Rule 18 of 25 · Chapter III — The Motion That Delivers It
Finish in balance with your weight on the lead foot and your chest facing the target, and hold it until the ball lands.
Why this rule exists
The finish is evidence. You cannot arrive on a balanced lead-side finish out of a swing that hung back, stalled, or fired the arms early, so it works as a single check on everything else in this chapter. Holding it also stops you from bailing out of the swing before the ball is struck, which is what a fall-back finish usually means.
In practice
After every full iron shot, freeze: trail heel up, trail toe touching the ground, belt buckle and chest at the target, comfortable enough to stand there while the ball flies. If you're falling backward or your trail foot has flattened out, the fault happened earlier — look at pressure shift and sequence, not at the finish itself. Make finish-position rehearsals part of your warm-up so the shape is familiar before the first swing.
When it doesn't apply
Uphill, sidehill, and bunker lies legitimately produce off-balance finishes; there you're aiming for stability, not the textbook shape. Punch shots, knockdowns, and half wedges finish short and low by design, with less rotation and less weight transfer.