Playing Golf With A Flying Right Elbow Like One Of The Greats (Video) - by Pete Styles
Playing Golf With A Flying Right Elbow Like One Of The Greats (Video) - by Pete Styles

I think if we were to ask most golfers around the world who is the best player that's ever lived, you'd only really ever get two answers. It's either going to be Tiger or its either going to be Jack. And the interesting thing about those two guys is their records go pretty much head-to-head. Yes, Jacks won more majors but Tiger's injury looks like it's pretty much curtailed his career and the choices he made in life. Maybe curtailed his career a little bit.

But in terms of where they were at the time they were so dominant, they were both very much at the top of their game. And interestingly, both very different in terms of the technique. I think we'd all agree that Tiger kind of changed the mold of the modern golf swing in terms of the way he swung and his physique and his mental strength as well. Whereas Jack was a very flamboyant play with his technique and it's not a technique that very many people had been out to copy. And not a technique that many coaches would actually teach but certainly for Jack Nicklaus, it really worked with his game. Now part of the main component in his technique that we would look at is the quirky bit. The individual bit was probably the position at the top of his back swing and particularly the areas that got into with his knees and his right elbow. He was a very leggy player which is a bit more of the swing of the day, really it was a little bit more leggy than we would teach in a modern golf swing. But he was also very with his right elbow, even called it the Nicklaus flying right elbow. So, Jack would make his golf swing back and his right elbow would come up quite a long way and it would sort of fly away and get quite high. More and more so when his bigger clubs, you know, his driver would be all the way around here and very high whereas a modern golf swing the right elbow will be a little tucked in, a little bit more dropped that was really wide and high at the top. And in one respect that probably generates a little bit more power for him with his physique and the way he played that swing. So, as a golfer, we could look at the world's greatest golfer one often say, "Well, shouldn’t I be copying what he does, there must be some merit in it?" It's an interesting argument, it's a discussion that we're going to have over the next few videos, but I think one of the things I'd like to see most club golfers do is understand where the current swing is. Understand what a current swing looks like before they start making radical changes towards something like Jack swing. So, be worthwhile, getting your swing on video and seeing what it looks like before you make these changes.
2016-04-21

I think if we were to ask most golfers around the world who is the best player that's ever lived, you'd only really ever get two answers. It's either going to be Tiger or its either going to be Jack. And the interesting thing about those two guys is their records go pretty much head-to-head. Yes, Jacks won more majors but Tiger's injury looks like it's pretty much curtailed his career and the choices he made in life. Maybe curtailed his career a little bit.

But in terms of where they were at the time they were so dominant, they were both very much at the top of their game. And interestingly, both very different in terms of the technique. I think we'd all agree that Tiger kind of changed the mold of the modern golf swing in terms of the way he swung and his physique and his mental strength as well. Whereas Jack was a very flamboyant play with his technique and it's not a technique that very many people had been out to copy. And not a technique that many coaches would actually teach but certainly for Jack Nicklaus, it really worked with his game.

Now part of the main component in his technique that we would look at is the quirky bit. The individual bit was probably the position at the top of his back swing and particularly the areas that got into with his knees and his right elbow. He was a very leggy player which is a bit more of the swing of the day, really it was a little bit more leggy than we would teach in a modern golf swing. But he was also very with his right elbow, even called it the Nicklaus flying right elbow.

So, Jack would make his golf swing back and his right elbow would come up quite a long way and it would sort of fly away and get quite high. More and more so when his bigger clubs, you know, his driver would be all the way around here and very high whereas a modern golf swing the right elbow will be a little tucked in, a little bit more dropped that was really wide and high at the top.

And in one respect that probably generates a little bit more power for him with his physique and the way he played that swing. So, as a golfer, we could look at the world's greatest golfer one often say, “Well, shouldn’t I be copying what he does, there must be some merit in it?” It's an interesting argument, it's a discussion that we're going to have over the next few videos, but I think one of the things I'd like to see most club golfers do is understand where the current swing is. Understand what a current swing looks like before they start making radical changes towards something like Jack swing.

So, be worthwhile, getting your swing on video and seeing what it looks like before you make these changes.