What makes G-MAC tick? - Graeme McDowell Swing Sequence
From the moment he arrived at
Pebble Beach, Graeme was
totally relaxed with his swing
and he loved the golf course.
He was ripping it in practice –
he played with Rory McIlroy and
I didn't see him miss a shot. A
lot of players go through the
motions in practice, but
Graeme is one of the best
practice round players out there
– he and his caddie Ken
Combie really put in the effort,
they dissect the challenge and
plot a game-plan.
Winning
majors is all to do with eliminating
errors, and they stuck to
their task. At the end of the
week G-Mac proved to all of us – himself included – that he had
the head and the heart to withstand
the heat of a major. Let's
take a look at the swing that
won the US Open. By Pete Cowan
Graeme McDowell tuned up for the US Open at
Pebble Beach with a performance in the Wales
Open at Celtic Manor that he described as the
‘best of his life'. Rounds of 63 & 64 on the weekend,
over a demanding 7,300-odd yard layout
represented phenomenal golf – and it was a significant
endorsement of all we have been working
on for some time. As his coach, I am especially
satisfied that the hard work we have been investing
in the short game is finally paying dividends in
the full swing – make no mistake, the better your
understanding of impact, spin, compression and
flight control around the green, the better the
golfer you will become from tee to green.
Looking at this sequence the first point to
make in the set up is that Graeme appears nicely
relaxed over the ball and the arms are comfortably
placed to create a good ‘sweep angle' (i.e.
the angle between the clubshaft and the arms). I
wouldn't suggest this is a perfect posture, as I'd
like to see him holding his mid section a little
more – that's an area in which he can get
stronger. But it's pretty good.
Graeme likes to keep the clubhead outside his
hands as he makes his first move – that's one of
his key thoughts and one that prevents the swing
getting too far inside. In the sequence generally
you get a good sense of the way Graeme works
around his centre, and (looking at frame 3) this
gives him the feeling that he can make his arms
work up on plane as the wrists hinge. This helps
him ‘load' the left shoulder, which you can see is already in a strong rotated position as the left arm
reaches parallel with the ground.
One thing I would like to see a little more of is
flex in the right knee and thigh through the half to
three-quarter back positions. This flex gives a
player ‘control of the ground', as I like to term it.
Lose the flex and you lose pressure (control). This
is something I emphasise to all my players. The
downward pressure you feel through your feet
and lower body is what enables you to interact
with the ground and use it as a power source –
the key is that you keep the ground.
At the top we can identify a good right arm
position which keeps the right shoulder nice and
stable. And I like the 90-degree angle that is created
between the arms. I like to see that as a
constant. I also like it when the right shoulder sits
‘down' – i.e. it doesn't get behind the player. A lot
of golfers lose control of the right shoulder at the
top, which can lead to the club getting behind
them. Graeme doesn't do that.
A lot of people pass comment on Graeme's
‘bowed' left wrist at the top, but this is a constant
in his swing. Since he was a boy, Graeme has
built his body action around this particular characteristic.
It's natural and I see it as a positive
rather than a negative.
If you want proof, just look at the delivery position:
he has worked out how to get the clubhead
square as he approaches impact, and that's the
secret to playing good golf. Through the ball, his
transfer of energy is fantastic. I don't think there is
any doubt he has ‘got the ground' as he shifts
into the downswing with a very powerful ‘squat'
motion and then displays fantastic stretch rotation
of the torso as he unwinds through the ball.
You can almost feel the force of the leverage as
he rotates a firm left side and applies the pressure
on the ball with the right side of his body.
It is the quality of this body rotation that stabilises
impact for consistency – there is no ‘flip' of
the club. And this is a valuable lesson to take
from this sequence: if you focus on turning the
inside (i.e. your body – the hub of the wheel) its
impossible for the outside (i.e. your arms, hand
and the club – the spokes and rim) to overtake.
The faster and more efficiently you rotate the
inside, the further and straighter you hit the ball.
In a balanced set-up,
relaxed arms/hands
create this desirable
‘sweep angle'
To keep the
clubhead
outside the
hands is
one of of
G-Mac's key
swing thoughts
Left shoulder
‘loads' while the
wrists work the
club up on plane
The bowed
left wrist is a
characteristic
of G-Mac's
technique; he
has built his
body action
around it
And the quality of
that body action
explains the consistency
of G-Mac's
delivery position –
on plane, on target
Rotation and leverage
– the secret to
generating speed
and power
Free-wheeling to
a finish, the shaft
exits through the
left shoulder –
again, on plane
Totally
balanced,
the arms
fold over to
a finish –
the consequence
of
what has
gone
on before
Hands passive as
the shoulders and
the arms create the
early momentum
Graeme works
the club
‘around his
centre' – this
is a swing
controlled by
rotation of
the body
Here you
appreciate the
value of ‘keeping
the ground' –
i.e. feeling the
pressure through
the feet and
using the ground
to ‘squat' into a
strong hitting
position
Quality of the body
rotation stabilises
impact as right side
applies the pressure
Reproduced with kind permission of Golf International Magazine
