Spain’s latest superstar provides a model to all young players of how to
manage exceptional power with balance and athleticism. He also happens
to be one of the game’s finest ambassadors
Thanks to the wonders of modern technology I sat
down with Alvaro Quiros during the rain delay during
the WGC at Doral and showed him the driver sequence
you are about to enjoy on my laptop. Overall
he was pretty happy with the look of his swing,
and particularly the poise and balance displayed
throughout which, as he was quick to acknowledge,
is what enables players of his calibre to recover and
hit good shots even when the swing is not technically
100% where they want it.
Quiros works with Jose Rivero, the former Spanish
Ryder Cup player who himself was known for the silky
rhythm and tempo with which he swung the club. I see
this quality in Alvaro’s incredibly powerful swing; from
start to finish he exhibits exceptional athletic balance,
which is the first thing I would hope all the young and
ambitious golfers out there would seek to copy.
Looking at the sequence face on, particularly, the
early moves in this swing certainly reveal the benefit
of being supple and athletic as Quiros
winds his upper body over the stability
and resistance of the hips and
legs; he is notably limited with his hip rotation, while
the shoulders move through a full 90 degrees and
the arms arrive at a compact, almost three-quarter
position. He then explodes through the ball, maximising
his speed with long levers that give him
such tremendous clubhead speed.
You cannot become a long hitter copying all that
Quiros does, but you can certainly be the longest
YOU CAN BE if you pick up on four key positions
that I have highlighted here and through the copy.
Ok, now let’s go and enjoy the sequences in full.
Power
Posıtıon #1
Studying a sequence face
on always reveals the way in
which a good player coils his
upper body over the resistance
of the hips and legs,
and Quiros does this beautifully.
I have identified frame 5
in the face-on sequence as
one you should give special
attention to, as it not only
screams ‘coil!’, but also exceptional
width in the arms.
Power
Posıtıon #2
Frame 6 down the line, this
impact position shows how
the arms fully release with
no flicking of the wrists. This
is the result of fantastic armspeed
that originates in the
coil and recoil of the upper
body.
Power
Posıtıon #3
Moving to frame 9 in the
face on sequence, this release
of the arms towards
the target as he continues to
rotate his body left is
fantastic to copy – note the
gloved left hand clearly
visible beneath the right.
This is a position you should
actively try to replicate, and
one that will help you to
enjoy a fuller release
Power
Posıtıon #4
The follow through is always
tell-tale sign of
whether or not a player
has managed to keep it
all together and in control
to the end. There are a lot
of golfers who pose this
position as if it’s an afterthought,
but in Alvaro’s
case it looks to be the
perfect conclusion and is
one that results from the
momentum of what is a
very good golf swing.
Width + coil
Shoulder rotation & fantastic width is
the secret to Alviro’s
immense power
As good as they are, one thing
these images cannot convey is
the tremendous arm speed Alvaro
generates during his swing –
to stand next to him and watch
him launch a tee shot really is
quite an experience.
Of course, that arm speed has
to be matched with the body motion,
and that requires not only
strength but balance in the
swing. When he gets it spot on
his power is unbelievable. But it
is this facet of the swing that he
has to keep a close eye on, because
when things go off...
Interestingly, as he was looking
at these images Alvaro explained
to me that as a kid he learned to
play with clubs that were a little
too long and heavy for him, which
may explain why his swing is
dominated by the strength of the
arms. As a youngster he had to
physically work harder with his
arms to move the club around his
body, which explains some of the
positions you see here and overleaf.
(Sandy Lyle is another immensely
powerful player who
learned the game with clubs that
were a little too long and heavy
for him – and he is another example
of the way the arms sort of do
their own thing at
times.) Of
course, had Alvaro
been introduced
to the game with clubs
suited to his frame he may
have enjoyed a better balance of
arms and body...and we may
never have heard of him!.
To gel the arm and body motion
Jose Rivero has clearly drilled into
Alvaro the importance of ‘athletic
balance’ from start to finish. That is
perhaps the greatest lesson for all
young players here. He is limited in
his hip rotation to the top of a compact
backswing, and then explodes
his arms and his body
down, across and around.
With every power hitter you
are going to see incredible leverage
in the swing, and you certainly
appreciate that here. What
is harder to detect is what I term
the ‘twitch muscle’ speed that is
generated in the way the upper
arms work with the shoulders.
That’s just pure athleticism. You
can look at as many images as
you like, you will never get it if
you haven’t got it. All you can do
is make the best of what you
have as a golfer – and there is
plenty here to get working on.
The thing Alvaro particularly
likes in his set up is
that he’s neither too much
on his heals or his toes –
he is balanced on the balls
of the feet. I like the fact his
head is nicely ‘up’, too; any
tendency to drop the chin
restricts the movement of
the upper body
Alvaro was slightly concerned
that he gets the
club working ‘up’ a little too
steeply in the early frames
of the backswing (which
you can see in pics 2 & 3).
The clubhead is fractionally
too far outside the hands
and the shaft plane just a little
too vertical at this point
(the margins these players
work on!)
Had he started the club away on a
slightly shallower plane he would
expect to see the shaft plane here
point more towards the ball (yellow
line); as it is the shaft is inclined
fractionally too steeply
Great coil here as the hips
stabilise the lower body action
and the shoulders rotate
through a full 90 degrees.
Alvaro was happy with this
backswing; as a coach I like
the way the left arm matches
the plane of the shoulders
Notable shallowing of the shaft
plane as he makes his move into
the downswing – and you can see
what he means when he says the
club is now a little too far ‘behind’
him. This is the penalty for frame
3, a reaction to being a little too
steep going back; but he saves it
with a great turn through the ball –
and look at how well he explodes
his body and his right arm
Body action working beautifully
to accelerate the arms through
the impact area – and no ‘flick’
at all with the hands. Fantastic
speed all the way through the
back of the ball
We have included this immediate
post impact
image to reveal the
tremendous release of the
arms – this is textbook
Club ‘exits’
through the tip of
the left shoulder,
which is exactly
where I like to see
it
Nothing fake
about this finish –
it’s all the result
of good fundamental
moves
and momentum
Standard address position
with the driver. He
gets the shaft at right
angles to the ground.
He doesn’t want to
push the club too far
forwrd at address like
an iron swingl he wants
to sweep it into the air.
Hands never ahead
with the driver
Clubhead
low to the
ground as he
‘glides’ it
away from
the ball
Tremendous stability
in the lower body –
just look at how he
is winding his body
over the stability of
the hips and legs
In tandem with that
powerful turn, here
we appreciate the incredible
width Alvaro
achieves with his left
arm – a naturally
strong move
This is as far as he
goes back – a powerful
position loaded
with energy, and yet
controlled and in
balance. Matches
perfectly frame 4
down the line
In Alvaro’s eyes the least
good position in the sequence
(which tells me he
knows precisely how his
swing works); he is a little
too narrow, and while the
arms provide great leverage
his body is too much
behind the ball at this
stage – he hasn’t moved
across to the left side. You
can sense it is the arms
that have initiated the downswing,
not the body. This is
Alvaro’s Achilles Heal with
the driver. He is narrow because
of a hesitant body
action; what he needs to do
is shift across and then
drop the arms as he rotates
to the target
Thanks to great timing,
he recovers from being
slightly out of balance in
frame 7 to make a great
impact position (his
words, not mine!). From
here, frames 8, 9 and 10
reveal how well he then
uses his balance to
save the shot
A fantastic power position –
and Alvaro favourite image
in the sequence. The arms
are fully extended with the
gloved left hand vicible beneath
the right – the secret
to a release that enables
him to ‘punch’ the ball hard
Any coach would be delighted
to see a player in
this position at the finish –
the arms and the body are
now unified and Alvaro has
maintained a wide arm
swing without any flicking of
the hands through impact
Reproduced with kind permission of Golf International Magazine
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