Michael Thorbjornsen’s Golf Swing (Don’t Try This At Home)

Chief Cowpie, long-time denizen of WAX Golf Nation, sent me a news article regarding the recovery from a spinal stress fracture of one young Michael Thorbjornsen, an amateur player who will be heading to the PGA Tour.

I have to agree with the Chief that it is amazing this young man missed only 9 months of golf after being confined to a bed with both the back injury and surgery on an ankle, because if you see this swing…

From the NBC Sports online article penned by Brentley Romine:

Confined to a bed in New York City last August, Michael Thorbjornsen was about as far away as one could get from the PGA Tour.

Sure, the Stanford senior was still leading the PGA Tour University rankings, but after surgery on his left ankle and already trying to heal a stress fracture in his back, Thorbjornsen didn’t know when he’d play golf again.

Let’s take a look at that swing, shall we?

I mean, even without knowing about the injury, this swing is the stuff of nightmares, friends.

I’m shocked – SHOCKED that this golf swing caused a stress fracture in his back.

I haven’t seen any updated versions of this young man’s swing, so if he hasn’t made any changes, I would not place large bets on him staying swing-fit very long when he hits the Tour.

Let’s hope he has made some changes, because the finish position by itself makes my back twinge, let alone this:

I wish him all the best however, because breaking one’s back swinging a golf club is not something I have on my personal bingo card and I wouldn’t wish it upon anyone else.

As Chief quipped to me when we discussed the young man, the next generation is sure to keep me in business writing about the horrors of modern golf swinging.

And that’s a shame, actually.

4 thoughts on “Michael Thorbjornsen’s Golf Swing (Don’t Try This At Home)”

  1. Droggelbecher's avatarDroggelbecher

    Ouch!

    That’s why the old “keep your head down” is bad advice. He should do it like Annika Sorenstam who looked up before way before impact…

    1. Chief Cowpie's avatarChief Cowpie

      That may look like a positive step but with the current pga tour gym rat candidate and the torque and kickback their swing generates, the only viable and safe solution is to take the route of NASCAR and to have the golfer wear a Hans II safety harness.

  2. Chief Cowpie's avatarChief Cowpie

    As with so many of these modern short golf biopics, it takes the side of a golfer’s persistence at the cruel hands of fate and not the physics of the human anatomy and its limitations that are exposed through human body incompatible movement or maybe better yet, how to fulfill the human potential through MCS.

    And that’s why we are here!

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