You don't hit it with your back swing

[Golfbeat]

 

Andrew Rice posted this picture. Just 4 guys yesterday.

[oikos1]

Interesting, because right before that match was a playing lesson (not sure from what year) with Rory and his coach, Michael Bannon. They both specifically talked about how the back swing sets up the entire swing. Bannon said he got that from a Nicklaus book and Rory went on to say that every time he sees Nicklaus on the range, Nicklaus says "razor blades" to Rory, a reference to not pushing the hands outside at the beginning of the back swing.

While there's no question you don't "hit it" with your back swing, you also can't hit it without one. So, might as well make it the best back swing you can.

[Golfbeat]

I agree. Those guys are so talented, they can make anything work.

[glk]

Arms are different but look at those body angles on their pivots.

[bluedot]

Two general rules of sports:

Be VERY careful what conclusions you draw from watching elite professional athletes and how what they do might apply to what you do. They are more different than most people realize.Even among elite level professional athletes, the more "unusual" what a particular player does, the less likely it is to be a recipe for lasting greatness. There are exceptions, and Matthew Wolff may turn out to be one, like Furyk is. He also may hit a wall in his early 30's after his physical skills have peaked, and be unable to sustain a VERY unusual golf swing at an elite level.

[wagolfer7]

I think a lot of amateurs take this as you can do anything in the backswing like the pros and be good. However - there are more similarities between those 4 positions, than there are differences. And it gets even more similar as your progress through their swings to impact.

[juststeve]

The back swing is the whole processn by which they got to the top of the swing positions in the photographs, not just the static positions. clearly they can all hit the ball from the static positions, but they need different compensations to get back to the ball.

 

Steve

[scooterhd2]

exactly. you can get a mirror right now and replicate any one of those pictures... now mimic the transition and release and you are on your way to the tour.

[Krt22]

Yep. This notion is extremely destructive to many amateurs looking to improve. They fail to realize they don't have the talent of tour pros and they only look at the static position, not at all looking at what happens dynamically before and after that still shot. Completely delusional thought process to focus on the outliers instead of the averages.

[MonteScheinblum]

You can hit it with any backswing, in the same way you can get to Canada from Montana by driving south. It’s just not the easiest way.

Nearly every cliche thrown around about golf and the swing have been proven to be at best misleading and at worst, completely false.

[MPStrat]

Casual observers of the golf swing tend to see only hands/arms/club. Many have played great golf from a huge range of hand and arm positions. Body angles are much more universal.

[bluedot]

This discussion reminds me of the piece in "The Little Red Book" where Penick is trying to get a student to grip the club with less pressure. The student tells Penick, "But Arnold Palmer grips the club tightly!", to which Penick replies, "Yes, but you're not Arnold Palmer."

Do NOT assume that because Johnson and Wolff, or even Fowler, do what they do in the backswing, that what YOU do in the backswing is ok. They are elite, world-class athletes, perhaps even better than you!

[Golfbeat]

These body angles are well achievable for many amateurs. What happens afterwards is a completely different story.

[Dumpedunder]

They all have great turn and depth so they can shallow it in transition. As long as you have those two things, life’s good.

[sprcoop]

The last AMG vid made me think about cleaning up the BS. Worked pretty well my last outing.

 

 

[Obee]

So I'm definitely in this camp -- the backswing IS personal. It's similar to the first serve toss in tennis. All kinds of variability there, as well. In fact, all kinds of variability in the serve in everything leading up to the point at which the racket starts to be "delivered" to the ball.

Certain backswings will preclude certain downswings, of course, but all kinds of back swings can succeed in this game. Of course, that means that all kinds of different backswings can also suck at this game. LOLZ

[nitram]

Also looks like slow play was a problem back in '75...

[xmanhockey7]

Okay...here's the thing....

Those guys have more in common than not. Even Matt. Give me 140 tour players. All their moves look different, but in reality they're all basically doing the same thing. They just do it to varying degrees. P1-P2 setup a lot of what happens the rest of the swing. Guys talk about having a good P1, but nobody is ever like "well you don't hit the ball from address". Well....obviously not, but that doesn't mean it won't effect what happens in other spots in the swing.

[TheRaven]

They all have their own flavor, but when the club comes back to impact I bet the look more or less the same. I think certain backswings will get your clubface back to impact easier than others. Some people just have the natural talent to do it however they like. When wolfe started to break out, his coach was on TV talking about his swing and what I took from it is he gets the club back on path and through the ball well.

[farmer]

Way back, I mean like early '70s, Golf Digest sent the BIL of a staff writer to a tournament for his take. Of Miller Barber he said " He carefully doesn't hit the ball with his backswing. Only with his downswing, which is a vicious, whistling arc."

[MPStrat]

No doubt but what happens after is made a lot easier by those body angles.

[Sean2]

Yes, their back swing are all different, but they all look the same at impact position. If you can properly return the club to the impact position, I suppose it doesn't really matter how you get there.

[North Texas]

I'm assuming that what Stewart Maiden said about the backswing must be a secret since you didn't tell us. Just messing with you. But I really don't know what he said.

[MelloYello]

I find that when my swing thoughts revolve around the backswing, I tend to fall into the trap of the "hit impulse."

So in terms of swing thoughts, the old adage is a helpful reminder for me. I like it.

[Krt22]

The issue for most amateurs is they can't consistently get the club back to impact in a repeatable fashion if their backswing is really wonky. And they don't have the talent or time to practice like the pros with unorthodox backswings do. Making the path back to the ball as simple as possible is never a bad thing

[oikos1]

Seems pretty simple: If your back swing looks/feels whacky but you hit it good, leave it alone. If your back swing looks/feels whacky and you you hit it like ****, you might need to address an issue or two or three...

[glk]

 

[A.Princey]

I've gone completely with the wrist preset drill, for every actual shot on the golf course, to maintain perfect wrist/face angle. Now, if I can just get the idea of letting the club release itself, rather than pushing it through with my trail hand, my EE will be a thing of the past. Trying to become a swinger, because until now, all I've managed to do is put forth too much effort and lack SS as a hitter.