I always used to say that I hadn’t invented anything when developing the MCS Classic Golf Swing models that I have presented throughout the years.
All I did was compare the setups of the greatest champions of golf from the Classic Golf Swing eras (and some Classic swingers from this modern era), from which I took setup principles to apply to what I was currently developing.
It evolved from looking at and copying the setups to actually building this latest model using what I have learned over the years and my own athletic intuition from a lifetime of sports participation – and what I built looks suspiciously like one of the greatest swingers ever with regard to setup.
When you look at Jack Nicklaus’ prescribed setup face-on, there is very little to distinguish in difference:
A little difference in the head angles, the ball is further up to the leading foot with my setup due to the modern driver specs is all you’ll really see aside from the difference in the foot angles and degree of flare due to my personal adjustments to account for my scoliosis.
Again, with the down the line look:
… if you discount the slight difference in camera perspective and of course the setup of the feet (the standard setup for my model would mirror Jack’s if I were built to standard), there’s not much there to point out, is there?
This, friends, is why Jack Nicklaus is the greatest major winner ever, 3rd highest total Tour events winner and how he was able to do all of that while essentially playing golf in his spare time between fishing trips – he was doing it all with a very sound setup from which to swing.
In nearly 20 years of swing research, the closer I got to what I considered the optimal setup and swing action for a golf swing model, the closer and closer the prescribed setup came to resemble the Golden Bear’s.
So, you had me getting there via two routes – the first, copying and emulating the setups of the greatest swingers and second, building a model from scratch using mechanically-sound principles and athletic tuition acquired through the years.
In just about any sport or game requiring technique, you will find that the greatest performers start off with a mastery of the fundamentals.
From there, talent and desire dictate how far they will take those fundamentals, and consider this – Tiger Woods got about as much as he could have taken in majors, winning 15 majors and coming runner-up 7 times.
Compare this to Nicklaus winning 18 majors and coming runner-up an astounding 19 times, all without ever incurring any swing-related injuries.
Give Nicklaus the same 7 runner-up finishes as Tiger, and Jack is at 30 major victories. If he had really wanted it more and had practiced and played more (and remember he had no one to chase after surpassing Walter Hagen’s 11 majors), he would have easily won mid-to-high 20 majors.
And it would have all begun with this very sound setup.
WAX Golf 
Jack being a good all around athlete definitely helped him instinctively set up to and hit a golf ball in such a mechanically sound method. I think that’s a big reason why you also slotted into a similar technique. And I agree, had the Bear been as maniacally focused as Tiger he would’ve put up a stupid number of wins. But he valued other things in life more than golf.
You are right on the money there, Mark – I was never a “great” athlete but I would say with humility that I was a good all-round athlete, finding success in baseball, hockey, track & field… I learned the over-arching importance of sound technique, drilled them obsessively, and was able to (in my opinion) find more success than I probably should have.
So, it was the proof in the pudding that, when I put aside studying great swingers and decided to build a model using my athletic intuition, I arrived at the same spot I’d been when I studied the greatest swingers, Jack above all.
There are many different golf swing techniques but, as with all other sports motions, only one optimal technique. That’s what I’ve always been chasing, and “good enough” would have ended my journey years ago.
For those who wish to play better golf and especially swing with better technique, however – the journey may only be in the “end of the beginning” stage. Let’s see what happens next!