Posts Tagged ‘compression golf’

Gary Woodland Golf Swing Analyzed

Monday, February 13th, 2012

I heard a story from a reliable source that in one of Gary Woodland’s first PGA Tour events he was to tee off on the 10th hole, a 385 yard par 4. He was 3rd to hit and the hole was playing a bit downwind, and when it came to be his turn to hit he just stood there and waited. No one seemed to know what his deal was, and when someone said “are you going to hit, or what?” he mumbled something about waiting for the group ahead to clear the green. You could imagine the snickering from the gallery and possibly even his playing partners, but sure enough, he flushed the drive and rolled it up onto the front of the putting surface.

Such is the power of this young player, a poster boy among a generation of athletes who have come to the game having learned to smash the ball with maximum force from the first time they picked up a club. Woodland does so with a decidedly conventional looking move, utilizing a relatively slow backswing with a super hard catch and lightning forward swing to pulverize the ball like few others who can still manage to find the ball. Woodland has already won and been in contention many other times, and it is apparent that he is also a fine putter and short game artist. Indeed, if you drive it 350 and hit wedge from 150 every hole from 500 yards and in is a driver and a wedge, which means that if he works on driving the ball in play and spends lots of time on his short game and putting he should be good to go for the future.

The only problem I see is technique oriented, as I am not a big fan of vertically dropping hands (I think the right arm tends to get trapped behind the right side in the downswing), but certainly his incredible lower body action and overall strength and control of the club make up for that. If he continues to improve he could turn out to be among the great players.

Tags: compression golf, gary woodland, PGA Tour
Posted in Tour Players | 4 Comments »

Hand Movement From the Top of the Swing: A Look at the Top 20 Golf Players in the World Rankings

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

The entire purpose of this golf video is to record observations of a particular part of the swing as practiced by the top 20 players (according to the “World Rankings”). Too many acceptable variations are castigated by TV announcers who have not done their homework when it comes to knowing what the best players do. Video golf swing analysis is a powerful tool when it comes to teaching a player how to improve his or her swing. An underrated attribute of the video is the ability to watch the greatest players of present and past and record, in detail, what they do. They are all successful. That’s why we watch them. Whatever they do is worth watching and taking the time to discern what is going on in their swings that help them be champions.
The fact that just about every announcer on major TV networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, The Golf Channel, ESPN ) views the descending head (or “dip” as they would call it) in the backswing and downswing as a negative is a clear and stark reminder of how poorly prepared these people are. The videos are irrefutable. These people say things that are blatantly not true. I mean, one guy states right out that he has watched the Hogan videos and has come to the conclusion that Hogan never “dipped” his head. What is he watching?
Anyway, the hand path question is interesting because the only two acknowledged hand paths are (the good one) dropping the hands/arms “into the slot”, or (the bad one) “coming over the top”, which is code for “hands move out toward the ball”. What is interesting is the evidence, which is that more players move their hands outward toward the ball starting down than those who drop them straight down to their feet. Also, that the average hand path is closer to the ball than the feet. The two key items that are always in the mix, allowing the outward hand path to work, are the hard lateral and rotational movement of the pivot, and the lay back and ultimate control of the shaft movement in the downswing.

Tags: backswing, ben hogan, compression golf, golf players, golf swing analysis
Posted in Tour Players | 17 Comments »

Paul Azinger Golf Swing Analyzed

Tuesday, October 4th, 2011

Here we have another example of golfing genius, a pure talent with a mean competitive streak that I believe would have put him in the same category as Lee Trevino as a multiple major winner and dominant player had it not been for his unfortunate brush with cancer at the peak of his career. His grip, set up, and backswing technique are idiosyncratic, but as you will see his use of his pivot and the hand path and shaft control are exemplary and made him one of the best ball strikers on the tour. As we have seen over and over with great players odd grips and backswings can be overcome by talent, which shines through in the forward swing and at impact. Of course, this is fairly obvious, as we would not be bothering to look at the swing at all if it were not highly successful, but it is worth reiterating for those who insist that certain players have less than adequate golf swing technique that the idea is to watch and see how and why it works.

Tags: backswing, compression golf, golf swing analysis, lee trevino, paul azinger
Posted in Tour Players | 2 Comments »

Nick Watney Golf Swing Analyzed

Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

In Nick Watney we see what I would call the “prototype” of the new Tour player, namely one that is tall, strong, talented, and technique oriented. Watney is as conventional as Bubba Watson is not, and it is evident that he is technique oriented as he has managed to improve his golf swing over the last 3 years by fixing a faulty takeaway and working into a much less crossed position for the shaft at the top of the swing. We see here another “right load” backswing, meaning that he moves somewhat off the ball laterally with both the upper and lower body in order to “load” the right side, then recovers beautifully with lateral drive and a tremendous amount of corresponding rotation in the forward swing. Watney again shows evidence of the compression golf swing by lowering somewhat in the backswing, then significantly in the forward swing. He also demonstrates the right arm movement that I have been noting in a large amount of great ball strikers, a technique that I am now including wholeheartedly in all my lessons. It might seem surprising to see that a player of Watney’s build would have such a rotary swing, but the more I study this combination of upper and lower body rotation, facilitated by the outward movement of the hands in transition, the less surprised I am.

Tags: compression golf, compression golf swing, Golf Lessons, golf swing analysis, Nick Watney
Posted in Tour Players, Video on Homepage, Video on Video Page, Videos | 12 Comments »

Angel Cabrera Old School Golf Swing Analyzed

Monday, May 30th, 2011

Lost in the shuffle of the hectic finish at this year’s Masters was Angel Cabrera, who was right there in the thick of things until his putter gave out on the back nine. In this video we look at Cabrera’s golf swing in all its free flowing, old school glory as he rips into the ball with gleeful abandon. Certainly this is no manufactured swing borne of video analysis and hours of poring over positions and conforming to swing theories. This is just a prime example of a brutally strong, ultra –talented player who knows how to put the club on the ball and doesn’t really worry too much about exactly how he’s doing it.

Two things stand out in Cabrera’s golf swing that separate him from the typical modern player: one is the large amount of lateral movement both back and through, and the other is the use of the right arm, with the elbow bent well past 90 degrees and the forearm almost parallel to the ground. He manages both idiosyncrasies with wonderful rhythm and sequence, and his right arm reverse movement is reminiscent of Hogan, although the extreme amount of bend in the arm at the top leads to a high approach into impact. All in all he’s a powerful, exciting player who I would certainly follow if I were attending a tournament.

Tags: angel cabrera, compression golf, golf swing, masters
Posted in Tour Players, Video on Homepage, Video on Video Page, Videos | 17 Comments »

Lee Trevino: Golf Swing Analysis

Monday, May 23rd, 2011

If you’ve watched more than one or two of the videos I’ve done on the golf swings of the great players of the past and present you may have noticed the huge variations in technique they use to hit the golf ball. That said, you may also have noticed that there are a few themes that run through most of them, themes that I make sure to highlight. Two of the most important are the use of the ground to power the pivot motion, a movement I have called “compression”, and also the ability to “sustain” the alignment of the shaft with the left arm past impact, a position produced in part as a result of the huge amount of lateral and rotational movement of the lower body in the forward swing, a move Lee Trevino himself described as a “slide-turn”. Watching Trevino hit the golf ball we see one of the most obvious and extreme examples of both of these highly desirable traits.
Lee Trevino controlled the ball as well as anyone ever, preferring a low fade with the longer clubs, and was a master with the wedge. What jumps out about his golf swing, other than his idiosyncratic alignment, is the massive bend he produces in his posture as he swings, which should have long ago put to rest the conventional notion that it is a good idea to “maintain posture” during the swing. The truth is, it is a far better idea to “add” posture, or to bend more from the waist by compressing into the ground, as Trevino does. Trevino’s swing was entirely homemade, sculpted by hitting thousands upon thousands of balls off the hardpan of a Texas driving range. He grew up poor and had to fight and scratch for anything and everything, then ended up beating Nicklaus in a playoff for the U.S. Open for one of his six major championships. He is truly one of the all-time greats, and a great story as well.

Tags: compression golf, golf swing, lee trevino
Posted in Legends of Golf, Video on Homepage, Video on Video Page, Videos | 23 Comments »

The Game as I See It

Saturday, November 28th, 2009

Golf is truly a challenge for all those who attempt it. If you are first stopping at this web site I have to figure it’s for a couple of reasons: you are fascinated by the game and therefore are interested to hear or see anything anybody has to say about it, and, more importantly, you want to find something that will help you to improve.

When asked about his “goals”, the best player in the world, Tiger Woods, states emphatically that his one goal is to “get better”, and that everything else will take care of itself. As a teacher with 25 years of experience, and as a player who has played in 8 major championships and won numerous titles as a club professional, I believe that this is the best way, the only way, to approach the game.

In this web site I will provide you with everything I have to offer you in order to help you improve. I invite you to join, and as a member become privy to detailed analysis of every facet of the game. Have fun!

Tags: compression golf, golf instruction, golf instructor, tiger woods, wayne defrancesco
Posted in Learning to Play Golf | 1 Comment »