Thanks to the Chief for sending me the news that a young golfer named Mason Howell has qualified for the U.S. Open at the tender age of 17.
That’s heady stuff, but it’s unfortunately the good news.
The bad news is that Chief included a video montage of the young man’s golf swing, and I don’t know what else to call it except a five-alarm fire with regards to injury risk.
I posted about Nataliya Guseva a month ago, with the admonition that “perfect” swings don’t ruin one’s body.
The clip was only 2-3 weeks old, but just a month after my initial post, I saw a clip of her swing posted just a day ago, which makes it little more than around 6 or 7 weeks apart – and it’s not looking good.
This swing clip that I saw online and of which I’ve made a gif. is the sweetest swing I’ve ever seen from Ben Hogan, in terms of visual quality and that really brings forth the magic of his pivot action.
For those who think Hogan looked a little thick around the waist and upper legs, you are likely unaware of his physical struggles.
One may have been wondering, why did I say that Jack Nicklaus was the closest to optimal when it comes to the golf swing, but I’m constantly talking about Ben Hogan?
That’s because of the nature of swinging – Nicklaus was far more powerful in his swing, but Hogan was much more accurate and consistent because of the pivot action in his swing.
All of this Ben Hogan talk has reminded me of something amusing that happened to me a few years back.
The funny thing is – I have never pretended or tried to swing like Ben Hogan except for in the video “The Ben Hogan Project” in 2014 in which I did wear a driving cap like Hogan for the mood.
In that video, if I recall, I didn’t even really try to swing exactly like Hogan, I just pointed out his pivot action, later known as the “Perfect Pivot” in my subsequent videos, and to debunk all of the nonsense about his swing that so irritated me after I’d taken a hard look at his mechanics.
Well, well, well – it’s Sunday morning in this corner of the world, and I used to love reading the comic inserts in the weekend papers (one had them on Saturdays, another paper on Sundays), so why don’t we have a little laugh here today?
I should have stuck to my gut instinct that Sean Foley, who was Tiger Woods’ swing coach between Butch Harmon and Chris Como, was the one responsible for bringing us the “Squat & Dump” move.
There is so much wrong with this article that I ran across whilst idly scrolling the news on my phone after I’d woken up this morning.
At first, I thought I must be still asleep, so I bookmarked it until I’d had the benefit of a cup of coffee and another hour with my eyes open, but sadly, I had read what I read correctly.
I’m not talking about average drives here, but Jack Nicklaus has made a solid case that he’d likely have been able to drive the ball close to 400 yards with today’s equipment.
It’s not just the clubs that would make the difference, but the balls they use in the Modern Golf era.
I began to play golf in the mid-90’s, so I remember when ball technology really took off.
Before I get into this, a couple of points.
I am finding Modern Golf ever more laughable and, to keep my sanity, I have noticed that I am becoming a little, shall we say, “light-hearted” in my writing style.
It helps me cope with the trauma of what I see day in day out, so bear with me, if you will.
Update: Since posting this, I have uncovered evidence that takes the Tiger Squat back to his Sean Foley days, and it has just gotten worse and worse over time. /update
I have been wracking my brain for the past few days, trying to think of where the Squat & Dump move came from.
I have seen the Tiger Woods Tai-Chi routine, of course, but it wasn’t until I went looking for some old Tiger Woods swings that I found it – and yes, you can lay the blame on this horrific move on him and his coach at the time.
WAX Golf 