If you want to know why Rory McIlroy is such a long driver of the ball but also a very woeful one accuracy-wise, then you only have to look at what he’s doing with his pivot.
Now, there is absolutely nothing wrong with his setup – I’ve commented on it before and how it supports my hypothesis on the address position – it’s when he gets moving that the issues begin.
I’ve already shown with a side by side comparison that my Driver swing back in 2017 was nearly identical to the swing action I used on the Momentus Heavy Driver, shown from a diagonal view.
Here, I have made a gif. of my swing with the Momentus shown down the line, and when you watch it in slow motion, you can really see how the hips and legs are powering the swing using leverage rather than sheer muscle force.
I have three separate iron/wedge shots below, the first being a PW, the second a 7 Iron and the third a 5 Iron.
See if you can spot the difference in how I set up for the shots, and how it changes the result in the ball striking aspect!
I can’t begin to count how many times I’ve written about a particular golf pro’s swing mechanics, expressed concern for a move or position that might be an injury risk… only to have said player come down with an injury not too long afterward.
This week’s winner of the DJ Watts Analysis Curse Sweepstakes seems to be one Rory McIlroy, who is still going to try to play this week despite having incurred a lower back injury earlier in the week.
Part of the problem that plagues golfers who feel they aren’t getting any power in their swinging comes from the failure to release freely on the down swing.
I’m sure a good portion of swingers who don’t release fully are simply inhibited because they fear the actual impact moment and so they try to “push” the club through the ball without releasing the club head.
I will swallow my distaste for any face-on views of my swing back in 2017 (the right hand grip is all wrong) to illustrate just how easy it is to hit one’s irons and wedges with a vertical swing mindset.
I have a Pitching Wedge in this particular swing in real speed and slo-mo, and all I’m doing is making a back pivot to the top and then swinging down and through to the finish with no mind of the ball whatsoever – it just gets in the way.
It amazes me how far away from the proper MCS setup I strayed in the years since producing and releasing the “E = MCS” swing video (which is no longer available because there were certain things about my swing at the time that I detest, so I’ll have to re-shoot it).
I talk about how the swing is vertical and not rotary, which if you wish to swing in this manner requires the proper setup shown down the line, and I actually nearly nailed it when I was making the video.
I might add as well that in addition to setup being crucial to a stable golf swing, you also require proper mechanics – which are impossible without the correct setup.
So it all flows from one thing, the setup.
When you get that right, then all you have to worry about is the actual swing motion, which is nothing more than a back pivot to prime your swing machine to swing down and through from the top.
I have been going over the changes to my stance as shown down the line (** more on this at the end of the post), and it has been a while since I looked at any of my archived video from the “E = MCS” video released in 2017.
While I would not consider the setup shown down the line as what I want to see today, I was still surprised by how close I was to it 6 years ago – not too bad at all.
Ben Hogan will be spinning in his grave, I’m sure, to hear about how Bryson DeChambeau shot a final round 58 in his LIV event at Greenbriar to win out, using a massive training-wheels driver to do so.
You all know my opinion by now, I’m sure, on the ridiculous aspect of professional golfers using equipment that is so forgiving due to the fact that there is no “pro equipment,” just the same giant and forgiving driver heads and low-spin balls that any amateur can buy in the stores.
WAX Golf 