RORY MCILROY DRIVER SWING SEQUENCE Copyright LUTHER BLACKLOCK 2012

Transcription

1 RORY MCILROY DRIVER SWING SEQUENCE Copyright LUTHER BLACKLOCK 2012

2 ALL PHOTOGRAPHS COPYRIGHT MARK NEWCOMBE Rory McIlroy s golf swing is one of the most remarkable of modern times; his shot making ability enables him to dominate world class fields. His U.S. Open victory at Congressional, in 2011, left him eight shots clear of his nearest rival. Rory s swing was nurtured under the watchful eye of his boyhood coach, Michael Bannon. His Set-up has the quality of Tiger Woods at his best; his backswing coil has the flair and fullness of Mickelson with commitment in the through swing like Johnny Miller in his prime. Although Rory is not a big man, he generates massive club head speed for one so slight. Broad shoulders and slim, racing snake hips are an ideal combination in a golfer s physique. Imagine spinning a drawing pin (thumb tack in the U.S.) between your fingers, so that it might skip and dance on a glass table top. The more quickly you can spin the shaft of the drawing pin, the longer it will stay upright. As a boy, I would go to my mother s art room to find the artists drawing pins that had a larger head. The gear effect of the wider head generated more speed and spin which meant my drawing pin stayed spinning upright for longer. Those of you, who are members of my website, will be familiar with my simple, three piece mantra, that I want you to use on every shot: 1. PREPARE for BALANCE. 2. COIL in BALANCE. 3. RELEASE in BALANCE. Rory McIlroy is a superb example of a golfer who swings in perfect balance; note how perfectly he defines his spinal angle at Address, and then coils and releases around that axis with the athleticism of a hammer thrower. Let me talk you through Rory s swing in more detail, frame by frame, and see if we can learn from his example. We may not be blessed with his youthful technique, but with a more limited swing, we should be able to improve our overall sense of balance. If we succeed in doing so, our shots will be longer and more accurate.

3 Pic.1. Here is Rory at Address with a Driver; his Spine Angle is perfect and from the top of his head to his tail bone there is no slump at all. It really does not get any better than this! He also has the ideal amount of knee flex, any more and he would start to lose height. His arms hang comfortably; don t expect them to hang vertically with a Driver because they should not, but they would with a Wedge. I have drawn the Optimum Biomechanical Swing Plane with a yellow line; the line runs from the ball to the point where the butt of the Driver will be at the Top of the Backswing. Also, I have denoted the angle of the shaft (Shaft Plane) with a thinner white line. Look now because you will not see the shaft in that particular plane from now on. Notice the red line highlighting the distance between the butt of the club at Address and the Optimum Biomechanical swing Plane. That distance, the length of the red line, shows that the butt of the club is some 12 inches below the OBSP. That gap will narrow as the backswing takes place; from this point on Shaft Plane is irrelevant. Pic.2. A classic Takeaway movement: Rory has ignited his Backswing with his shoulders. The Shoulder turn is the father of the Backswing movement; it establishes your plane and generates the widest arc. Notice how quiet and relaxed his arms are; they will naturally want to find the OBSP as the left shoulder continues its journey to slot across the throat. It is also clear that Rory s right elbow is soft and offers no resistance; it will happily fold out of the way, allowing the shoulder coil to complete its journey without any hindrance. At this point of the swing there is no exertion: it is only in the last quarter of the Backswing that Rory will start to feel the athletic coiling of shoulders, torso, hips and legs.

4 Pic.3. Now the exertion of the coil starts to bite; you can see Rory pursing his lips and puffing his cheeks! Here is a wonderful example of Shoulder Turn and Forearm Rotation working in perfect sync. We can clearly see that the shoulders have completed a touch more than half; this is perfectly matched with half a Forearm Rotation. SEE HOW THE CLUBFACE HAS ROTATED PERFECTLY THROUGH 45 DEGREES AT THIS POINT. To clarify; the Clubface is at a 45 degree angle to the yellow Optimum Biomechanical Swing Plane at the halfway point of the Backswing. Pic.4. Top of the Backswing and Top of the World! Here is Rory fully coiled and loaded at the completion of his shoulder coil. The Torso, Hips and Legs have had no choice but to load to the maximum possible. Here is the big one regarding this swing and golf swings in general. NOTE THAT THE BUTT OF THE DRIVER HAS RISEN TO MEET THE OBSP; IT HAS LIFTED THROUGH SOME 12 INCHES BELOW THE OBSP AT ADDRESS! The Shaft is now in a totally different plane to that at address. PLEASE, NO WHIMPERING ABOUT IT BEING IN A PARALLEL PLANE AT THE TOP. What s that got to do with anything? That parallel plane would point some 2 or 3 feet outside the ball. The Optimum Biomechanical Swing Plane is the one that points at the ball; which is what we are trying to hit! It is always hard to capture a 3D swing with a 2D camera, but we can see clearly, that at the Top of the Backswing the OBSP runs from the ball, through the upper sternum to the butt of the golf club.

5 Pic.5. The classic transition and plane shift to start the Downswing. NOTE how much Rory s head has dropped when comparing it to the tree level in the previous pictures. This loss of height, common in so many big hitters, is an instinctive response to the forces of nature. Imagine yourself as a child spinning pebbles across a pond you would instinctively drop your head level as you stepped forward and drove your hips and legs to create leverage. Don t teach a pupil to do what nature and instinct already provide. This dropping of levels would give you the impression that the shaft was trying to return to its Address position, but do not be fooled! As all the forces of Rory s golf swing gather momentum, the shaft of his Driver will start to rise, even though his head has dropped by 6 to 9 inches during the Downswing. Pic.6. Rory at impact! Even though his head has dropped, it is plain for all to see that the Driver shaft has risen to be well above the Shaft Plane at Address. There is room for the butt of the club to rise because Rory has cleared his torso, hips and legs as he drives the ball towards the target. At Address, the arms and club shaft create a bent spoke ; the forces of the Throughswing oblige that spoke to straighten and rise. So, if you are still teaching shaft plane, please stop. I believe Shaft Plane is a false, flawed and misguided reference point. By continuing to teach Shaft Plane we are damaging our pupils and harming the golf industry.

6 Pic.7. Ouch! How is Rory going to putt with a flat ball?! The massive club head speed being unleashed through impact involves superb co-ordination, athleticism and balance. As I pointed out in the introduction, Rory swings the club around a constant Spine Angle throughout the entire swing movement. People often say to me that Rory s back is in jeopardy from exerting such forces on his spine. I tell them not to worry; his posture at Address is just perfect, so that the loading of the coil is spread evenly along the entire length of his spine. Tiger Woods back has had no problems for the same reason. Take a look at Simplifying the Swing in the Article Archive for more information on the correct spinal posture. Pic.8. Released in Balance! This is a wonderful Follow Through; the spine angle has been maintained whilst Rory s entire body has cleared out of the way. Notice how the Butt of the Driver has come round to meet the Optimum Biomechanical Swing Plane and the shaft is pretty much resting within the OBSP. There are reminders of so many greats within Rory s swing; Weiskopf, Ballesteros, Woods. But in addition to that, Rory McIlroy has the precision and constant spine angle of my hero, Tom Watson. Those of us who have followed Tiger Woods over the last decade or so could never have imagined that we would see his like again promises to be a fascinating year as young Rory McIlroy stalks the Tiger and his records! COPYRIGHT LUTHER BLACKOCK 2012 ALL PHOTOGRAPHS COPYRIGHT MARK NEWCOMBE