Even We Got the Backswing Position Wrong For Years!

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Golf Instruction · Sep 27, 2026 · 15K views · 182 likes

In this video Mike Granato & Shaun Webb from Athletic Motion Golf break down one of the most misdiagnosed positions in the golf swing: across the line versus laid off at the top of the backswing. They explain the two things you actually need to check before diagnosing either one, starting with why you have to judge your swing length from the face on camera, not the down the line view, which distorts how long your swing actually looks. They cover why being short of parallel and across the line is one of the worst combinations in golf (it forces a steep, jackknifing move coming down), and why being long and laid off is just as costly for a different reason. They also show a simple face on drill using a reference line to let the club work into its correct position through rotation alone, without any manual wrist manipulation. If you've ever been told you're "laid off" or "across the line" without a clear explanation of what that actually means, this clears it up. Let us know in the comments which one you thought you had. 👉 FREE: Add Instant Distance With This GO-TO "Distance Injection" DRILL: https://athleticmotiongolf.com/distance Chapters: 00:00 Why across the line and laid off are so confusing 00:32 Setting up the face on reference 01:00 Why the top down view matters here 01:16 Why face on and down the line views disagree 01:40 Always judge swing length from face on 02:06 The first thing to check: length of swing 02:17 Most golfers aren't actually parallel 02:51 The worst combination: short of parallel and across the line 02:56 The other fault to avoid: long and laid off 03:26 Why this creates a steep downswing 04:00 The Ben Hogan plane of glass explained 04:11 Why shallowing has made this worse 04:48 Where the clubhead should be deepest 05:17 Diagnosing a real pro's swing 05:46 The point where this becomes laid off instead 06:08 Why laid off tends to steepen the downswing 06:42 The role of elbow bend in this fault 07:33 What to actually work on if you want to shallow 08:09 The face on drill with a reference line 08:42 Watching the club work correctly in real time 09:39 What you can fake versus what you can't 09:58 Why manual wrist manipulation causes problems 10:00 Letting the turn do the work instead 10:42 The two things to get right in your head #golf #golfswing #athleticmotiongolf