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YT "Pro's" Explaining Tour Pro Swings - Mostly Wrong

I know many guys who have been playing golf for decades. These same guys have not improved beyond a certain hcp index, and if anything, they're adding strokes to their hcp. However, they continue to watch other online "teaching pro's" who incorrectly analyze tour pro swing movements, then run out to the range and beat 800 balls only to find nothing improved.

Just the other day a guy sent me a video of Xander Schauffele's swing for which the online pro (reviewer) said Xander loads onto his right side at the top. Upon watching the video it's clear at least 70% of his weight has moved onto his lead leg at the top because his lead knee is bent fairly significantly, and his tailbone has moved towards the target...not as much as Hogan...but about 2 inches. So how on Earth could his weight be "loaded on his trail side"? A simple check would be to see if Xander could easily lift his lead leg off the ground at the top. Based on his position there's zero chance he could lift his left foot off the ground.

Thus, now my buddy is working on getting his weight over his trail knee at the top...and...keeping his right foot straight...wow. The result will be 10 more years of the same exact handicap, same inconsistency, and same exact chain reaction of "fixes" that never materialize into any improvement.

It's amazing how even so-called online "pro's" see "what they want to see" as being the "proper" movement in the golf swing despite the fact that the video evidence is clear that a majority of pro swings are very close to, or S&T swings. Worse, folks who watch these videos believe the online pro's "observations" despite the obvious inconsistencies between what the online pro says the tour pro is doing vs. what the tour is actually doing.

6 comments

6 Comments

Tom Saguto

Oct 04, 2021

LOL!! I suppose there are multiple ways to get "loaded", with one oftentimes leading to the other!!

Tom Saguto

Sep 30, 2021

Nice post, @GolfLivesMatter. Sadly, many misconstrued and/or misguided teachings - such as turning the shoulders level while independently lifting the club, shifting into- and torquing against - a firm trail side, actively rolling the hands through impact, etc. - have relegated generations of golfers to the vast abyss of chronic frustration (and chronic back/knee/hip pain as well). I mean, how is it that with all the advances in equipment, technology, golf course grooming, etc. the average golfer still can't break 100?? The only remaining variable must then be epic failures within the realm of “conventional” instruction....

As for your buddy trying to "load" into his trail side, consider this quote from Jack Nicklaus on weight shift: "I don't believe in a lateral shift," says Nicklaus. "Of course not. I believe in staying on the ball." Asked what he thinks about teachers who advocate a weight shift, he answers, "They don't know how to play." This from a guy who to the unschooled eye must be shifting and loading since his lead heel is coming up off the ground. Yeah, right.....

Anyway, I wish your friend the best, which really means that I wish you would direct him here.....🤣🤣🤣

GolfLivesMatter

Oct 01, 2021

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Replying to

Thanks Tom. Nicklaus's swing did fool the majority of teaching pro's and book writers because his left heel came off the ground on the backswing, giving the appearance that his weight was loaded on his trail side. and in reality his Golf My Way book really didn't capture what he was actually doing. I think he taught what he felt he was doing vs. what he was actually doing...similar to Hogan.

What people failed to recognize is as his swing progressed to the top, his weight shifted to his lead side, evidenced by his tailbone moving towards the target, and he was stacked over the ball at the top (per his quote in your post above). Yes, he initially shifted to the trail side, like Hogan, but Nicklaus took a little longer to load over his lead side, but both ended up in nearly identical stacked positions at the top.

To this day, most "experts" will say the primary key to Nicklaus's swing was a lateral shift to his lead side, implying the bulk of his weight was on his trail side at the top...which we know is false. How on Earth can anyone be loaded on their right side at the top AND stay over the ball, or be stacked over the ball? But somehow people gobble up this nonsense.

BTW, it would be fun to start a discussion to see how many times folks on here have played golf with 90's and 100's golfers who said they've "tried S&T, but it didn't work". I think I've counted well over 50 thus far. LOL.

Tom Saguto

Oct 01, 2021

Replying to

@GolfLivesMatter LOL! So I guess whatever it is that has them "enjoying" being forever stuck in the 90's and 100's is working for them?? 😂

Great additional points about Nicklaus, Hogan, and an entire universe of other top players for that matter. Using Mr. Hogan as an example, despite the blowback I invariably get from the "experts" trolling around YouTube, I do my best to take what he conveyed in the book as his "feels", apply it to the reality of what he actually did in his swing, and translate it into something we all - including myself - can learn well from. Because if we get Hogan right - and I mean really right - there is tremendous and timeless instructional value to be garnered!!

GolfLivesMatter

Oct 01, 2021

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Replying to

@Tom Saguto Totally agree. One of the funniest exchanges I had in a while occurred the other day with another guy at the 19th hole:

Him: "I'm working on my swing, I'm working on getting my weight over my right knee on the backswing".

Me: "What do you mean, can you show me?"

Him: [gets up, does a mock address, then mock backswing] "Here, this is where I want to be at the top".

Me: "You do realize your tailbone has moved backwards at the top, right?"

Him: "Yeah, but look how I'm loaded over my right knee!".

Me: "Is that how the pro's swing?"

Him: "Yes".

Me: [to bartender] "Can I have another shot of tequila please?"

Bob Cissell

Sep 29, 2021

Very well said. At least in my recent viewing of golf on TV, it sure looks like most players are stacked over the ball with considerable weight on their lead foot and are tilting like a soggy barrel of KFC!