With Matthew (Matt) Wolff winning the 3M open yesterday in only his 3rd professional start, I had a lot of questions from golfers about his swing. I decided to do an in depth analysis taking a look at;
- Why his swing is “weird/strange”
- What makes his swing work so well despite the above
- What you can learn from this
Click below to watch the video.
Before We Watch It
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Got it? Ok, good. Let’s get going with the video, below.
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Raymond CHASTEL
I started looking at this analysis ,then stopped .
Maybe he won but this swing is pretty rotten and flawed ,so there’s nothing to be gained looking at it .Just shelve this video and move on .
De Kind
yes it is stupid ! Your teacher would ban you from the driving range if you would do the same . So why watching it ? It’s probably the only one in the world that has a swing like that .
admin
Jimmy Bruen, Gay Brewer, Calvin Peete, Jim Furyk, Miller Barber, Nicklaus, Lorena Ochoa, Eamonn Darcy.
All swings are unique, but this list is just a small sample of players who had striking similarities to Wolff. Many of George’s (Matt’s coach) also have very similar movements to Matt – and they are having great success.
Just to reiterate, I do not teach this swing, but I wouldn’t un-teach it in Matt either. There many are reasons why it works – many of which do not fit in the category of “symmetrical/pretty is better”, which is an outdated and lacking philosophy.
John Roethling
Hi Adam, great analytische. But seriously, I don’t know what kind of students you have. I’m teaching and playing nearly 30 years, the last 20 in Marbella. Maybe 1% of my students would physically and coordinativ be able to do
a movement like that. Not to talk about hitting it straight (much more important than hitting it long. For high Hcp Amateurs that is). Daly, Bubba and now Matt have that 1 in a million coordinating talent to make their complicated move work (and they did/do it from child on!).
As I said, I don’t know what kind of students you have
Great job, anyway
admin
Hi John. If you watched the analysis all the way through, I mention that you shouldn’t go out and copy his swing, necessarily. The video is just an analysis of what he does and why it works, as well as a reminder of what is truly important in a swing. Just to reiterate, I am not teaching golfers to do Matt’s swing.
BLAINE
Thanks, that was super enjoyable and informative. It is crazy to me how all good players are in similar positions at impact regardless of their different swings. I’m going to go video my swing and see where I am at impact.
admin
Just remember, when I talk about impact, I’m talking about club and ball interaction. In terms of body positions, even the pros can look very different – Furyk (for example) looks nothing like Tiger or Brooks at impact.
John Darling
To Raymond, is the swing indicative of the players ability to score or is the true influence when the club face meets the ball. They all said Lee Trevino’s swing was trash. Results 29 PGA Tour wins, including 6 Majors, 29 Champions PGA Tour wins. I love the swing of Adam Scott but his results are not overwhelming. He is an ATM machine.
Matt Wolff’s collegiate record indicates this kid can play and play like a champion. Let’/s see where he is 15 years from today barring injury or anything catastrophic in his life.
By the way can you with your handicap beat him. Go to the bank I am sure if you make it worth while he would gladly play you. Just play him for let’s see $1 M.
Christopher Henneman
Such a terrible swing that he managed to win a tour event in his 3rd start..
admin
I assume that was sarcasm.
Peter Boyce
The ball doesn’t know how the clubhead got to impact.
Sergey Baranchukov
Hello Adam, thanks for the video. It is always a pleasure to see and read how you try to explain the kinetics of the swing. I know how difficult to do that and to be understood.
Could you please make your next post on the dynamic properties of the golf club: inertia, changing of the flex … And there role in the swing. Thanks in advance.
admin
Hi Sergey, that’s beyond my pay grade I’m afraid. I understand it enough to help my coaching, but I’m not a physicist.
Rob Curtiss
My Dad always said “an open mind is a sign of intelligence” – not sure how comments inspired otherwise make these guys feel better about themselves at all.
andy williams
there is a lot of David Leadbetter A swing in this. also i think i am right in saying Calvin Peete was first in driving accuracy ten years in a row the only player to do this.
admin
yes – he was. And as a former leadbetter coach, I can confirm that this is very A-swing similar
jim carbonneau
Hi Adam: Excellent analysis ! I have your book and been studying motor learning and sports for over 30 years. You didn’t comment on Matts preliminary move. Looks to me like John Sclee’s impact address position. John almost won the 1973 US Open if not for John Millers final round 63. He had a golf school and book called Maximum Golf I liked your comparison to the baseball swing and right elbow. I believe Matt comes from a baseball background. By the way Hogan worked with Sam Bird who was a Yankee and the only baseball player ever to play on the PGA Tour.
JR THOMAS
Great analysis and emphasis on the notion that there are “many paths on the mountain.” I always chuckle when I hear someone pick out a less orthodox top professional’s swing & say that they are only “saved” by incredible timing, hand to eye coordination or constant practice. The same could be said about any of the conventional pros out there who reflect the the top .01% of the distribution of golfers in those dimensions. Orthodoxy can be a 2-edged sword, keep doing what you are doing & focusing on impact. Love it!
Greg Brightman
Adam…..great stuff!!! Thanks for sharing. Please keep it coming!
Cheers!
Michael Donovan
I see Matts swing is just trying to cut the club face to get spin and launch which gives maximum distance