Downswing Sequence in Golf: How to Move from the Top to Impact Like a Pro

If you’ve ever watched your swing on video and thought, “It looks fine at the top, so why do my shots still miss?” the answer lies in your downswing sequence.

The downswing is where everything (both good and bad) happens.

How your hips, shoulders, arms, and wrists move in relation to each other determines whether you strike it flush or fight pulls, slices, and weak contact.

In this guide, we’ll break down how the downswing works, how each body part contributes, and how to train the correct motion using HackMotion to sync wrist angles and body movement for a more powerful, repeatable swing.

Downswing Sequence in Golf (Key Takeaways)

• A proper downswing sequence starts from the ground up with the lower body first and the upper body last.
• The hips shift and rotate, followed by the torso, arms, and finally the wrists.
• The lead wrist flexes and the trail wrist stays extended through impact for control and compression.
• Rushing from the top (shoulders before hips) leads to a steep, inconsistent swing path.
• Training with HackMotion lets you time wrist movement with rotation, syncing mechanics for a square face at impact.

Downswing Sequence in Golf: How Your Body Should Move from the Ground Up

A great downswing has a proper sequence. If you can follow the sequence, you’ll gain speed and confidence that leads to much better golf.

Each part of your body fires in a specific order to deliver power and control. When that order breaks down, even a perfect backswing can unravel.

Here’s how the motion flows from the ground up:

Lower Body: The Starting Engine

The downswing starts from the ground, not the hands.

• Shift pressure into your lead foot, especially the heel, as your first move down.
• Let your hips bump slightly toward the target, then begin to rotate open.
• This shift and turn create space for the arms to drop and shallow naturally.
• When the hips stall or slide too far, the upper body takes over; that’s when pulls and chunks appear.

A great checkpoint for the start of the downswing is to see if your lead hip is turning before your shoulders move. If that happens, you’ll know you’ve started with this pressure shift to the lead foot.

Torso and Shoulders: Storing Power a Split-Second Longer

After the hips start unwinding, the torso and shoulders follow.

• Keep your chest facing slightly away from the target as the club starts down.
• This small delay keeps your arms in front of your body and stops the club from steepening.
• Once the arms drop, the shoulders rotate through, transferring power smoothly.

If your shoulders spin too soon, the club gets “over the top” which is a common cause of slices and glancing contact.

Arms and Hands: Following the Chain, Not Leading It

One of the most common issues that amateur players struggle with is the desire to want to go after the ball using the arms and hands.

It’s almost a natural reaction, but it leads to poor contact and inconsistent results. The arms should react to the body’s motion, not start it.

• Let the arms fall naturally as the hips open and pressure moves forward.
• Avoid “yanking” from the top; that kills your sequence.
• Keep the elbows close to the rib cage so the hands can lead into impact.
• As you rotate through, the hands stay ahead of the clubhead — the key to forward shaft lean.

At impact, your lead arm and shaft form a straight line, hands slightly in front of the clubhead.

Wrists and Clubface: The Final Link

The wrists determine where the clubface points at impact. If you don’t have the proper lead and trail wrist position on the downswing, you’ll spend the entire time trying to save impact.

Wrist action is often misunderstood and underappreciated by amateur players, but it will determine your ability to square the clubface at impact.

• The lead wrist moves from flat at the top into flexion (bowed) during transition.
• The trail wrist stays extended (bent back) through impact, supporting the face.
• This motion stabilizes the clubface and controls loft — your built-in insurance against flipping or scooping.

Use HackMotion to see these angles live. You’ll instantly know if your wrists are syncing correctly with your body’s motion.

At impact, the lead wrist is flexed about 10–15°, trail wrist is extended 20–30°, and the shaft leans forward.

Common Downswing Sequence Mistakes

It takes some time to get downswing issues fixed in your golf swing. Along the way, you may run into some of these common issues. Work through each one until you feel more confident in your downswing.

Mistake	What Happens	How to Fix It
Shoulders fire first	Steep path, pull cuts, loss of lag	Pause at top, start downswing with hips
No lower-body shift	Arms dominate, weak contact	Feel lead heel pressure early
Over-holding lag	Blocks, fat shots	Allow natural release post-impact
Trail wrist straightens too soon	Flip, high weak shots	Use the HackMotion Casting Drill to retain extension
Lead wrist stays cupped	Open face, slices	Practice the Motorcycle Drill for proper flexion

Drills to Train the Downswing Sequence

Once you understand the motion, you need to train it.

These drills help sync your body and wrist mechanics so your downswing sequence becomes second nature.

HackMotion Dynamic Transition Drill

This drill links your body shift, rotation, and wrist movement, all crucial for proper downswing sequencing.

HackMotion Casting Drill

This one prevents early release by teaching your trail wrist to stay bent back through impact.

Motorcycle Drill (Lead Wrist Flexion)

The Motorcycle Drill teaches the correct motion of the lead wrist from the top, flattening and bowing to stabilize the face and control loft.

Final Thoughts

Mastering the downswing sequence is about timing. You’ll have to get each part of your downswing mastered and then time them all correctly.

It can’t be forced, and until you have the process down, speed isn’t going to help. Let the lower body lead, the arms follow, and the wrists control the final delivery.

Use HackMotion to monitor your progress and make sure you have proper angles on both the downswing and the backswing.