Classic Pro Player Swing Sequences

[The Gachet]

Faldo, Norman, Woosnam, Langer, Olazabal, Monty, Nicklaus, Seve, etc.

Nick Faldo



Greg Norman



Bernhard Langer



Ian Woosnam



Colin Montgomerie



Seve Ballesteros



Jose Maria Olazabal



Ernie Els



Jack Nicklaus



John Daly



Fred Couples



Davis Love III



Nick Price



Gary Player



Hale Irwin



Ray Floyd



Lanny Wadkins



Arnold Palmer



Johnny Miller



Tony Jacklin



Chi-Chi Rodriguez



Tom Kite



Lee Trevino



Sam Snead

[carrera]

Thanks much! The impact positions of Irwin and Wadkins are not what I'd have expected...a bit flippy looking in the pics. I can't remember if that was the way their swings were in person.

[bfactor]

Thanks for posting these Gachet! There are tons of ways to get it done.


[quote name='carrera' date='26 March 2010 - 12:47 PM' timestamp='1269632855' post='2342732']
Thanks much! The impact positions of Irwin and Wadkins are not what I'd have expected...a bit flippy looking in the pics. I can't remember if that was the way their swings were in person.
[/quote]
Something looks a bit goofy to me in the Irwin pic at impact. If I ignore the club itself, which makes it look like a pretty decent 'flip', the left wrist looks solidly flat. Maybe some rolling shutter going on or are my eyes playing tricks on me?

[carrera]

Irwin was known for being the best fairway wood player on tour...maybe he was in fact a picker which works well with woods off turf.

[jebb]

Great sequences.

Looking at 3 of my favourites with Faldo, Price and Els and they seem to pass through some very similar positions on the way back. Was this when they were under Leadbetter's tuition?

[filthee]

Nicklaus looks like the ball raped his Sister and he's trying to exact revenge in one swing.

[gregflat9]

Wow Greg Norman a little shut at the top?

Never knew that!

[JofZ]

this was pretty cool, thank you

[ugggh]

Awesome, I just bookmarked this for future reference.

Thanks for posting!

[zigcdn]

This is one of the best post I have seen. I would like to point out two things.

1. These guys could/can flat out “GOLF THEIR BALL”
2. If you took their names away and asked for “Advise” the swing gurus would be all over them for their positions.

One more point

I hope some young golfers out there look at this and realize that there is a million and one ways to get it in the hole. That’s why I think Ricky Fowler is a breath of fresh air to the PGA. Do it your way!

GREAT FREAKING POST

[Oscar]

Fantastic post and fantastic pics!! Many thanks!

And Zig, I had planned to write pretty much the very same thing until I saw your post. Had some of these been posted as swings of some hacker they would have been slaughtered and the poor souls who dared swing like that would be given a mandatory list of all Ben Hogan's books, articles and biographies to read before they attempt another swing at a golf ball.

Nothing against Hogan, mind you, just using him as an example.

And yes, I recognize my swing in Lanny Wadkins' Face-on sequence! It used to look more like Gary Players'. Not a bad company either

I love Mongomerie's and Hale Irwin's swings, looking so easy and relaxed. And yes, Jack Nicklaus is a monster... pity some more of the infinite effort spent on analysing some great players' swings isn't spent on his move.

[TGrube]

I have the Leadbetter book"Lessons From The Golf Greats" many of the pics are posted from.It was my swing guide/bible for many years.
Always amazed at some of the swings.I wonder how far Jack would've hit it with todays gear.Or do ya think his swing would have evolved into one like Faldo's for MORE consistency.Hard to imagine..
I love Faldo and Normans swings.Look how much turn Norman gets without moving his hips at all..Faldo was considered more mechanical for his day.His compact move more resembles swings of today IMO..
Also in that book is a young Phil Micklesons big loopy swing with a big turn off the ball.
Others..Laura Davies,Tom Watson,Payne Stewart,Nancy Lopez no stop at the top in pics..Azinger and others.
Leadbetter breaks em down frame by frame with a lesson pertaining to each swinger..
I still look at it from time to time..

[AcesAZ]

Out of those I like Normans action the most. Very powerful wide arc. You can see why he was the best driver of the ball back then.

I also notice all the upright swingers then, alot more so then today.

[SwingLikeElk]

Thanks for taking the time to post these. Bravo.

[jaskanski]

Good post again mate.
Check out the leg action on Jack and Johnny!
Just out of interest, any idea if the Greg Norman sequence is pre or post butch Harmon? The stance seems a little narrow and the backswing looks longer than after Harmon tweaked his swing (to good effect) prior to the '93 open.

[grizzlyblades]

Thanks for the pics!!!

[lead]

Awesome!

I remember reading that Faldo called Hale Irwin on of the best ballstrikers he had ever seen. That's a pretty bold statement.

/lead

[TGrube]

[quote name='jaskanski' date='27 March 2010 - 03:17 PM' timestamp='1269721071' post='2344489']
Good post again mate.
Check out the leg action on Jack and Johnny!
Just out of interest, any idea if the Greg Norman sequence is pre or post butch Harmon? The stance seems a little narrow and the backswing looks longer than after Harmon tweaked his swing (to good effect) prior to the '93 open.
[/quote]


Book was published in 95'.

[Hstead]

Awesome post. I have always loved looking at the swing sequences from GD etc. and I think I have seen all of these before for the most part. It is awesome to have them all side by side like that. I was thinking the same as some of the posters above, how different many of them are. For me, I like Faldo's swing the most. Near perfection. Thanks for posting all of those, now let the GWRX community nit pick them apart. LOL

I do wish we had Hogan to put up. His is my favorite swing of all time. Jack is my favorite player of all time, being a Buckeye and all.

[WesleyD]

i had a teacher compare me to Jose Maria a few years ago, and I just kind of dismissed it, being young and ignorant. Now that I see it again, I might have go say hello to that teacher...

[hoganfan924]

Interesting how many of those guys get significantly "across the line" at the top yet modern instruction keeps telling us that this is a no-no!! hmmmm

[samgouldengolf]

Great post! Thanks!

[jlo]

Thanks for these sequences. I was looking at how long the right arm is straight going into the backswing.

It looks like Norman has his right arm straight the longest.

Maybe the shorter hitters don't keep it straight as long?

[Pinsplitter59]

I have a lot of those sequences from a magazine collection published by Golf Digest many years ago.
Other classics are Corey Pavin, Payne Stewart etc.
and Moe Norman and Lee Trevino and seldom seen mac O'Grady on both sides of the all.
[attachment=1936298:moe_norman_04.jpg]
[attachment=1936300:lee_trevino_04.jpg]

[attachment=1936304:mac_ogrady_all.jpg]

[Rhksdn1861]

Wow thanks a lot for the pictures. I need to learn that moves!!

[Darth Leverage]

Still in love with Faldo's swing

Couple of things that stand out to me are the bombers Love III and Daly, how open Davis is at impact and how great Daly looks. Also love Woosies flat shoulder rotation post impact

[The Pearl]

So the 64K dollar question is, despite the apparent differences and personal signature of each swing, what are the few things that each one of those great players have in common? I am not smart enough to come up with an entire list, but it would be a great investigative quest. It seems to my that all great players have secondary tilt at impact and all finish on balance. I don't think I have ever seen a great, great player finish, even a bad swing, off balance.

[sblack5]

In looking at those swings, I observe these 2 commonalities ..1) the lead knee turns target ward in the downswing from the top of the backswing. Some more than others but they all seem to. 2)all but Langer and Montgomerie have their knee outside of their hips in the impact zone.

[MonteScheinblum]

All of them have secondary tilt coming into impact and at impact. So much for the widespread incorrect context of covering the ball

[scratchswinger]

Man I miss The Gachet.... If you are reading this, please come back.