I haven’t taken a look at Bryson DeChambeau’s swing of late because I had put the blog on hiatus, however I wanted to share this even though I wasn’t going to be looking at golfers’ swings going forward.
This particular swing action Bryson’s however is nearly a perfect imitation of what I’ve called Ben Hogan’s “Perfect Pivot” action.
Note: This isn’t a posting attacking or bashing BDC, just a discussion on technique vs strength.
We’ve all been inundated with the exploits of a certain golfer who has been hitting 190+ mph ball speeds on the PGA Tour after going on a weight lifting & eating regime, making some swing changes (for the better) & of course, picking up an er… helpful driver…
I think everyone here knows the answer to that, but if you don’t, it isn’t the guy who’s being accused of “breaking golf” at the moment.
I would say it was a guy who was nearing his 50th birthday and who didn’t spend his days working out in the gym and drinking protein shakes, nor did he use a driver designed to keep the ball as long and straight on mis-hits as off the sweet spot.
You’ll remember, those of you who were around the blog back in 2013, that my first post-Mike Austin group swing model was what I called “New MCS” and which featured “The Formula” setup.
Well, I never really looked at the swing model as a “single-plane” one but when I did take a look this week out of curiosity with all the “single-plane swing” talk out there, it was actually a nearly-perfect single plane action when it comes to that particular criterion.
Before anyone says I’m accusing BDC or Cobra of cheating, I’m not – the driver is perfectly legal, but I would say that because it’s legal doesn’t mean it’s good for golf, or even a morally acceptable club to make.
Bryson certainly has increased his weight, strength and swing speed, but the kicker here is the driver he’s using, because he wouldn’t be doing what he’s currently doing with any other driver on the market.
I will admit to having had a few jokes and laughs at Bryson DeChambeau’s expense with all of the “Mad Scientist” stuff, but I am now actually interested in what he’s doing to some extent, because he’s progressed from when he went pro.
When Bryson turned pro, his swing model was one that I would not have called scientific in the least.
I wrote a blog post a few weeks back regarding my skepticism about Bryson DeChambeau’s purported ball speed numbers.
I’m now beginning to believe the hype, if you will, because if the following numbers from the trusted Foresight launch monitor are real, then he’s creating monster speed with his new, erm… physique.
Well, what a difference a couple of changes make!
I made a setup change and worked on transitioning to a better pivot action than what I’d been making last week and the visual difference was striking when I got home to peruse the video evidence.
I’m not going to spend a lot of time on these swings as I still have a change to make (hopefully just the one), at which time I’ll definitely want to discuss every aspect in full detail!
For now, here are slo mo gifs of the driver swing from the two angles I shot on Tuesday, down the line and face-on.
I have been looking at more video from yesterday and I was this close to nailing it.
There was one thing I missed on the back swing pivot – I didn’t go there to try to swing in pieces, I went there to just swing & see how much of the model I got right over the winter.
