One would think that this is a straight-forward statement and even simpler concept, but I’ve watched enough so-called right-handed swingers to see that almost no one actually does it.
This is why Mike Dunaway’s swing looked so markedly different from any other swing you see, even his mentor’s – he was swinging virtually 100% with his right arm and hand.
That is to say, Dunaway’s last model and swings, were that way, but he didn’t start out that way.
His earliest swing model on the internet to view (the Sybervision video) was actually a Classic Golf Swing model:
As seen from the rear view, he didn’t “shift and post” to his trailing leg, rather he performed the standard rotary hip pivot:
Don’t get me wrong – it was most certainly a right-dominant swing action, but one that used a sensation or feel of “pulling” the swing down with the left or leading arm while simultaneously swinging down with the right arm.
The release of the trailing foot into and through impact are the giveaways to this:
The closer one gets to a pure right-handed action, the more the feet are quiet through impact.
By the time Dunaway was participating in the Austinology and Peace River videos, he had nearly completed a change to a right-arm action with no thoughts of “pulling” the swing with the leading side and just swinging with the right arm:
Austinology
The Peace River Video
The footwork is markedly different from the Sybervision, as you can see.
And then, the ultimate in right-arm swing action, the last swings I have, sent to me from a WAX Golf reader from a personal session he and a friend had with Dunaway, this particular swing action doesn’t get any more right-armed than here below:
Not only that, has anyone else noticed something that I have noticed about these swings?
How about that the last swing model just above has very little head shift on the back swing pivot? Nearly none at all until Dunaway’s club has reached parallel and then only a small shift to the right as his shoulders turn his head.
That is the key to what I have theorized and am currently working on – a completely right-handed (or left if you swing lefty) swing action with a stable head position through the back pivot.
I am convinced that it is only a matter of setup and pivot action, because that’s exactly what I’m working on at the moment, and I can confirm already with the training aid that, all else being equal, a one-armed swing action produces more speed and power than a dual-action one where you pull with the leading side and push with the trailing arm.
I’ve swung left-arm dominant with a right-handed swing, until I transitioned to a dual-action but still left-dominant action.
From there, I made it to right-dominant dual-action, and the last piece of the puzzle is that single-armed swing action, which I can currently now reproduce in practice.
All that remains is another trip to Tracer Golf sometime this week to see how close I can get, if not reach the target.
More to come.
WAX Golf 