The 5 Best Swings on Tour (Look Back)
This article first appeared on Golfshake.com in Nov 2015.
We all watch the pros on television and dream of the day we can hit a ball as far and as accurate as them. If you focus on one specific professional golfer during a round, you will realize their swing rarely strays away from their perfect. In fact, it really makes you wonder how they even hit a bad shot.
With the technology available to amateur and professional golfers these days you can easily analyse your swing in order to improve. So, here are ten of the best swings we believe you should try to mimic.
Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy is the absolute envy of anyone who tries to whack that little white ball around a field. His natural, free-flowing swing is something to behold and it’s no wonder he has won four Major Championships.
Rory’s clubface is almost always in a good position at the top of the backswing and he has a very strong leg movement into the downswing. The key thing in Rory’s swing is his impeccable balance. If there is one thing to take away from McIlroy’s swing it is to maintain your balance throughout your swing, even when holding the finish.
His incredible balance and great positioning of the club at the top of the backswing are two key reasons why he is able to create so much power yet maintain the accuracy needed to compete at the very top level.
Justin Rose
There are very few golfers who possess a golf swing as compact as Justin Rose. Since working under Sean Foley, Rose made some minor adjustments to his swing that has seen him enjoy his best stretch of his career to date.
Rose uses his massive shoulder turn to his advantage as it allows him to lock in the rest of his swing and create an immense amount of power. When he hits through the ball, Rose has a great extension of his right arm, which allows for consistency through the ball and increases his accuracy.
With a swing like Rose’s, it is no wonder he has won seven times on the PGA Tour, eight times on the European Tour and even holds a Major Championship to his name, the U.S. Open.
Ernie Els
Ernie Els is a must feature on this list. His imposing physical stature mixed with his fluid golf swing earned him the nickname “The Big Easy” and it is a swing that has seen him win both the U.S. Open and the Open Championship twice.
Els never looks like he’s trying to kill the ball but at the age of 51 he is still knocking it out there with the best of them. Having perfected the simple two-plane model, Els is able to maintain a high level of consistency meaning he has been able to compete at the top level for some time now.
Els’ power comes from a surprising hip movement he produces during the start of the downswing which allows him to generate incredible club head speed. Although it happens that fast in real time that is hard to notice. It is even harder to notice for most as we are all mesmerized by the incredible fluidity of the swing.
If Els could sort out his game with the short stick then I’m sure he would still be able to compete at the top of the game.
Adam Scott
Adam Scott’s crouched, torqued lower body gives him one of the most powerful takeaway movements in the game. From there he explodes through impact while remaining on plane more often than most. If you were giving a clinic on the ideal power-finesse combination in a golf swing, Scott’s move would likely be Exhibit A.
Scott’s swing has hardly changed over the years and the sheer consistency of it saw him become the first Australian to win the Masters in its 77-year history. Scott has always been very quiet with his knees and has great rotation that allows him to keep the club on plane throughout the golf swing.
The Australian’s swing is used as an example by many coaches as he does almost everything perfect and by the book. His posture is good, he completes his backswing with a great turn, his swing is on plane and he explodes through the ball. If Scott can adapt to the short putter then he most definitely will still be competing in majors.
Louis Oosthuizen
With a swing like Louis Oosthuizen’s, it is no wonder the South African has won one Major Championship and finished second in a further seven. Oosthuizen’s swing is like poetry in motion and could be argued as one of the best in the game, similar to that of his fellow compatriot Ernie Els.
Oosthuizen sets his swing set early in order for his swing to be as tight as possible. The only time you’ll see Oosthuizen hit a poor shot is when he isn’t set correctly early in the golf swing. There is very little movement from the head and the swing remains on plane throughout. Although it looks completely effortless, the South African’s full shoulder turn allows him to store a lot of power at the top of his swing.
After being supported by Ernie Els’ golfing foundation as an amateur, it is no wonder the two have very similar swings. Oosthuizen was relatively unknown before his Open Championship win by 7-strokes at St Andrews and in fact, he had only made one cut in eight major appearances before then. But it was this breakthrough that saw him become one of the best golfers in the world and in return, showed us one of the best swings around.
If you want to get better every shot then we definitely suggest taking a look at some of these swings. They’re proven on tour as all of the above have won Major Championships so it would make sense that these swings would work on your home course. So, get out your golf clubs out of your locker and head straight to the driving range.