Yey, Kenny Perry wins this week’s Buick Open. Although not an avid fan of Kenny Perry, he certainly has proven himself by winning twice this year and also coming up runner-up once.

So, why is Kenny winning at 48 years old while all the youngsters in the 20s are struggling?

Well, golf is a game of smart thinking more than it’s about power and accuracy.

Kenny Perry does not have a perfect swing by any means but he does very consistent with his swing, mostly controlled by arms and hands.

At top of Kenny’s swing, you can note that his left shoulder comes over his right leg.

On the downswing, Kenny keeps his lower body quiet while letting the hands and arms do most of the work.

At impact, you can see clearly that Kenny really “swings” the club rather than hit the ball.

After impact, notice how Kenny’s right foot is implanted on the ground. Kenny really tries to swing nice and smooth, which is what is required for a hands and arms swing.

If Kenny swung any harder, all his balls would hook or go left.

What to learn from Kenny’s iron swing?

You need to note that in order to be accurate with your irons, you need to let the club do most of the work for you. Of course, you can give the ball a real smack in the back but you probably won’t be consisten that way.

Here’s Kenny Perry’s iron swing in action:

Click Here to View in Full Screen Mode

accuracy, balls, buick, buick open, downswing, game, irons, kenny perry, left shoulder, right foot, swing analysis, yey, youngsters accuracy, balls, buick, buick open, downswing, game, irons, kenny perry, left shoulder, right foot, swing analysis, yey, youngsters If you like this post, please subscribe to the ProGolferDigest via RSS or via E-Mail to receive updates.

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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.)

Click Here to View in Full Screen Mode

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Justin Leonard

After impact positions of various different pro tour players will look very similar.  On this post, I will simply let you guess what they did right by looking at them.

The answer (or the secret) is in the pictures.  It’s been there for last 100 years or so.

Mickey Wright

Ben Hogan

Adam Baddeley

Phil Mickelson

Sergio Garcia

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Ian Poulter comes as close to a 1-plane swing other than Tiger or Adam Scott in my mind.

Let me show you why.

Take a look at how Ian’s clubface is pretty much dead on-plane. A lot of pro tour players are inside this point, Ian does pretty well of keeping that club wide and extended. I love Ian’s takeaway, everyone should copy this…

At half-way point, Ian is still on-plane, maybe slightly flat but that’s good enough.

At top of Ian’s swing, his hands are “almost” on plane. It’s a little upright but it’s okay.

Also note that his club is pointing way left of target, this usually is okay as long as Ian is on-plane.

At half-way down, Ian is perfectly slightly inside the plane.

At impact, Ian does a pretty good job. There actually space in-between his right elbow and hips. This is a good thing and he has not “dipped” a lot like a other players.

After impact, Ian’s extension shows that he’s on perfect plane. Also note how “tall” Ian is standing. This is great for hitting the ball good and the back.

What a lovely finish.

What to learn from this?

There are lots of ways to swing the golf club. Some can hurt your back some can help your back but both achieve the same results as far as golf shot goes.

You need to pick the right swing mechanics for your golf game so you don’t end up one day with a golf swing you can’t play as you get older.

Swing Tip: Try to stand very very tall when swinging the club. Never stress your body, let the club do the work for you. If you swing the club and you feel tired after couple swings, you are probably not swinging, but “bashing” or “hitting” the ball. Never hit the ball, let it come in the way of your swing.

Watch out as I think this young Ian guy can win lots of tournaments in the near future.

Here’s Ian Poulter’s swing in action:

Click Here to View in Full Screen Mode

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Jesper Parnevik has always been my Swedish golf hero(outside Annika Sorenstam that is). I remember seeing him for the first time on TV about 15 or so years ago and I still remember how he had his cap backwards and advertisers actually started putting their logo inside-out just for Jesper.

Let’s look at his swing:

At takeaway, Jesper is slightly inside the plane but no big deal here, looks great.

At half-way, Jesper is still on-plane, maybe slightly flat but it works.

At the top of his swing, Jesper is pretty much on plane, maybe slightly upright. His clubface is slightly shut, meaning it’s a little closed, meaning it’s pointing a little too much at the sky. This isn’t problem for Jesper as most pro tours do have it slightly shut for a nice draw.

At half-way down, you can see how well Jesper fits his hands and club onto the red plane. Most pro tours are great at this.

At impact, Jesper is great. Maybe his right arm could be extended a little but that’s because his head dipped about 3-4 inches from address. (If you take a look at the location of the bunker at address and here, you will see.)

The dip usually isn’t a big problem for most pro tours as it’s a natural thing. You might want to watch out though if you are dipping more than 4 inches. (My recommendation is to try around 1-2 inches of dip at most. To lessen dipping on your swing, swing effortlessly and also feel like you are standing up tall during your whole swing)

Jesper looks great after impact. Take a look at the triangle formed by his arms, shoulders, and hands. This is a characteristic a lot of the good ball strikers on tour all have. (Sorta like the mirror image position of the backswing.)

At finish, Jesper is in perfect balance, enjoying his perfect tee shot. Take a look at his right foot and how the tip of the foot is straight down. You want this at the finish for a perfect balance in your swing.

What to take from Jesper’s swing?

Well, golf is partly or mostly about balance. If you can be in balance at address, backswing, and the finish, you are 10 times more likely to hit the ball straighter and farther than if you are not in balance.

Next time you go out on the range, see if you can stay in balance during your swing and also hold your finish for 3 seconds. If you can do this on every shot, you must be hitting the ball pretty good, at least solid even if you spray it.

Here’s Jesper Parnevik’s Driving Swing in action:

Click Here to View in Full Screen Mode

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