Graham Averill turned 50 this year and decided to stop chasing midlife crisis clichés like motorcycles. Instead, he launched a serious quest to drop from a 13 handicap to scratch in just one year. He is now sitting at a 7.6 handicap, proving that age does not have to mean a bad swing. The key to his rapid improvement? He finally stopped ignoring his finish position.
Most amateur golfers think a pretty finish is just for vanity or looking good in photos. They are wrong. A clean finish is the only true sign that the swing actually worked. If the body does not end up in the right spot, the club never got there either. This simple truth changed Averill’s game more than any expensive driver purchase ever could.
The Finish Tells The Real Story
Averill used to have a janky swing that looked terrible but sometimes sent the ball in the right direction. He thought style did not matter as long as the ball moved forward. That approach hits a hard wall when you try to get good. The finish position acts as a report card for what happened during the entire swing.
Sam Hahn, a pro who played with Averill, made the point clear during their time together on the course. “It’s not just about vanity,” Sam Hahn told me when we had the chance to play together at his home course in Oregon, according to MyGolfSpy. “That finish is an indicator of what happened during the swing itself.” If a golfer can stick the finish and look like the LPGA logo, the swing was likely in the correct sequence.
Why Your Body Betrays You
Averill admits he has a terrible finish where he often loses balance or stumbles backward. These physical failures are not just bad looks; they are specific warnings. Stumbling back means weight did not transfer to the front foot. Falling to the left means the arms got ahead of the hips. Snapping the body out of the follow-through signals that the golfer was too tense.
These errors are tell-tale signs that something is fundamentally off during the swing. Averill found that working on holding the finish helped clean up the issues that nagged the swing before the pose even happened. He uses a mental checklist to ensure his chest points at the target and his back foot is on its toes. The club shaft must end up behind the head.
Drills That Actually Work
Fixing the swing requires more than just thinking about it. Averill now films his swings because what feels right in the head rarely looks right in real life. The gap between feel and reality is huge for most players. He found that simply holding the finish position for five seconds after each shot drives home the correct movement patterns.
He also uses a simple drill where he stands with his feet sandwiched together to force balance. This “Feet Together” drill is pretty simple but it forces the body to find the center. Averill’s story proves that sticking the finish is the most effective tool for any golfer trying to lower their score. It is not about looking good. It is about playing good golf.
