The more I watch Mike Dunaway’s swing, the more I think modern pro golfers would swing the way he did rather than the classic Mike Austin golf swing of old.
Why? Beats me, apparently modern golfers live in fear that if they let their leading heel separate on the back swing, they’ll fly off into the atmosphere – or something…
Well, if they won’t listen to reason, why not a “Mike Austin” swing that looks more like how they swing nowadays?
I’ll be posting later today on the missing power link between Mikes Dunaway and Austin. Bear in mind that I have the highest regard for Mr. Dunaway, who is recognized as one of the greatest and longest drivers ever.
This will be a technical analysis of the differences between the two great technicians and what I’ve discovered in the past few months.
Even I feel as if I’m “turning” through the golf swing with my hips on the down swing, even though I have captured more than enough photographic evidence to convince myself otherwise.
Watch Mike Austin or Mike Dunaway hitting balls down the line and you will see that there has been very little hip “turn” before impact. The main part of the hip turn occurs after impact, during the post-impact extension, follow-through and finish. What has happened to this point is mostly a lateral hip shift, and very little turn, to the target.
I often see people asking on Youtube and other forums who Mike Austin was, and why didn’t he win 20 majors if he had the “perfect swing?”
I won’t even get into that discussion, because it’s like asking, “Who is this guy who can run so fast (Usain Bolt, for example), and if so, why doesn’t he have all the rushing records in the NFL?”
One of the things I always noticed about Mike Dunaway’s swing was how flat his position looked at the top of the back swing.
It’s actually not flat at all, but the illusion is created because of the angle between his left arm and that of his shoulders. They’re nearly on the same line, but you’ll see that it’s hardly a flat angle, looking at the plane of his left arm.
Brandon posted a Youtube clip of Mike Dunaway yesterday that I hadn’t seen before (and I thought I’d seen everything Austin/Dunaway).
It shows a slightly different technique than the on the Peaceriver DVD.
Originally Posted on the Smash Golf Blog
Thanks to Jarre for linking to this definitive video clip of a very young Mike Dunaway (look at that persimmon driver, this could have been filmed twenty years ago or more). It solves for me the mystery once and for all – there is no such thing as a mechanically-correct “modern swing” (planted heel action). Continue reading
