Case Study – Elite Golfer
Here is the work we did with a highly skilled golfer. NOTE: we are not golf instructors, we are applying biomechanics concepts to golf. Brian is an elite golfer who played on a Division II national championship team in college. Below is a video of his swing before any modifications.
Below is a comparison of Brian to Championship Golfer, Justin Rose, who has a similar build and swing. If you look at the red line, you can clearly see that Justin Rose has cleared his hips far more than Brian. Justin has far more side bend than Brian WITHOUT any more should shoulder rotation. In other words, Justin has more separation between his hip and shoulder rotation. What you can’t see is that Brian’s club has completely turned over and is almost hooded while Justin Rose’s club is following his chest. This makes Brian’s swing far more dependent on great timing and costs him a source of power when his hips stop rotating.
Clearing your hips to keep your hands from flipping over is a common issue discussed in golf. The key question is HOW SHOULD YOU KEEP ROTATING YOUR HIPS? There are many paths to this outcome and a lot of them will not help and many of them will actually hurt Brian’s swing. In addition, you might think Justin is just more flexible which is why he can rotate his hips more without additional shoulder rotation.
According to the Spine Engine Theory and Fryette’s Law, the key difference between Brian and Justin Rose is relatively simple: Side Bend. This ALSO explains how Justin Rose is getting more hip rotation without more shoulder rotation. Brian’s lack of side bend led to a lack of rotation to his left which can be clearly seen in the photos above. Therefore, Brian should be able to close the gap with Justin just by adding additional side bend which will “automatically” cause his hips to rotate more to the left WITHOUT conscious thought about clearing his hips.
The photos below show the comparison to Justin Rose at impact with Brian’s new swing. Brian has increased his side bend which has led to an increase in rotation. His setup is closer to the ball than Justin Rose. Otherwise their positions at impact are almost identical. Brian has eliminated the hand action at impact and now has his hands moving with his chest. He has added 30+ yards of driving distance moving from 275 yards to over 300 yards on his drive which is in line with Justin Rose’s driving distance. The elimination of hand action has allowed him to become more consistent in direction. The combination of distance and accuracy has allowed him to attack golf courses more aggressively.
The video below is a view of Brian’s golf swing after the swing changes.
Brian is now setting up further from the ball which allows him to increase his sidebend. This is key to his increased his rotation in his new swing.
Below is a comparison of the old and new swing at the top of the backswing. The big difference is Brian has far more confidence that he will not run out of hip turn and flip his hands. As a result, he starts turning his hip far earlier with his hips having already turned back towards the target before he has completed his backswing. This creates far more power.
There are major differences at impact with Brian’s hips having turned far more in his new swing. In addition, his right foot has now lift off the ground.
In the follow through, you can see in Brian’s old swing he has flipped the club with the club closing rapidly.
In the late follow through, you can see Brian is far more rotated in his new swing. He has not flipped the club indicating a much longer “flat” spot in his swing which is far less dependent on timing.
The first round we played with Brian after his swing changes he shot 1 under par – with 100+ year old Hickory Shafted Golf Clubs. He was routinely hitting his drives 270 yards with a Brassie.