Hovland’s Swing

[jmkenn0]

17 hours ago, bsteven43 said:

Watching him more yesterday and today at Bay Hill, it sure looks like he hits a bit of a pull cut to me.  He’s fantastic, love him but unusual swing to be sure.  Anyone else see this graphic yesterday?   Blue line is through swing - clearly above they backswing .. 

 

That looks like a distortion due to the angle of the camera more than anything else - the head of the club is inside the path from the takeaway, not over the top of it?

[mudge]

On 3/4/2022 at 6:49 PM, dvq9654 said:

He clearly shallows the club. He flexes his lead wrist to start the downswing (cast A) and the shallows very effectively. His hand path may give the perception of more out towards to the ball, but if you listen to the AMG guys, that type of movement can also be a shallowing move (when done properly)

 

There is a lot about his swing to like 

Actually no, Hovland has been the only PGA Tour I’ve heard of whose lead wrist works toward extension in transition 

[buckethat72]

One of the best swings and best ball strikers on tour! These young guys in the generation of video analysis and trackman know what's most effective but I think a lot of observers still want people to swing like the guys in the 90s.

 

[ac6]

On 3/7/2022 at 7:23 AM, jmkenn0 said:

 

That looks like a distortion due to the angle of the camera more than anything else - the head of the club is inside the path from the takeaway, not over the top of it?

 

From what I can see, this tells me that from face-on his downswing arc is narrower than backswing, but this tracer doesn't tell us one way or the other whether it is above the backswing plane or below. 

 

FWIW I find Hovland's swing pretty odd-looking from impact through finish. No knock on the results, though

Edited March 18, 2022 by ac6

[dvq9654]

1 hour ago, mudge said:

Actually no, Hovland has been the only PGA Tour I’ve heard of whose lead wrist works toward extension in transition 

Huh? We must have different definitions of the word extension. 

[mudge]

59 minutes ago, dvq9654 said:

Huh? We must have different definitions of the word extension. 

 

You said he flexes his lead wrist to start the downswing. Unless bowing the wrist means extension (which it doesn't).

[Lefthook]

IMO the best swing in golf right now.  His transition is different. He doesn't drop his right shoulder early as Tiger did in his heydays ... and as Hogan too.  He saves it for later. he has a very steep shoulder turn through the ball, chasing after the ball with his trail shoulder. I don't think this is the most comfortable way of swinging ... it feels more athletic and flowing with a more shallow  and hip driven turn through the ball. His way requires much more motion in the spine and upper body through impact. But this seem to help him have a more stable club face than almost anyone on the planet. On the picture below, his club face is perhaps 2 feet past impact, but still close to square. 

 

 

 

Heres Vijay a few years back, when he was battling with Tiger for the #1 position in the world. He was pretty aswome with the driver back when he won the Masters. Tiger around 2000 was middle ground between the two here.

 

 

 

What these pictures doesn't show is that Viktor's right shoulder is moving downwards through the ball, which also contributes to keeping the club face squarer for longer. VIktor uses a lot of effort through impact that keeps the face squarer for longer than everyone else.  He may look like he is pulling,  but he is pushing more with his trail side through the ball than most others.

 

You can for example watch a video of Rory hitting a drive. His trail shoulder drops early and start to rise prior to impact. That is much more of a pulling motion than we seen in VIktor. 

 

Needless to say here that there are many ways to strike the ball with excellence, but VIktor's way seems to be more repeatable than most. It must be his swing pattern that allows him to be in contention almost every week.

[teddyironboy]

I think it looks over the top because his hands are so high at the top of the backswing.

[JLP_GOLF]

On 3/4/2022 at 7:29 PM, Trippels said:

I like the guy, but that's a swing only a blind mother could love

Lots of shallowing though

LOL at this comment, you should be banned for this.  He has the prettiest swing in golf (where it matters) and the most stable face in golf (morikawa debatable).  This kid will be a force on the tour for a long time as long as he can get up and down and putt well.  As someone pointed out he hits a bit of a pull cut which most of the more accurate guys on tour do.  He is also moving towards extension as he comes into the ball which is a very interesting release style common amongst some of the more passive face players ( DJ, Colin, Brooks, VH)

[Strategery]

He is really closed halfway back, bowed wrist at the top with a big OOT move on the way down.

[Krt22]

12 minutes ago, Strategery said:

He is really closed halfway back, bowed wrist at the top with a big OOT move on the way down.

I would be interested in knowing what you define as a "big OTT move"

[MK7Golf21]

pretty interesting that Hovland kind of self taught his swing from online information. Being in Norway there weren't too many instructors. Article on how he adopting Johnsons bowed wrist into his swing but bypassed SnT around the same time.

 

"Hovland has to be the first elite tour player to teach himself the game from scratch in the dark in a second language from YouTube. He’s just one of a wave of new tour players who are using the most democratic of the modern instruction tools—social media—to redefine the relationship between athletes, coaches and the information they share." 

 

 

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/viktor-hovland-cover-story

[dvq9654]

I find this thread funny, and I think it fits perfectly with the thread on perception. Half the people think he's over the top, half don't. Half the people think he's shallow, half don't. Some people think he is extending his wrist to start the down swing, others think he is flexing it. Not all these things can be true, and certainly half of us are wrong or misinformed. 

 

All I can say is if he is OTT, extending his wrist to start the down swing and steep, sign me up for all three, please. 

[JungleJimbo]

On 3/5/2022 at 5:36 AM, bsteven43 said:

Is it just me, or is Hovland’s swing just a little bit over the top? At a minimum, he is one of the very few that doesn’t shallow out on the downswing. Do I have this right?

 

 

 

[naval2006]

On 3/17/2022 at 9:32 PM, buckethat72 said:

One of the best swings and best ball strikers on tour! These young guys in the generation of video analysis and trackman know what's most effective but I think a lot of observers still want people to swing like the guys in the 90s.

 

I love Victor’s swing because it looks ninetish.  A Time Machine guy. 

[naj959]

I've been trying to find information on Viktor's swing and have come to find out that he is the model for Scott Cowx's cobra pattern. This pattern seems to be the most optimal for my physiology. I've been hitting it very well implementing the information I have been able to find. 

[Valtiel]

17 hours ago, JungleJimbo said:

 

 

 

This is dead on, its about hand path vs. club path vs. shaft plane. If you isolate his hands people think OTT, but you have to actually look at what the club and the shaft is doing as well. He shallows massively, as much as anyone if not more, and turns very hard with super lower body strength and flexibility. He compresses the crap out of the ball from this "pull cut" position. Technically you could call it a "professional OTT" as Faldo sometimes refers to it as, but really its a matchup of an "in going back / out coming down" hand path matched with very aggressive shallowing and turning. 

Edited June 3, 2023 by Valtiel