Golf Is Your Game

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No disrespect to the 2011 PGA Champion, but the thunderous tee balls and towering irons are a surprise when you consider Keegan Bradley’s gangly frame. He’s a reminder that the mind is mightier than the muscle. By swinging the club with the same abandon that he laced ski turns as a boy racer in icy Vermont, Keegan has found grace on the edge. “He has that certain recklessness necessary for a great swing,” says his coach, Jim McLean. “He’s totally fearless, and it’s a joy to watch.” Though Bradley frequents the gym, he’s more in tune with what sits on his shoulders. One of his most enduring swing thoughts came from a hypnosis session with his golf team at St. John’s University. “I focus on my facial muscles. When you can get your mouth to relax, your whole body relaxes,” Bradley says. And then he swings as hard as he can.

Keegan’s skiing background definitely helped him progress faster, says Jim McLean, who started working with Bradley in 2009, a season when he played more Hooters Tour events than Nationwide.

“He has this innate sense of how to be alive on his feet,” McLean says. “Even when we were incorporating new changes, he never stopped swinging like he was popping out of a starting gate.”

As if most mini-tour players aren’t already maddened by the notion that a few small adjustments is all that separates them from major stardom, the changes McLean suggested to Keegan weren’t drastic. “The main thing was getting his hips to line up underneath his shoulders at the top, or what’s called stacking the right side,” McLean says. “Keegan’s upper body had a tendency to lean away from the target too much as he drew the club back.”

Curbing this sway would help with consistency, but McLean didn’t want to tamper with his student’s aggressive athleticism. “Keegan’s head shifts three or four inches to the right in his backswing, but that’s OK. If you’re really going to hit the ball far, it’s a mistake to try to keep your head in one place,” McLean says. “What matters is that the body stays coiled.

“Keegan’s transition from backswing to downswing is absolutely perfect, the way his legs go forward as the club is still going back. Amateurs usually start the downswing with everything together, or their upper body going first.”
In the unrestrained transition, the discerning eye can see the boy racing gates, skiing edge to edge.

— Max Adler

Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (effective 3/21/12) and Privacy Policy (effective 3/21/12).

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The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast.

When I’m hitting the ball great, I know my arms and body are matching up well. But sometimes my body takes over at the start of the downswing. That’s when I can hit some crooked shots. I want my arms to pull my body, not the other way around, in both directions–swinging back and swinging down.

That’s probably different from what you’ve heard, with all the talk these days about turning the body. The reality is, most golfers have too much body turn and not enough arm swing as they start down. For me, it’s my hips that turn too fast. That spins my body open and pushes the club to the outside, so I swing across the ball and hit pulls and fades. For many amateurs, the problem isn’t the hips but the shoulders opening too fast. The result is the same: The body races out of sequence, the arms lag behind, and the club cuts across the ball.

To groove your downswing, here are a couple of thoughts: (1) Keep your back to the target for as long as possible, and (2) feel like your chest is facing the ball at impact. These cues will get your arms swinging down in front of you instead of being dragged through by an overactive body. Give them a try, and check out my two downswing drills (below).

Pump Drill

Get in your setup, take it to the top (1) and practice swinging the club halfway down and stopping. Repeat this a few times and–here’s the key–don’t let your hips start unwinding (2). You’ll feel your arms come down in front of you. After a while, hit some balls: Swing to the top, pump down twice and on the third time go ahead and rip it. This drill will activate your arms.

Preview Drill

Here’s a great way to train your body to feel proper impact. Take your address with an iron, and then mimic a good impact position. Push the handle forward, shift your weight to your front foot, get up on the toes of your back foot. Your hips should be open but your chest facing the ball (below). Really feel that position, then repeat it when you swing.

IMPACT PLAYER: Learn to master impact by posing these positions: weight left, hips open, shaft leaning forward.

ZACH JOHNSON has won seven times on the PGA Tour, including the 2007 Masters.