Golf Pro Graeme McDowell: From Laid-Off to Spot On (Video) - by Pete Styles
Golf Pro Graeme McDowell: From Laid-Off to Spot On (Video) - by Pete Styles

Now, golf is a great sport. We'll always have those golfers whose swings are clearly recognizable from the other side of the golf course. You know, I don't think anybody would struggle to recognize Jim Furyk when he was on the practice ground with the elements in his movements and his swing.

More recently, modern professionals have mostly orthodox clinical swings. A lot of players find golf coaches from very young ages and those golf coaches, we try and sort of get the more orthodox movements and swing the more efficient movements in the swing.

But somebody like Graeme McDowell grew up without really having too many lessons. He worked on what worked for him to get around the golf course. So, playing that in Northern Island, a very windy golf course, his links golf courses, he just worked on keeping his ball flight under control and scoring. And he certainly got the attributes of a good play, one that made the championship, brilliant in the Ryder cup, scores around the golf course very, very well. But not necessarily much clinical and technically perfect golf swing.

So, we see with G. Mc when he sets up to the golf ball, he tends to take the golf club quite along on the inside, the left arm gets quite deep and behind him. He then reroutes the club a little bit and as it is, it's laid off at the top. So, laid off is a term that suggests where the club would point right of -- I'm sorry, left of target from where that camera is pointing. So, down the target line is where we'd like to see the golf club most of the time. G. Mc has the golf club laid off in this position. But then from there, that's his key move is how he then drops the golf club onto a perfect plain.

So, we often say with people like Jim Furyk as well, it doesn't matter what happens going back, Jim Furyk has this big loop, G. Mc, the opposite way, a little bit inside then lays it off. But then here, down to the golf ball perfectly on plain. And as long as you can get the perfectly on plain position through the golf ball, that's the most important part. That's the bit that hits the ball. The ball doesn't necessarily know what happens beforehand.

Now, the ball is not drawing the pitch of what happened in your swing. All the ball cares about is where this club is coming from, how it's struck and how fast it's travelling. So, the fact that G. Mc golf swing isn't perfectly on plain right until the last minute, doesn't really matter to him as long as he can control that section through the impact area, that's really going to work for him.

So, even if you have a little tweak or twirl in your swing that you're told doesn't look great on camera, as long as you're good through the impact area, don't let the other bits before it put you off. Get that impact position right and that will help you improve just like G. Mc.

[playerProfile url="https://golf-info-guide.com/pga-players/graeme-mcdowell/"][/playerProfile]
2012-09-17

Now, golf is a great sport. We'll always have those golfers whose swings are clearly recognizable from the other side of the golf course. You know, I don't think anybody would struggle to recognize Jim Furyk when he was on the practice ground with the elements in his movements and his swing.

More recently, modern professionals have mostly orthodox clinical swings. A lot of players find golf coaches from very young ages and those golf coaches, we try and sort of get the more orthodox movements and swing the more efficient movements in the swing.

But somebody like Graeme McDowell grew up without really having too many lessons. He worked on what worked for him to get around the golf course. So, playing that in Northern Island, a very windy golf course, his links golf courses, he just worked on keeping his ball flight under control and scoring. And he certainly got the attributes of a good play, one that made the championship, brilliant in the Ryder cup, scores around the golf course very, very well. But not necessarily much clinical and technically perfect golf swing.

So, we see with G. Mc when he sets up to the golf ball, he tends to take the golf club quite along on the inside, the left arm gets quite deep and behind him. He then reroutes the club a little bit and as it is, it's laid off at the top. So, laid off is a term that suggests where the club would point right of — I'm sorry, left of target from where that camera is pointing. So, down the target line is where we'd like to see the golf club most of the time. G. Mc has the golf club laid off in this position. But then from there, that's his key move is how he then drops the golf club onto a perfect plain.

So, we often say with people like Jim Furyk as well, it doesn't matter what happens going back, Jim Furyk has this big loop, G. Mc, the opposite way, a little bit inside then lays it off. But then here, down to the golf ball perfectly on plain. And as long as you can get the perfectly on plain position through the golf ball, that's the most important part. That's the bit that hits the ball. The ball doesn't necessarily know what happens beforehand.

Now, the ball is not drawing the pitch of what happened in your swing. All the ball cares about is where this club is coming from, how it's struck and how fast it's travelling. So, the fact that G. Mc golf swing isn't perfectly on plain right until the last minute, doesn't really matter to him as long as he can control that section through the impact area, that's really going to work for him.

So, even if you have a little tweak or twirl in your swing that you're told doesn't look great on camera, as long as you're good through the impact area, don't let the other bits before it put you off. Get that impact position right and that will help you improve just like G. Mc.