It’s probably not a coincidence that Jack Nicklaus was the greatest major champion of the PGA Tour’s history.
I say that because his swing model, out of all the greatest champions, was the most vertical – in fact, it was always pointed out how vertical it was, flying elbow and all.
That, in my opinion, was always his greatest strength and not a potential flaw, and I’ll explain.
For all of the analysis that has gone into Jack Nicklaus’ golf swing – that is, before the Modern Golf Swing madness took over the instruction world and all of the swings from Bobby Jones’ to Nicklaus’ disappeared forever from The Golf Channel – the engine driving his power was not properly looked into.
You hear about his power fade and how Nicklaus had the “flying elbow,” but what about his actual pivot action?
I played softball/baseball for years growing up, and while it helped me to be able to make very powerful swings in that sport (along with having swung axes and sledgehammers growing up the son of a carpenter-then-construction contractor), there is an element in the baseball swing that can really inhibit good golf swinging.
That element is the non-requirement to swing the bat behind you before swinging at a ball.
As I’ve been fond of saying, the target at which you’re swinging is not the actual target of your swing action.
The target of the swing action is the swing bottom, whether you’re swinging a driver or a lob wedge.
Having struggled for years with an over the top down swing, I’d like to share some trouble-shooting tips for those who are still having issues with it even though they have been following MCS Classic Golf Swing principles (or think they are).
That part in brackets is not a dismissal or put-down of one’s efforts – I myself, even though I built the MCS Classic Golf Swing model and have improved many others’ swings doing so, have struggled with thinking I was adhering to MCS principles when I wasn’t.
It looks crazy at first with all of the bouncing and shifting around before the back swing pivot, but if you look closely at the reigning World Long Drive Champion Martin Borgmeier’s swing action, it’s pretty solid.
You can see the swing I’m featuring below on YouTube and I’ll break down what I like about it, as well as the “flying foot” compensation that has taken over the entire golf world from junior tours to long drive: Continue reading
By impediments, I mean that there should be no part of a golf swing where one’s setup or mechanical action impedes the freedom of the swing itself.
In modern golf, you have the planting of the leading foot on the back pivot, which leads to every other problem you’ll find in modern swinging due to that massive flaw in the mechanics.
This article from GolfDigestOnline is all over the place – I don’t know what stands out more to me having read it – that a professional tour would call a 286 yard hole a “par 4,” that people would freak out that, you know, a pro golfer would hit the green with an iron, or that they call it a “specially-made iron” but don’t give any loft information for the iron.
You’ll remember my looking at a particular Jack Nicklaus setup from back in the 60’s and how I declared it nearly optimal, except for the extra wide stance?
Well, don’t look now, but the more you compare certain things in setups of great swingers, the more you see how you should be doing it yourself.
If you need any proof that the Classic Golf Swing hip action provides enough power for even the modern game and equipment, look no further than Ian Woosnam and Patty Sheehan for the evidence.
I just wrote a post on Patty Sheehan’s great MCS-like swing action, but don’t forget the “Wee Welshman” Ian Woosnam, who was one of the longest drivers in the game in his day and who, standing just 5’4.5″ or 164 cm tall, was pound for pound the most powerful driver, period.
WAX Golf 