Phil’s Swing

I was watching “On the Range” with Phil Mickelson. Apparently the reason for his great play in the Phoenix Open was due to slight swing adjustments. He was made to turn his shoulders more level in the backswing. By doing this he could capture more width and, in his downswing, post up more easily on his left side. (remember he is left handed.) Ok, as correct as this is, this really doesn’t tell me anything. Let’s look at this more closely. The shoulders can only turn at a right angle to the spine. This means that if the posture is correct, (for the individual and club,) so are the shoulders. However if Phil’s right knee collapses in the backswing he will over swing, for Phil, which will give the appearance of a shoulder tilt due to a shorting of the right side. This leads to a hang back, in the downswing, where the weight stays back on his left side, resulting in block shots to the left and or arm wraps right. So by stabilizing the right knee his swing will shorten to the point where he is able to turn through and post on his right side. Finally how does all this relate to width? Width, in the backswing, is nothing more than arm swing. As the arms swing back the natural folding of the right arm lengthens the left arm creating width. If the golfer gets too long, for his body type, in the backswing from a knee collapse one can easily lose the element of width as the arms will now collapse in and narrow. Otherwise golfers will be trying to turn their shoulders more level and extend the club out creating, what they think is, more width. If you watch Phil take a practiced swing he swings the club back and forth several times in an uninterrupted continuous unrestricted motion at his natural tempo. He is getting his arms and legs to coordinate. At no time is he thinking about trying to turn his shoulders or extend the club!! His shoulders are simply an intermediary between his arm swing and lower body motion. So let’s keep it simple and understand that these things are mostly a result of a proper set up and swinging motion. Go Phil! See you next time.