What made David Duval such a great ballstriker?

[jonsnow]

I'm a big fan of David Duval & wish his competitive career had lasted longer. I'm curious what you think it was about his swing that made him such a great ballstriker? His swing was always unique: it seemed to be very rotary with little lateral movement. He had a very strong grip & his swing didn't appear to have a great deal of width to it; I remember noticing he had quite a bit of right elbow bend at the top. His tempo was so smooth! 

 

Wayne DeFrancesco qualified for the PGA Championship during Duval's best years & played part of a practice round with him. He shot some video of Duval & had it on his website & I think it was on Youtube as well with his commentary. What are your thoughts? Thanks...

[Celebros]

The shades.

[MonteScheinblum]

Genetics and hard work.

[golfarb1]

Great  torso rotation supported by an excellent shallowed plane in transition. 

[jonsnow]

17 minutes ago, Celebros said:

The shades.

I don't know, I had the shades & didn't do a thing for my game!

[VNutz]

A healthy back.

[jonsnow]

10 minutes ago, MonteScheinblum said:

Genetics and hard work.

Undoubtedly! But I was hoping the more knowledgeable readers in general & you in particular might tell the rest of us what you liked (& maybe didn't like) about his swing. 

[gators78]

One of the best pivots of all time. 

[wagolfer7]

Copenhagen Long Cut

[PJ72]

I was never a great fan of Duval until he won the Open and gave his winners speech - class act.

[txhacker]

His clubface was super stable through impact, from maybe 6 inches before impact to 6 inches after impact his clubface was pointing straight at the target. During his prime all he really had to do was rotate back and rotate through. When he felt super on which lasted maybe 2-3 years(?) I don't think he worried too much about draws and fades, he could hit a 2 iron 220 yards with a 2 yard fade. He was probably aiming at the flag for almost every approach shot.

[naval2006]

Outstanding shoulder turn and rhythm.  Perfect pivot like they mentioned above.  Actually the guy was a sort of golf genius. 

[golfsticks]

2 hours ago, jonsnow said:

I remember noticing he had quite a bit of right elbow bend at the top. His tempo was so smooth!

 

Only the cool kids know how to engage narrow.  Width is so overrated. 

[Valtiel]

The very shut clubface + very connected rotation-based swing really reduces a lot of variables if you have the coordination and flexibility to pull it off. As @txhacker said, it becomes a very simple "rotate back and through" type of move with very little else necessary in terms of moving parts. DJ, Morikawa, and to a certain extent someone like Alex Noren all do a version of the same thing. As long as your body and back can handle it, it is a great way to swing. Unfortunately Duval's back did not in the long run. 

Edited October 20, 2020 by Valtiel

[tgreenwood11]

Desire

[Zitlow]

He was slinging the club. 

[Dan_Woden]

Early wrist-set helped lock in the sync'ed turn. Clubface did not twist so he only released with a 'slap' not a 'roll' - meant he could go at it as hard as he wanted with less timing involved. Greatest hip pivot ever.

 

Undoubtedly one of the greatest the game ever saw.

[bluedot]

On 10/20/2020 at 2:25 PM, MonteScheinblum said:

Genetics and hard work.

 

Bingo, and this could be the answer for what makes any elite athlete great at their sport; Jordan, Brady, Trout; any of them. 

 

Actually, in Duval's case, I think that for chops like me, there may be less to learn than is even usually the case; playing a fade with a very strong grip is just not something available to the masses.  If I tried to do what Duval did, I'd shoot a million and run out of golf balls.

[me05501]

I was lucky enough to attend The Masters for one day the year that Palmer played his last competitive rounds. That was a very rainy week, and though we were supposed to have passes for Friday, that day's play was rained out by the time we got to Augusta. We were allowed to use our Friday passes on Saturday morning as they finished the suspended rounds from Friday. 

 

We happened to be at the 18th tee when Duval's group came through. Els was also in the group but I can't remember who the third player was. Watching those guys tee off through the chute of trees lining 18 was very cool. 

 

I remember distinctly that Duval's drive launched extremely high...remarkably so. Els ball looked about like you'd expect for a long-hitting pro of that era, but when Duval hit it seemed like his ball was much higher right away before flattening out and carrying a long way. 

 

Just a point of interest, sorry to derail the discussion. 

Edited November 2, 2020 by me05501

[Barfolomew]

Oakleys

[juststeve]

Duval and Sorenstam both released their heads before impact.  That indicates that they were swinging through the ball and toward the target.  No sign of being ball bound in either swing.  2 great golf swings.

 

Steve

[Santiago Golf]

On 11/2/2020 at 12:31 PM, juststeve said:

Duval and Sorenstam both released their heads before impact.  That indicates that they were swinging through the ball and toward the target.  No sign of being ball bound in either swing.  2 great golf swings.

 

Steve

 

DJ does this as well. 

 

So did Trevino 

 

Gankas talks about this alot

 

I know for me personaly, if I can see the ball at impact ... its never a good sign

[juststeve]

58 minutes ago, Santiago Golf said:

 

DJ does this as well. 

 

So did Trevino 

 

Gankas talks about this alot

 

I know for me personaly, if I can see the ball at impact ... its never a good sign

You just need to learn to trust the swinging motion to find the ball.  As Manny used to say you should get the club swinging and then leave it alone. 

 

Steve

[Trip72]

On 11/2/2020 at 3:31 PM, juststeve said:

Duval and Sorenstam both released their heads before impact.  That indicates that they were swinging through the ball and toward the target.  No sign of being ball bound in either swing.  2 great golf swings.

 

Steve

I was always amazed how it looked like these two weren't looking at the ball at impact. When I have my best ball-striking rounds, I feel like I'm not "seeing" the club hit the ball, and for some reason I constantly try to correct it. It almost feels counter intuitive to not see impact. For me it comes down to trusting my swing. Easier said then done.

[juststeve]

Although the ball is in my field of vision as I swing I've never actually seen the club strike the ball.

 

Steve

[Divot License]

I was actually discussing this with my 12 year old daughter last night on the range last night. 

 

Ultimately she decided that since most other sports you don't look at the ball but where you want it to go she was not going to fixate on watching the ball get hit. If she saw it and it went straight then great, if she didn't and it went straight that was also great. 

 

In her words "I have more important things to worry about in my swing"

[sticksgolf]

 

I've watched Trevino up close but never seen Duval.

 

Still, what David Eger wrote about Duval always made me wish I had the chance to witness it in person:

 

BEST BALL-STRIKER I EVER SAW: Lee Trevino. Having said that, I played a round with David Duval and his father, Bob, back when David was the reigning U.S. Junior Amateur champion. It was 50 degrees and windy in Ponte Vedra, the kind of winter day where the golf ball doesn’t go anywhere regardless of who’s hitting it. But David’s ball flew like it was a hot day in Phoenix. There was a character to it I haven’t quite seen since. And then he got even better. Lee had more shots than David and was better through the bag, so he has the edge. But for pure majesty of ball flight, nobody I’ve seen has matched the young David Duval.

[milesgiles]

Barely saw him play live. The mystery to me was how he lost it so quickly, didn’t he develop vertigo or something?

[jonsnow]

8 hours ago, milesgiles said:

Barely saw him play live. The mystery to me was how he lost it so quickly, didn’t he develop vertigo or something?

He was diagnosed with positional vertigo but it was a couple of years after his British Open win & he was already into the decline. I've read theories that some of the injuries he dealt with stole his ability to rotate as well as in his prime but I've also read that his experience in winning a major was underwhelming to him & he may have lost the drive & desire to maintain his game at that level. The answer could be all of the above or none of the above for all I know. I think the wildest part of his story is when he came out of nowhere in 2009 to finish second in the U.S. Open to Lucas Glover; he stood on the 71st tee tied for the lead!

[Zitlow]

@jonsnow Duval's girlfriend broke up with him which may have been the catalyst for his decline.