As 2015 draws to a close, golf seems to be entering into a golden age of young, powerfull players who are beginning to dominate the top of the world rankings. Two such players are Rory McIlroy and Jason Day who currently occupy 2 of the top 3 spots in the world rankings, and have also produced some of the most consistent results in the last two years. When we look at some of the most powerful and consistent players that have come before Rory and Jason, it is impossible to look past possibly the greatest player of all time, Tiger Woods.
When you look at Tigers consistency during the the pre and early 2000’s some of the records he set are simply staggering. During his career Tiger has spent a total of 683 weeks at the world number one position and possibly the ultimate showing of his consistency is 142 consecutive cuts.
As we look at these three giants of the game there becomes an element of De Ja Vu with many of the characteristics that we see in their swings. Many of these characteristics can help the average golfer improve their golf swing as well.
One of the most commonly misunderstood things in golf is how to create power, without losing consistency in the swing. For the average golfer they feel that a longer or higher backswing will mean more power and more distance. However this is most certainly not the case, and more often than not it can actually have the opposite affect causing a loss of distance, and dramatic inconsistency in the shape of the ball flight and the strike.
As we look at the above image of Tiger, Rory and Jason taking the club away from the golf ball it is very clear that there are some overriding similarities between all three
First of all you will see that the shoulders and arms have been the key driver behind the takeaway. All 3 players appear to stretch their arms away from their body, without any excessive lateral movement of their legs. This will help them to create a wide, powerful swing arc with a very stable base.
As all three players reach the top of their backswing you will notice none of them have reached, or even come close to getting the club to reach the parallel position that most amateurs feel they “must” get to in order to create power. Instead they have managed to maintain a very stable and quiet lower body, while allowing their upper body to turn back and create separation between the upper an lower body. When we combine this separation, with the width that all three maintain in the backswing, you have the ideal ingredients for a powerful and consistent downswing.
As these guys swing through impact the similarities continue, and again we see some great width created with the arms post impact. Maintaining a wide swing arc before and after impact will play a big part in allowing these players to generate an exceptional amount of speed, without giving up their strike and direction.
