I have spent much of the past couple of years just focusing on swing models and tinkering, but as recently as 2022, I was still banging drives of 330 yards and upwards with off the rack drivers.
This is the proof that my model search ended a while ago, but it took my being satisfied that I had looked into everything I possibly could, at which point I began to look back through my swing archive (2010-2024 is a lot of clips) and break down exactly what the optimal swing model looks like.
Update: I accidentally inserted previous Jack-DJ comparison pics, apologies. The correct pics have now been inserted /update
Here we go, WAX Nation – I actually kept looking through my archives and, incredibly, I found a video clip from just two days after the May 14, 2015 clips that I had gone over, with a setup that matches Jack Nicklaus’ adjusted setup even more, this one from May16th.
Not only did I get very close, I recorded myself hitting a drive right down the pipe with a hang-time of 7.5 seconds.
For reference, the average PGA Tour hang time for a drive is 6.3 seconds.
That’s a blast!
Once again, Jack Nicklaus has come to the table with his close-to-optimal setup from 1963, as he does time after time.
Once again, let me say this – there are endless ways to swing a golf club and probably countless variations that are pretty good – but there is only one optimal way to swing, and you’ll see what I mean below.
We are talking a tweak to his setup (I mentioned how it was centered in the last post, so right-biased is the move) and one to his pivot action (Classic rather than Modern), and this swing would be as good as any you’ll see on Tour.
The smooth power he displays with that great leveraging action, just makes everything look so silky when you watch it replay.
I’ve looked for years at Jack Nicklaus’ golf swing, going so far as to say that the Golden Bear had the closest setup to an optimal one that I could find.
Close behind Jack though, and one of the first swingers I ever looked at, is Ben Hogan. The problem I always had with Hogan was all of the anti-hook features built into his swing, features that probably created an army of slicers after he released his “5 Lessons” book.
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.
After a lifetime in sports, I am still confused by the golf myth that in order to swing a golf downward, you must push upwards from the ground.
It is easily the silliest and most “debunkable” myth, as well, which makes me wonder why swing analysts are pushing this.
I have made an important breakthrough in my theory work, I believe, that finally solves the issue of the setup.
I think it’s been about a week since a little nugget of an idea landed in my brain and began to change the way I look at the setup for a golf swing.
First off, let me say that the last two or three weeks have been amazing with regards to my swing research, notably the Jack Nicklaus-inspired setup and swing action.
The funny thing is you often don’t notice what other golfers are doing with their swings or setups until you have actually done or worked on similar things, and with Rory McIlroy, I noticed something at a glance looking at his setup and swing from this year’s Dubai Invitational event.
You’ll all by now be familiar with the concept upon which I’ve been working with regards to swing modeling – that is, swinging in a manner that emulates the Iron Byron or any other swinging machine or robot.
What this would entail is in reaching the optimal in three processes (the setup, back pivot and down swing) with maximum stability in the leading foot and head positions throughout.
WAX Golf 