Now with space
to work, his arms
have a green light
to speed through
as Billy swings to
a balanced finish.
Billy’s right pocket stays back to clear room at impact
and the follow through. He’s really been working on
this part of his transition.
backswing—and that’s what you should feel.
When his left shoulder works down, his head
is in a better spot; when Billy falls into his old
trap of raising up, his head tends to move a
little up and to the right, which occasionally
results in wayward shots.
The tenants of Billy’s swing are built
on timing and tempo. On the downswing,
his shoulders are quieter in the transition,
resulting in much better movement with
his lower body. We try to ensure that his
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right hip remains quiet. It tends to spin
out too quickly, a common fault of some
very good players. When his lower body is
quiet, the resulting action is that his hands
are swinging low and his backside stays out
through the striking action, giving him a
lot of space through the ball to swing his
arms freely.
Billy has one of the most graceful swings
on tour. Even with all the speed he’s built
up, Billy swings to a balanced finish and his
hands are above his left ear. Both positions
are worth emulating. So is this: Note that
his right shoulder is closer to the target
than his left, evidence that the moving
parts of his swing have complemented one
another properly.
As we continue to refine his motion and he
keeps self-correcting on the go while playing
competitively, look for the former Virginian
to pick up his first PGA T victory soon and
our
enjoy continued success in the coming years.
One of Golf Magazine’s Top 100 Teachers,
co-author and British PGA member Mitchell
Spearman lives in Windermere, Fla., where he
works with a number of tour players, as well as
a host of celebrity clients and average golfers. He
also has golf academies in Virginia. Co-author
Andrew Blair is editor of Virginia Golfer.
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