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PGA Tour - Chad Campbell

If you want to have a simple golf swing; copy PGA Tour player Chad Campbell. He has one of the easiest motions to repeat. There are a lot of players in the world that are looking to make there swings more consistent. There are elements that Chad does that can help a lot of people.

There is often a lot of confusion around 'swing plane'. There are usually multiple explanations for 'swing plane', which of course is different from 'shoulder plane' and 'spine angle'. Swing plane refers to the club and the path that it travels on the backswing and downswing. Fortunately Chad Campbell simplifies it for us in the video below.

Chad Campbell Swing

Campbell does a great job of keeping his club on one path on his backswing, and then bringing it back to his ball on the same path during the downswing. It is a very short video, but try and pause it half way through his backswing. If you can pause it at the right spot you will see how the butt end of his club points at the golf ball. This is a great position to be in on the way back.

Now, if you can pause it again at the halfway point of his downswing then you will see that the butt end is still pointing at the golf ball. This is incredibly important for good ball striking.

You can get away with a backswing that does not follow Campbell's path (e.g. PGA Tour Player Jim Furyk) however, all good ball strikers get into the downswing position. Campbell just makes it simple by keeping the club on the path the whole time.

When you finish your backswing your hands should be just above your shoulders. Watch how close his hands are to his shoulders. One warning would be to make sure that they are not below the level of your shoulders. If they are below your shoulders your club will be flat, meaning more horizontal to the ground than the Campbell's swing plane. From this flat position it will be hard to hit your shots.

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PGA Tour Winner Quick Lesson

Congratulations to Steve Stricker on his victory at the 2012 Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

I believe the commentators said he has won 9 times in his 40s. That is amazing!I also agree with Sir Nick and Johnny Miller that his swing will be copied in the future. Technology has reduced the need for hand action in the golf swing to generate power. Watch the old videos of Bobby Jones to see how much action he created compared to that of Steve Stricker.

A great objective for any player is to eliminate any unnecessary movement. Stricker does a great job of that. His hands stay very quiet on the backswing. His wrists hardly hinge at the top of his backswing. You can see from the above video that his backswing is all shoulder turn.

His downswing starts from the hips and he simply turns everything through the golf ball at the same time. His hands and wrists release naturally without any effort. This is a great way to have a consistent rhythm through the golf ball on every shot. This swing delivers enough power to win on Tour.

European Tour Winner Quick Lesson

Congratulations to Louis Oosthuizen and his victory at the 2012 Africa Open.

Louis burst onto the scene with his dominating performance at the Open Championship. Many have predicted multiple wins for this player. His victory this past weekend is likely one of many to come.

In the video above pay really close attention to when the video ends. Take a look at his left foot. Notice how all his weight his on his left heel. This is a great sign that he has cleared his hips properly.

One of the key reasons for starting the downswing with your lower body is to clear your hips out of the way to create more room for your arms to swing through impact. It is a great indicator as to how well you cleared your hips, when almost all your weight is on your heel.

If your weight is leaning on you toes or even the middle of your foot then you have not rotated and cleared your hips enough through your downswing and past impact. You really want to feel the pressure of your weight on your heel like Oosthuizen.

Make sure you start your downswing with your lower body. At the top of your backswing; either pull your left knee or your left hip (right handed player) towards the target. Also make sure your hips keep rotating through impact and into your finish position with your weight on the heel.