Take an analytic, frame-by-frame look at Jordan Spieth’s 3-wood swing.
Skip Guss is the owner of Skip Guss’ GolfRite Academy, a year-round golf learning facility in Southborough, Mass., just outside of Boston. A former PGA Tour player, Skip’s students range from beginners to former PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions winners, even a U.S. Amateur champion. For more information about Skip and to book a lesson please click here
If you take one thing away from Spieth’s swing, it should be how overwhelmingly relaxed he looks at address. There’s zero tension in his body, which is going to allow him to fully coil and use gravity, not fight it.
Jack Nicklaus used to say the first foot or two of the takeaway determines how good a swing you’re going to make, and Spieth’s off to a great start. His hands, arms, shoulders and club work back together beautifully, and the club shaft is dead on-plane.
Textbook! The lead arm and shaft are perfectly aligned and everything continues to work back together. He’s just putting the club in motion with no tension whatsoever.
Again, as good as it gets. Jordan’s trail elbow is underneath his hands and the lead arm, shaft and club face are all in perfect alignment. He’s also fully coiled against his trail side. From here, he’s in perfect position to let gravity take over and deliver the club into the ball.
Now the fun begins! Jordan’s lower body initiates the downswing, which allows the club to drop down on the same hand path it took on the backswing. I call it “up the elevator, down the elevator.” His knees begin to flex and he’s lowering himself into the ground a little so that he can explode up.
Jordan has done a terrific job of maintaining his upper-body coil to this point. His hands are passive and his lower body is doing all of the work, which is why he has such tremendous lag and stored energy. The trail arm is ready to fire and explode the club head into the ball.
BEST MOVE: Perfection! Jordan’s body continues to unwind while he retains his posture through the strike. This allows the trail arm to extend and release all of that lag. If you look closely, you can start to see his weight moving to the outside of his lead heel, with his toes up off the ground. This is what allows Jordan to continue to rotate. You rotate through your heels, not your toes. If you get up on your toes your body wants to stop turning.
If there’s one unique, frequently talked about move in Jordan’s swing it’s this one. His lead elbow points out a bit in what some would refer to as a “chicken wing” position. This is Jordan’s way of keeping the club head square longer through the hitting area, and it certainly works for the three-time major champion.
Now you can clearly see the toes on Jordan’s lead foot up off the ground, and nearly all of his weight on the outside of his front heel. It’s as if his ankle is braking. He’s fully rotated and in terrific balance.
Skip Guss is the owner of Skip Guss’ GolfRite Academy, a year-round golf learning facility in Southborough, Mass., just outside of Boston. A former PGA Tour player, Skip’s students range from beginners to former PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions winners, even a U.S. Amateur champion. For more information about Skip and to book a lesson please click here
