Part 5/9 - PGA Tour Swing Analysis

by Jaacob Bowden

Of the 32 players I looked at for the position of their shaft at the top of the back swing, 9 were laid off, 17 were down the line, and 6 were across the line.

Typically, with the conventional swing we're taught to have the shaft be parallel to the ground and the shaft down the line at the top.  However, about 1/2 of the Tour players were not as such.  Part of this is due to the length of their back swings.  6 of the 9 players that were laid off did not make a back swing long enough to reach parallel, and 3 of the 9 players that were past parallel crossed the line.  The other 3 laid off and 6 across the line had other various nuances with hand action, swing plane, etc about their swings that led them to be the way they are.

I know this is something that instructors and golfers look at quite a bit, however, I'm not really sure that it's super critical thing to monitor.  About 1/2 are parallel and 1/2 are not, which means there is success to be found at any of these positions.

Personally, I started out striving to be parallel.  As I quit worrying about my mechanics so much and stopped trying to make a technically "perfect" golf swing, I actually started going a little beyond parallel because I began letting my left elbow bend slightly...and ended up a little across the line.  Now that I've started up training for the 2008 season, I still let my left elbow bend at the top, but I've shortened up my iron swing a bit and now I'm laid off and short of parallel...and with the driver I'm pretty close to parallel (not sure if I'm down the line - haven't looked at video yet).

So again, this is another thing where there seems to be an acceptable range and that you should just do what's best for you and your game.

Comments

[nuffspuds]

I've had a some mirror time after reading this entry as I was interested if I was laying off at the top; this seemed to happen alot when I was playing with the conventional swing (thumbs up, toe up etc). The slight counter rotation and the associated bowed wrist at the top of the swing has set me straight! To also add to the blog about tour player stats, I get more down and up power with counter rotation and a bowed wrist - I can't get back to a conventional swing now if I tried!

[Jaacob Bowden]

Yeah, I don't think I could go back to a conventional swing either. To me, a cupped or flat position works with the rolling of the blade, and a flat or bowed position works better with a counter rotating type move. I have too difficult of a time hitting the ball as consistently straight with the roll...so unless I figure something else out better, it looks like I'm going to be flat to bowed from here on out. ;-)