I wouldn't get so mechanical with all of those positions.
Here's a few tips that various people have given me along the way...
From Jim_0068:
Plane lasers, or use flashlights - get up against a wall or grout line and make backswings to the top with a slow, smooth motion. What you are looking for here is where the light shines on the line you start on. Most people probably take the club too far to the inside and the light will tell you that right away.
From Ted Fort:
When I took a lesson from him, I needed to work on my start up swivel. I had to learn to get the left palm to face the plane as soon as possible. Take a look at Els for the first second or so of his backswing. Notice how quickly the left palm faces (or looks at) the plane.
Pete Dunham (local pro here in Gainesville) -
Pete is a gravity golf devotee, and his advice has probably helped me the most. Basically the backswing is a heave to the top. I am only going to give the backswing enough juice to, say, toss the club a few yards back (straight back) behind me. I think Brian mentioned this in the Flipper video ('add some juice to the backswing'). I think he said that while talking about float loading.
For me, the less I focus on postions or sequences the better my backswing looks. The only thing I look at nowadays is whether or not I am rolling the face open - a death move for sure. If it's open on the way up, it's open at the top and all kinds of compensations are needed to hit the ball straight.
Make sure you are set up properly and aligned properly, and the backswing becomes MUCH easier.
