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.
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.
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.
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.
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 