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:

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(Driver)

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(Iron Shots)

John Daly has been one of my favorite golfers of all time. Although he may do outrageous things like getting too drunk, that’s not my concern and his still my hero for being one of the most unique golfers in history.

What most people to realize is that John Daly does not “Grip and Rip”, he actually has one of the best rhythms out of all the pro golfers. The “Grip and Rip” really refers to really going up to the ball and emptying his mind.

Even if you look at his driver swings carefully, you will realize how great his overall swing rhythm is. It’s probably as almost as good as Freddy Couples, but it’s hard to see due to his long backswing.

I even read John’s Grip and Rip It, it’s a great book in which he discusses the details of how he plays golf.

What to learn from John Daly?

Well, he does use a “trigger” type grip in which his right index finger is gripping the club like holding a gun trigger. Btw, . Greg Norman use to touch his index finger with his thumb. (I think he still does…)

Both these methods are trivial to the onlooker but they do great job of keeping your right hand out of your swing. You can experiment and see if it works for you as I have used it before with good success as I tend to use my right hand too much too.