Camil Villegas has one of the simplest swings as he never swings beyond 3/4 point and accelerates nicely through the ball while keeping his rhythm super-smooth.

Today we will analyze Camilo’s iron swing and just see how he is able to come up with wins such as the BMW Championships where he beat the top players of the world including Vijay Singh, Phil Mickelson, Anthony Kim, and others.

At takeaway, you can clearly tell that Camil’s clubface is shut (or closed).  But this isn’t too big a problem as long as he gets it open at the top of his swing.

At half-way, you can tell that Camilo has nicely rotated his forearms so the clubface is square in relation to his swing plane.  He’s slightly inside the plane but that’s not a big deal here.

At the top of his swing, Camilo looks very poised and everything stretched out nicely.  Note that his hands and club are not actually back on-plane, a perfect backswing.

At impact, Camilo dips his head down a little (which most players do) but his impact is perfect.

After impact, Camilo looks pretty good.

At finish, Camilo does a great job of standing up straight.

Overall, I am impressed with this young Camilo’s swing as he never over-swings yet his retains his smooth rhythm.

What’s impressive is that this young man is capable of hitting every shot in the bag although he has a tendency to miss his drives to the right.  (probably due to his short backswing when he’s tempo gets too quick)  But with a swing like this, Camilo will never miss left, mostly to the right.

Most players who have short backswing tend to have a quick tempo but Camilo actually has a nice tempo.  (For comparison, check out Tommy Armour III’s swing analysis)

Here’s Camil Villegas’ swing in action:

Click Here to View in Full Screen Mode

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If you are new to golf, you’ve probably never heard of David Duval.  But for me, he’s the #1 or #2 golfer of all-time in the 90s.

For whatever reason that David Duval has not been winning again, let’s take a look at his swing from Doral in 1997 to see what made him “tick”.

One thing I really like about David Duval is the way he finishes his swing with his back straight.  This is really good for painless-back golf.

On the takeaway, David Duval looks pretty good.

At top of his swing, David is in perfect plane.

Between his backswing and downswing, you can clearly tell that David is really transferring his weight back to the left.

Also notice that his head is actually turning towards the target at impact.  David Duval is the only other professional golfer I know who lets his head move freely during impact other than Annika Sorenstam.

I believe this head move can actually help the golfer hit the ball better if done right.  But if you simply move your head at impact, it will probably make you chop the ball more times than not.  To do it right, try following the golf ball as it takes off.

Watch David Duval’s wonderful wind-up finish.  He’s almost wind-up too much but you get the idea here.

Hopefully David Duval does recover from his long-term winning draught.  I have seen signs of him playing better lately at the British Open where he finishes Top 10 for the first 2 days.  Time will tell whether David Duval is able to come back to competitive golf or not but he’s still a British Open champ.

David Duval Links

David Duval Offical Profile at Pgatour.com

David Duval on Wikipedia

Here’s David Duval’s Swing from Doral Open in 97:

Click Here to View in Full Screen Mode

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Let’s take a look at Parker McLachlin’s iron swing, the winning swing of Reno Tahoe Open.  (Too bad Michelle Wie didn’t make the cut AGAIN!)

At takeaway, notice that Parker’s clubface is actually pointing down at the ground, a little too closed.   This causes lots of pulls and balls that will start left and go left.  It’s best to have rotated a little more here for crisp contact.

At half-way, Parker looks pretty good.

At top of his swing, Parker is in perfect plane.

At half-way down, Parker looks great.

After impact, Parker is slightly outside the plane, meaning he swung slightly inside-out.  Very good stuff.

Parker may have a pretty good swing and he has won a PGA Tour event to prove it with a round of 10 under on Friday of 62.

Here’s Parker McLachlin’s iron swing in slow motion:

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Okay, today, we will do a “real” swing analysis of Anthony Kim’s swing. (unlike my older post on Anthony Kim’s swing video only)

Now, this young man gas a great swing and might start taking over PGA Tour with multiple wins.

At takeaway, Anthony is a little too much inside. (This is what the “traditional” golf teachers teach you. But don’t be fooled, the follow-through will prove that Anothony “came back” to the right plane to hit the ball, which almost every pro tour golfer does)

At half-way, Anthony is still way too inside but that’s okay as it will get from here on.

At top os his swing, you can see how well his hands, and clubface are in-plane. (The four diagonal lines represent the true plane of the golf swing)

At downswing, Anthony is slightly inside the plane, which is perfectly acceptable.

At impact, notice how his left arms is straight and right arms slightly bent like at address.

Now what impresses me about Anthony Kim’s swing is not his takeaway or backswing but right after impact.

As you can see, his clubface is almost dead-on or slightly outside the plane. This movement is actually the best move. (Players like Ben Hogan and Tiger Woods do this)

After impact, it gets even better as Anthony’s club stays on-plane.

At finish, check out how controlled his right foot is, it’s barely coming up.

What can you learn from Anthony Kim’s swing?

There are many ways to swing the club. Try to focus on getting that club on-plane at the top of your swing and after impact.

Even most tour pros have completely different opinions on how to swing on-plane but their after impact positions will be the same.

Here’s Anthony Kim’s swing in slow-motion (SWING VISION):

Click Here to View in Full Screen Mode

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I have been studying Ben Hogan’s swing for about 20 years now and I’d have to say he’s the best ball stiker in the world.

Here’s some analysis into his iron knockdown swing, which he was very good at and Tiger Woods has copied his moves.

Ben’s takeaway is simply rotation of his triangle formed by his shoulders, arms, and hands to the right. (sorta like shaking hands with person on the right)

There’s no “visible” weight transfer whatsoever here. His belly or the stomach, also turns along with his triangle.

This is probably the most important takeaway you can learn from Ben.

To put it simply:

Rotate your triangle and belly together to the right from a fixed single axis.

At top of Ben Hogan’s swing, you can tell that he’s almost doing a “reverse-pivot” by traditional teachers’ standards. In my opinion, he’s proving to you that there’s no need for a visual weight transfer to the right side. Hey, this picture proves that point.

This might be why there’s so much buzz with the tilt and stack swing when in reality, they are all derivatives of Ben Hogan’s swing.

On the downswing, you can notice Ben’s head has “dipped” 2-3 inches compared to position at address and top of his swing. This proves that the “dip” is actually a necessary natural action to a golfer’s swing provided the golfer doesn’t dip too much. Look at every top player in the world, they “dip” their head a little because it’s human nature.

Do note the fact that Ben’s lower body has aggressivly cleared to his left side while his spine tilt is actually a little straighter, meaning his upper body “moves” toward the target.

This move is inevitable to Ben’s swing in order to hit the ball square, you need to feel like you are on “top” of the ball on the way down in order to extend your arms correctly through impact.

After impact, notice how straight both of Ben’s arms are and the club dissecting between the two arms. This is something Ben is really good at.

At finish, notice how straight Ben’s lower body is and his upper body is pretty straight too. What impresses is how much his whole body is stretched on his finish while he remains in perfect balance with no sign of extra force exertion.

Bloody Ben Hogan, he’s the greatest golfer with the greatest swing ever. Even Tiger has great swing but won’t come close anywhere near Ben Hogan in my opinion.

Now, this is way back in the 50-60s when they had no cameras or any type of visual feedback for the pro golfers. How amazing is his swing when you think of that?

Very amazing indeed that Tiger’s still trying to copy Ben’s moves.

Even after 50 years, every tour pro including Tiger is trying to copy Ben Hogan’s moves, not Jack Nicklauses, not Arnold Palmer, but Ben and only Ben Hogan.  That my friend, IS amazing.

Here’s Ben Hogan’s Iron Knockdown Swing in action:

(Mind you, Ben Hogan was the first master of these knockdown shots, not Tiger. Tiger only copied his moves.)

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