common?
They were among the straightest drivers in golf history — and they all shared a subtle but powerful move:
✅ A Vertical Finish with the elbows folded in front of the body.
This finish isn’t just about aesthetics. It’s about function. By folding the elbows and keeping the clubface square through impact, they avoided excessive face rotation — the #1 cause of the dreaded two-way miss.
This is not a flippy release. It’s strong, stable, and repeatable.
If you’re looking for total control off the tee, study this finish. It’s one of the keys to driving it like the greats.
#VerticalFinish #ClassicGolfSwing #FairwaysHit #MySwingEvolution #StraightDriving #EffortlessPower #GolfLegends
Elbows pointing downwards is another tip that goes along with this
I would say this is “keeping the left shoulder out” to the ball while keeping the right shoulder back (so there’s a arms release, if you will) in the “hitting area.” This is a bit of Trevino, maybe without the open set up.
I’ve been working on a “push cut” shot, and I like it. it involves the same basic principle of keeping the left shoulder out and the right shoulder back, BUT the elbows don’t fold in the first part of the follow through and you are really reaching towards the target, though on a flatter plane with the woods and long irons. (Maybe not the case for taller players.)
This is performed better with less hip turn early, keeping the shoulders closed in the early stages of the downswing and waiting to turn (from the hips/legs) until after you get the right shoulder and hands and clubhead down — as because if the clubhead and right shoulder are not down you really aren’t in a position to be “turning” or “firing the hips” and extending the left/lead leg.
I did hit a few 8 irons pushed off to the right by 25 yards, but nicely, pin high, as it seems my push cut maneuver was bleeding into my other swings (my shorter irons) even uncontrollably/unconsciously. But that’s going to go away as I get used to distinguishing between the normal shot and the “push cut” (which is a clever way to hit a cut but not super powerful — I like it though, it’s a controlled blocked shot).
What does it mean when elbows fold up in front of the body?