Jordan Spieth
Jordan Spieth – current number one golfer in the world. Great golfer, great human being!
This is an anatomical analysis of his swing, showing how even he can get still better with an anatomical solution.
You would find little of significance to complain about with regard to his swing, using traditional means of assessment. With good timing, little things like the lead wrist position at the top can be easily undone during the downswing.
The concept is totally different when looked at from an anatomical perspective, however. At the top, his trail shoulder is internally rotated and his hips are not level – the trail one is higher. Each golfer’s brain will have him undo these positions in any random sequence which is easiest for his body – during the process the world of traditional golf terms ‘transition’.
Jordan’s particular ‘undo’ style is to first drop down his trail trunk till his hips and knees are practically level. From this point, given the flexion of his spine, hips and knees, the hip joints get compressed and cannot rotate as easily as when the golfer stands tall.
He then rotates his trail leg – thigh, mainly – a pattern often seen in junior golfers, who then typically retain that move for life.
This push-off can be dangerous for three reasons: 1) whenever the trail thigh is pushed forward rapidly, it naturally takes the trail shoulder forward with it too, sometimes resulting in an over-the-top impact and a slice or a fade. 2) The hips do not have a horizontal-plane pure rotation, so they do not generate as much power-speed as one would expect for an athlete of his stature. 3) The push-forward of the trail thigh is also probably his body’s unique way of undoing the top-of-backswing internal rotation of his trail shoulder.
The chicken wing in the late follow-through is also an indication of top-of-backswing shoulder internal rotation.
The partial solutions for Jordan Spieth:
- Reduce the inhibition of the serratus anterior, trapezius (especially mid-) and rhomboids so the shoulder blades (scapulae) sit snugly against his thoracic-wall, to slightly help reduce internal trail-shoulder rotation
- Do not push-off with the trail leg, keep the foot grounded until momentum pulls it off.
The complete solution for Jordan Spieth:
1. Use the Minimalist Golf Swing! All joints positioned perfectly at the top for an effective downswing, because with Minimalist the ‘top’ is the top of the downswing, not of the backswing, from which a ‘transition’ is required and is the most common time during which inconsistencies occur.
