Swing sequence: Rory McIlroy, 2018 Honda Classic

Note how the grip of the club falls just outside Rory’s toe line. Rory likes to have his arms hang outward from his shoulders, which allows him to control his hand path and shape the ball on his preferred right-to-left path.

Much like Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia, Rory gets his trail side to extend a lot early on the backswing. By staying tall on the backswing he’s able to create more leverage and club-head speed.

Rory’s right hand is on top of the grip and pushing down on the handle, which helps him get such tremendous extension. The club-face angle matches that of his spine, and is in a neutral position.

It isn’t until Rory’s shoulders have rotated 90 degrees and his lead arm is parallel to the ground that his right elbow and wrists begin to hinge. As you’ll see in the next frame, he gets his hands deeper and the club more around his body than most on the backswing.

At the top of the backswing, you can see how much extension and length he has to his spine. His upper chest points up and away from the target and he’s rotated his hips a ton, setting the stage for a very powerful unwinding of the body.

Rory does a good job of squatting and maintaining the width to his knees as he transitions downward, which helps him rotate the hips externally and shallow out the club’s path. Much of Rory’s power comes from this ability to really open and rotate the hips through the shot.

BEST MOVE: A lot of his power also comes from how he uses the ground, which he’s starting to do here. The position of the shaft - directly in line with his trail forearm - is perfect, as it allows Rory to swing the club outward and deliver the club head through the ball with maximum speed.

Rory pushes hard off the ground through his right heel, much like a pitcher pushing forward off the mound after delivering a 95 mph-plus fastball. His legs and hips have straightened quite a bit because of how hard he’s pushing up and forward off the ground.

Rory’s release is going to be higher than most because he likes to draw the ball. His hips and torso are already facing the target, an indication of how fast he rotates his hips and body through impact.

Remind you of Annika Sorenstam or Adam Scott? When you use your momentum like Rory does, you’re always going to finish in this super-rotated position with the trail shoulder closer to the target than the lead shoulder.

Jeremy Anderson is the Golf Channel Academy lead coach and director of instruction at the Legacy Golf Performance Center in Phoenix, AZ. For more information about Jeremy and to book a lesson, - please click here

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Swing sequence: Rory McIlroy

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