If you want to see what a pretty good but potentially harmful swing is in the modern style, I would recommend checking one Charl Schwartzel of South Africa.
In this month’s Golf Digest Online edition, the swing that won the 2011 Masters is featured, and although I hate the modern swing, it’s truly a magnificent swing – except for impact and the finish.
Here are a few of the photos from the feature in a little sequence I compiled:
1. Address Position – The differences are that the stance is wider (due to the planted-heel method of swinging), the feet are nearly square to the target line, the spine is nearly vertical rather than tilted more to his right, and of course there’s the slight squatting rather than bend more from the hips. But the grip, ball position are similar to the Austin/MCS style, however.
2. At the Top – A great looking back swing, but most average people couldn’t do this. With his leading heel still firmly planted, Charl still has a very full turn with the shoulders. But let’s face it, this guy and many guys at the elite golf level are extremely supple, and can get to this position. The majority of us, no way, and there’s the risk of straining injury to the leading knee, hip, lower back, left shoulder – this may look impressive, but most of us just can’t get there, and even if we did, we’d be asking for some injury over the long haul.
And although Charl can do it now, who’s to say he won’t develop neck and/or back/knee problems as he gets older? This is what happens to so many modern players. This is a rubber-band stretch back swing, not a full body pivot around the spine, and I don’t and won’t ever advocate this type of action.
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3 & 4 – Impact – Charl’s hips are turned virtually completely to the target at impact. I’ve talked about this before, how the turn rather than tilt of the hips leads the swinger almost nowhere to go, causing compression of the spine and stress on the leading knee – look at the nearly straight left leg – you really don’t eve want to have this at any point of an athletic motion. The knee is not designed to lock or hyper-extend in this manner – ask Tiger Woods.
5 & 6 – The Finish – Again, you see the locked left knee and the completely unnatural position of the left leg in conjunction with the hip joint due to the squared left foot. If you just stare at Charl’s left foot and leg in the 6th frame, I would bet that the longer you look at it, the more it looks like Charl has dislocated his left hip joint. Again, a supple person can get away with this, for a while, but in the end, Charl is headed toward potentially serious issues with that left leg. We get brittle as we age, and that hip joint is just not supposed to take this kind of twisting force.
In the video clip below, you’ll see the jamming effect of Charl’s full hip turn coming into impact, and the torque it puts on his lower back as he fights to finish the swing through that squared left foot position.
Charl Schwartzel – Driver Swing
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So, the reason I don’t advocate the modern swing is because of all the twisting and torquing force it puts on the body, from the ankle to the neck, and even though some people like Charl are athletic enough to do it while they’re young, this swing eventually causes so much harm to most golfers that it just isn’t the way to go.
It put pressure on back and knee.
Its a good swing but also require timing and daily practice to keep that.
Its a swing that has little to no power due to the lack of pivoting and the body weight shift that is only partial. I know that due to showing a pro that lifting the heel and short stop added 40yards to his 4i.
A pro golfer is concerned with accuracy, the distance they have are often enough for todays courses even from back tee. To control the ball on iron shots is the nr1 concern and to keep the ball on fairway from tee. To battle this, swing gurus have thought the best way to make the golfer accurate is to make big muscles to do the work, and focus it on technique. This has forced the industry to establish common guidelines and no golf trainer will challenge that unless they want to be out of the PGA circle. Mike Austin did that however still pro golfers did work with him not the industry.
I would assume to solve this DJ is to do this,
make a few with ambition for pro tour and coach them into the swing of MCS, then work their game into such they are able to make the pro circuit and later on become PGA tour players.
Lot of work, but before you can show the advantage and gain acceptance such approach is likely to happen.
I aim to make the national local pro tour here, that is the Nordea tour, under the challenge tour and european tour here, I need to lower handicapp to 3, (8 current index) and be able to have a game that allows me to do so. I got the game for it but havent had the swing for it. Now this winter I now also got the swing for it.
If I am able to go to 3, qualify this autumn, make the pro tour this year that would be some indicator of the swing system. I played for soon 24 years and always been short but accurate from tee. I lacked consistency but since the swing is solved, this should mean for me that I would be able to be accurate and long this summer and support my gameplay.
If I am able to do so at age 48 and current index, it be unprecendented. One can dream
Robert I give you all my best!
I have kind of been there, tried to get through Q school few years ago, after a couple months practice.
Now all my focus is on my little ‘uns’ so hardly played golf last 3 years.
I’m a very natural sportsman having played and taught golf professionaly along with being a footballer, table tennis player, tennis, badminton, cricket….etc, etc….I love sport! Give me a ball and stick, or bat and I’m good…happy!
Talking golf, my first game on 18 holes with a member, I shot 78. My first hdp was 4. Never had a lesson, never read a book. I used really old irons (1920s), still do, and just half-a-set.
Golf is the greatest game to me purely because it resembles life so much, has every emotion and you really have to have a great mind to do well.
From my experience once you get down to single figures it really is all about the short-game. Up n’ ins…up n’ downs! Being deadly from 100 yds in, touch of a safe-cracker…. a demon putter! If you have some of this along with a strong mind you are well on your way.
I always believe over a great mind to a great swing…… there is no such thing. If you can hit 29, 69, 99 bad shots in a row and still believe your next one will be a peach…you’ve
cracked it!
The technical stuff can be overcome, but having a strong, beautiful mind is a different kettle o’ fish!……………………. ‘now’t as queer as folk’!
indybah, sounds like you are some type of Babe Didrickson Zaharias who could just go out there and grip it and rip it but for the rest of us pudding physiques here like myself, mcs technology has made us champions. Sure still lots of heady stuff about getting it in the hole but with mcs, there is such a wider window of opportunity for the less athletic to compete.and can tee it up with the big boys. And the big boys, every time they swing, they narrow their window with deterioration of their body due to harmful effects of their swing.
The best swing coming from South Africa these days is not Charl’s but Louis Oosthuizen’s. Even DJ had to look hard to find fault. Flair the front foot. Let the back foot release in the follow through. Other than that what’s not to like.He does have a lot of weight on the back foot at address but I guess my question is what’s wrong with that? You don’t hit it on your back swing. Just wondering. Great site by the way.
I do love Oosthuizen’s swing over Charl’s, Karl, I just wish he’d get out of his own head, as he seems to have been a little lost since his Open Championship win in ’10.
And thanks for your compliment on the site, the opinions of those who find a cyber “home” here means a great deal to me!
“A great looking back swing, but most average people couldn’t do this. With his leading heel still firmly planted, Charl still has a very full turn with the shoulders.”
And too, even without injury, just the fact that the body loses suppleness as it gets older, many touring pros lose the edge just because they can no longer replicate this type of swing. Not so with mcs. Still though, don;t discount the injury which is epidemic in professional golf.
we will see less and less tour pro´s being competitive after 40.
Or if they are competitive such as Davis Love or Fred Couples, feeling the pain.
It is no wonder why, today, Dustin Johnson withdrew from the Humana Challenge because of lower back issues. Not to mention the recent knee surgery he just had. If you go back to Dustin’s swing on this web site, you will see that his lack of a proper pivot has produced these issues (no shortstop slide, no lifting of the left heel going back). Too bad.
Is that right, BT? I haven’t been following the golf this week, but I can’t say I’m surprised. I saw a brief bit on Dustin in this week’s Golf Central and his driver swing down the line in slo-mo, and while he can really put some heat on the ball, it’s just painful to watch the lower back compression as he comes through impact and his hip torque on the follow-through and finish.
The modern swing destroys the body, and the more athletic you are, the more damage it causes because of the higher swing speed, greater power and increased torque.
Dustin Johnson is in the prime of his youth, as is Rory McIlroy, and for those two to have back problems at their age would have been unheard of 30-40 years ago and before… now, it’s routine.
It really is a shame.
I don’t think there’s any doubt that the modern swing is hard on the body but we shouldn’t forget that these guys are athletes who have been pounding balls since the were kids. Week after week, year after year. There is a price to pay to be 25 and a millionaire. A life time of carpentry has made my elbow very angry at me and not a millionaire. A better question might be: after all the practice, the swing coaches, the vast improvements in technology and agronomy, why aren’t they better at it? And don’t forget the nutritionists, the personal trainers, the psyche guys. Make no mistake, these guys are tremendous talents but the stroke average always hovers at about 69 and the amateur man’s handicap hovers at 18. Has the game and the swing not evolved or is just too damned hard? A 64 year old man using old equipment drove it 515 yards. There must be a lot more to learn. Is it spring yet?
G’day Karl!
Maybe a better question would be why are’t we all better human beings?
Stroking the ball longer and more accurately is great, along with no injury issues but golf is much, much more than this. A swing will not make you a better player. Golf as in life is all about overcoming adversity. Shows you how good you are, what you are made of. It’s easy playing in a friendly 4-ball and playing well, but when the chips are down, and the devils biting your arse, that’s when golf starts and sorts the men out from the boys. This is when you play with your true feelings, your heart, your soul.
The reason why is several the big one is the players lack consistency.
The golf course they play on is long and the flag is tucked away.
On an easy course, they shoot 60 or better. These guys are good.
However, coaching a pro golfer its evident the golfer is technique oriented, not target/game oriented. I meet other pro golfers that simply cant produce the experience needed to win and play good golf for 4 days in a row.
If they are able to do it one day or even 2 days is often a strech.
Stats wise, a pro golfer make 50-70% fairways, they make 70% greens.
Older players had better stats. One was the technhology made better approach shots easier, slower greens and such.
So it is though to say due to conditions change the game, but obviously today the technique change of planted right foot, and planted left foot, and the twist and turn of the back is one reason due to I seen 150 players that play under challenge tour, more than 50% of them had back issues… They work so hard on their game, physical stats but the stress on their body is so big due to those guys practice technique, not play the game.
I never had a consistent solid swing, now I do.
Last year I shot 74 twice and the rest was a disaster.
This year, I be shooting 65 or better at my home course at 8 index.
The difference is having a swing that tells me where the ball goes every time which is the foundation I lacked. I can now go for the ball even at this stage and my misses are still in play, last year my hook couldnt let me play at all.
Having a mechanically correct swing allows a much more solid foundation to play the game due to once the distance is there, its all about accuracy and consistency and making putts. Boo Weekley is last in putting, he had to qualify to the PGA tour, he won twice in a row so if your not making putts, your gone.( a few reasons)
Out of interest guys, what shafts are people playing with in their irons? I’m using dg s300s and I feel these maybe a little too soft, I’m toying with the idea of trying some dg x100s.
Does anyone have any experience of the stiffer shafts with the mcs swing?
I use cheap regular shaft on my irons.
Never did a custom fit.
I do however us torque on driver 3.0 and likely get a new shaft for spoon at 2.8 ltr this spring.
I have stiff flexes in my irons, Seb. Always have, though, even long before developed the MCS.
Seb,
We all have different swing speeds and tempo.
Always use the most flexible shaft you can handle.
Back on topic, Jack Nicklaus and golfers of that era and before were able to hit it long and without injury because of the correct motion, which most of them learned by trial and error, look at Snead, he was purely self taught, incredibly flexible yet had a fantastic motion and hit the ball a long way.
Too much reliance on other people is what has brought about the demise of the mechanically correct swing, you can’t see the wood for the trees, concentrate on the ball flight and what your body does to get it that way and pick up the mcs 2 video and you are good to go!
Check out the interview with Snead and Jim McLean. Jim was so wooden emotionally and also trying to get Sam to describe certain positions and when to move here and how to do that. I had a feeling that Sam just wanted to say, “I moved my body and the damn ball flew where I wanted it!”
I dont focus on technique anyone who does will have a bad swing.
One fun thing, look at DJ and his tempo from 4 years ago, you see the same tempo.
His technique have altered but the tempo remained the same.
I work the tempo as the main organizer for my swing, its my first thing I focus on and the last thing and any swing change or tweak is made from that tempo. Took me 50 balls to get comfy with the alteration of the backswing yesterday due to focus on tempo and make small adjustment with every shot, but each shot is calibrated to, taken the feedback adjusted hit one more. Until the desired change is there happening. Took me 75 balls or so to get there.
Yeah I saw that one, McLean wasn’t the best person to interview him I think.
Excellent Seb!
Don’t think….feel!
I first happened upon Mike Austin’s theories and DJ’s site after the end of the season here in Toronto and so I have not been able to put it into practice. Come on spring. I am convinced that this is the correct way to swing the club. The one thing I’m having trouble understanding is the counter-rotation of the forearms. Austin teaches it but only after his stroke when he no longer played. Early videos of him do not show it. I’ve been looking closely at DJ’s swing and I’m not sure its there. What am I missing?
You’re not missing anything, Karl. I have looked intensively into this whole subject, and I no longer believe that there is any such thing as “counter-rotation” of the forearms. You wouldn’t perform any such thing in any other swinging motion, so I fail so see the necessity for it in a mechanically-correct swing.
Also, I would not rely overly-much on anything Austin advocated after his stroke, simply because all of his accomplishments for which he is known were long before his stroke. Even his legendary drive was a full 15 years before his stroke. So, I personally would put much more credence in what he was doing in his prime than in any theory he developed without ever being able to put it to the test himself.
By the way, I don’t live very far from you – I’m in Durham Region. I know of a couple of other DJ Watts Golf commenters who live in the area – would a clinic or seminar sometime in the spring or summer be something that would interest you?
Doh! To come to your clinic would be too expensive for me to fly over
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Its a slight shift in the forearm due to the hands/arms and wrist will end up in the same position in the backswing no matter if you do either one of them. Modern swing/Mike Austin
I suspect a few reasons why the confusion happens,
the modern swing you hit from behind, means you run out of space a lot and block it out, due to turning the hip and rotating and then you need to rotate the forarms to fix it when you misstime it. (wheelbarrow action)
If one does a MA/MCS action the forearms and wrists will either way if you trow from the top end up doing the same thing. There be no difference due to a full release happens.
When you dont trow from the top, meaningly flip, due to tension then you likely to rotate/flip to get into the right position at impact.
I suspect Mike Austin added this due to a lot of people simply was too tense and then they must rotate the arms to catch up.
If your wrists and loose and you trow from the top, then you will have a easy swing and
the timing and the full release will happen automatically.
A ton of people ask about creating LAG, and if you look at for example sergio garcia who has soft wrists, he drops down into the slot but that move requries good soft wrists and if people try to replicate that consiously and a lot of people try heh, and ends up more tense, shorter and to compensate turn thier hips even more. (merry go round)
When I do the more modern swing taught to me by the local pro, I use the same loose wrist release as I do using a MCS/MA swing, the main difference is, its so much easier for me to get the timing right now with pro impact due to the lateral movement instead of the wheelbarrow one.
Thanks to DJ and Robert helping in clearing up the counter-rotation issue. Its kind of what I suspected. All the other moves feel instinctively correct. That one was confusing and unnatural. And yes, DJ, I would be interested in a spring clinic. It would be the best way to accelerate the learning curve. Let me know if it happens.
I never had trouble with the counter rotation issue but I must say that my favorite part of the Austin swing is the throw release. Besides performing the correct compound pivot, I feel that the throw release is vital to reaching that next plateau of distance. It can easily add 20 to 30 yards to any shot.
As long as you get into the correct top position, you can throw as hard as you want and still feel in balance because you are not muscling the ball with the upper body. It’s just a
manipulation of the wrist and elbow. With my old swing, whenever I tried to add that extra umph, it would always feel like I was swinging out of my shoes and ending up out of balance. With the MCS swing, I can now swing as hard as I want utilizing the throw release and finish in perfect balance. The short stop slide is the only thing that changes because my right foot slides faster to match the increased speed to the club head.
Power and accuracy without looking like I’m taking a crazy swipe at the ball…wow.
I have to start squeezing more stress balls
. The more wrist strength you have, the faster the club can accelerate.
Hit that carpet release. (trow)