February 21, 2019- Steven E. Greer, MD
YouTube’s algorithms fed me a video some guy made of what he thinks are the 20-best swings. I spotted something in all of them. These legends of the game all have what I call “right elbow lead”. Their right arms are throwing the club grip just like a football or baseball.
I have spoken about this before. The right elbow has to start down before the hands in order to get the catapult acceleration. It also puts the club “in the slot” and allows the body to turn without elevating the spine-axis. This “keeps you in your posture”, which creates a still head, which allows for consistent ball striking.
Look at Freddie Couples and Jack Nicklaus in the video. They have a “flying elbow” at the top of the swing. This helps them get an even bigger downward elbow start. People criticized Jack for this, but it was actually a strength of his swing.
Oklahoma State’s Matt Wolff is turning heads with his swing. He has a huge flying right elbow.
Also, he keeps his wrists frozen in the backswing. They never do the normal 90-degree turn, so the clubhead stays way in front of his hands all the way to the top. He is forced to do a big supination/pronation move in the transition, which is the desired movement for a flat shaft plane.
This is a great and quite rare explanation of a critical part of the swing. I tried this on my local course recently, and I took 21 shots off my previous best, that’s 21 shots…I could hardly believe how well and how powerfully I has striking the ball, going both long and true with all clubs. I even birdied the Si 1, a 540yd hole with a lot of trouble in the form of water and trees. I hit Driver over 300 yds…which was incredible…then a 4i onto the front fringe…and a chip to 3 ft and putt for birdie…wow I thought…I just did that.
Very informative video!!
Very good video. This needs more exposure.