Woody Austin is one of those players I like because of his personality, not his swing.  He cracks me up with some of the things he has achieved.

Let’s look at his swing.  His setup looks pretty good.

Takeaway looks good too.  Woody doesn’t transfer much weight to the right but that’s okay.   (I don’t either because I end up swaying)

At top of Woody’s swing, Woody looks very good.  Pay attention to his lower body action.

At half-way down, take a look at how well Woody has transferred his weight to the left.  This reminds me of Ben Hogan.

At impact, notice how far his hips have transferred and how straight his left arm and the club is.

After impact, Woody is still in really great shape.

Woody Austin might not win a lot of tournaments but heck, he’s always on the leaderboard.

His swing might be one of the best hidden swings on the PGA Tour.

Here’s Woody Austin’s swing in slow motion:

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For many years, Fred Funk has always been one of the straightest drivers on the PGA Tour and his swing has never changed. (probably because of that)

Let’s look at what makes his swing “tick”.

At setup, Fred looks pretty good.  Notice that his sets with his ball outside the ball.  Kinda unusual but some pros do this to hit inside-out.

At takeaway, Fred is doing pretty good, maybe slightly inside the plane. (Plane is a little off here because the camera angle is slightly closed)

At half-way, Fred looks pretty good.

At top of Fred’s swing, his in perfect plane except that his clubface is really shut.  This isn’t great for hooking the ball but let’s find out how he manages to hit the ball straight with this backswing.

At half-way down, Fred is lookin’ good.

At impact, notice how much his hips have turned (maybe 45 degrees) and his shoulders.

Fred must really drive his hips in order to hit the ball straight but he hits straight alrighty.

After impact, Fred is in good shpae.

Fred’s swing requires a lot of hand-eye coordination and lots of lower body movement to hit it well.  Fred might need a hip surgery when he gets older due to the fact he must really drive his hips.

Don’t swing like Fred if you want to play golf for a long time but Fred is still one of the straightest drivers on the tour.

Here’s Fred Funk’s funky swing in action:

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Let’s look at Rod Pampling’s driver swing here.  He has a swing that “over-rotates” during the backswing and the follow-through.

At address, Rod is a little bit too much over the ball but sitting very tall.

At takeaway, Rod’s club is nicely on-plane except notice that even his clubface is on-plane. (Normally, you want the clubface edge pointing up at the sky at this point)

At half-way point, Rod is in perfectly on-plane, nice….

Again, at the top, Rod is doing really well.

At half-way down, Rod is doing great again, pretty much on-plane.

At impact, notice how much Rod’s hips and shoulders have turned.  This is because he “over-rotates” his body on the backswing.  It’s not an easy swing to repeat.

After impact, Rod is slightly inside the plane, meaning he used his wrists a little to square the club.

Again, this is probably due to his over-rotations.

At finish, Rod looks pretty good.

Rod Pampling could really benefit from swinging with less rotation.  Then again, if he has been swinging like this for last 20 years, I wouldn’t change it, just go working on my putting more.

Here’s Rod Pampling’s swing in action:

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Jim Furyk has always been one of my golfing heroes due to the fact that he’s swing is probably the weirdest on the PGA Tour yet he is so successful.

Although Jim Furyk might breaks all rules of physics and textbook teaching, I will prove today that he does have one of the best after impact positions in golf.

At setup, Jim’s hands are pretty much “glued” to his thighs and he stands very very close to the ball.

On takeaway, Jim’s clubface is shut and a little inside the plane.

At half-way, Jim is actually on-plane with the hands but his club is very upright.

At the top of the swing, Jim is pretty much trying to get his hands as vertical as he can.  This is not a bad thing as even Jack Nicklaus tells you to do this at one point in his career.

Vertical swings have been great for hitting the ball very high.

Now the greatest part about Jim is that he re-routes his club back into perfect hitting position as seen here.

He’s actually slightly inside the plane, allowing a perfect setup for inside-out swing.

At impact, Jim must turn his hips, shoulders, head, and everything except the club in order to square the clubface.   Not the easiest way to swing but watch for the next action.

Check out how perfectly Jim’s club is on-plane.  This is something that almost every top golfer does regardless of how they swing the club back.

This is why Jim is on the PGA Tour.

Great finish, and another legendary swing that no one will ever be able to copy.

Here’s Jim Furyk’s driver in action:

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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:

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