Who Is He?

Currently playing on the Champions Tour, Jay Haas has had a solid if not spectacular 35 year career as a professional golfer, with 31 professional wins, as well as President's Cup and Ryder Cup team honours. Haas has been there, seen it and done most of it.

What He Does

As with most golfers who have been on the golfing scene for a long time, Jay's swing has altered throughout his career. But one feature move has always been in his technique.

From a slightly arched posture and set up position, Jay has an aggressive lifting action during his backswing. The head of the golf club moves away from the golf ball outside of the line, his right hand hinges early and lifts the golf club in a steep backswing position, which results in a bent left elbow and a narrow and collapsed position at the top of his swing.

For most golfers, this would cause them a number of issues in their downswing. Jay, however, does then work very hard to drop the golf club back on a flatter downswing position which does result in the club swinging for the majority of it's downswing path, nicely towards the ball on plane. He holds a nicely balanced follow through position, and more often than not, watches the ball fly straight down the middle.

What Can You Learn?

Jay Haas is the epitome of the idea that the golf ball does not know what you look like or how you are swinging. All the ball knows about is where the club head is through the point of impact and how fast is it travelling. If your downswing is on path it may hide a multitude of sins that went before.

What Should You Avoid?

A deterioration in Jay Haas' posture leads to a number of mistakes in his backswing. Age will take it's toll on all golfers but you should try to maintain the best possible posture you can for as long as possible, throughout your golfing career.

You should also avoid any element of trying to lift the golf club up during your backswing. Turning your shoulders is the correct way to bring the club away from the golf ball. Position yourself in front of a mirror facing down your target line and notice that when you rotate your shoulders back, the club head should sit directly on line with your hands so the shaft disappears. This should tell you that you are swinging back in the correct path and make all remaining movements in your golf swing much easier to complete.