Jordan Spieth finished his third round yesterday in the Masters with the one shot lead with which he started the day. His game from tee-to-green was wanting. He miss-hit many full shots to the right of his target. Even though he is such a golfing phenomenon, this is a problem he’s been having sometimes under pressure in the majors. It especially happens in the closing holes, when he would typically feel more pressure, as it did yesterday. He had a four shot lead with two holes to play yesterday. On both closing par fours, he hit his tee shot way right and finished with bogey on seventeen and double-bogey on eighteen.
This is a problem I’ve blogged about before concerning Jordan Spieth’s golf swing. The best part of his golf swing is that he has terrific rhythm, probably the best of any pro now. But his big problem is that he blocks with his left arm on his forward swing. That means that at impact his left arm is not straight, as it should be; rather, his left arm is bent, so that his left elbow is in front of his hands at impact and thereafter for some time into his upswing. This causes the clubface to aim to the right of his target at impact, resulting in a missed shot to the right. The proper swing is to have your left arm straight at impact and then let it rotate naturally so that the clubface turns over (toe moves ahead of the heel). Jordan actually does this constantly when he makes his many little practice swings before he hits his shots.
Another element that often accompanies a block left arm is that the player comes “off the ball” as we used to call it. That means that the player straightens his/her body early in the upswing so that the end result is that the head comes up too quickly. “Keep your head down” is old and good advice in golf; but it can be misunderstood. You do want to keep your head down in the sense that you don’t lift it up until the ball is one its way. But after your hit the ball you want to gradually turn your head and allow it to come up as your body straighten some on your follow through and you can comfortably look at the ball as it begins to land on the ground and roll.
One time I played in the pro-am at Doral with the great Yankee baseball player Joe DiMaggio. What a charming guy. And he had a really good golf swing. That was a delight for me. At the end of the round, I asked Joe, “Joe, what was the most important think you thought of when you hit a baseball.” He immediately answered, “Keep your eye on the ball.” Then he added, “I think it’s also true of golf.”
I had often heard that advice about the golf swing. But I had never paid much attention to it. When you hit a golf ball, if you concentrate on looking at the ball so that you don’t quit looking at it until you hit it, you will not “look up” and come “off the ball.” When that happens, your body straightens too early in the upswing, your left arm can be bent at impact, and the common result is that you impart the clubface at impact so that it aims to the right of your target.
Surprisingly, Spieth does not think his blocky left arm at impact and thereafter is a problem for him. Early this week in a media interview at the Masters, Jordan Spieth said he and his swing coach Cameron McCormick believe his swing is right on track. I disagree strongly with that. Moreover, a blocky left arm at impact (for right handed golfers) is a very serious flaw in golf. What errors does it produce? It is easier to consistently impart the clubface square to your target line at impact with a straight left arm than with a bent left arm. And a bent left arm at impact slightly reduces clubhead speed because it slightly shortens the distance between your left shoulder and the clubhead.
The ideal way to swing a golf club is to have a straight left arm at impact. I would say it is major fundamental of the golf swing. For many decades, I’ve often heard that it is important to have a straight left arm in your backswing. I actually thought that was true early in my pro golf career, even though it was never an issue for me. But there have been several great pro golfers who were great ball strikers who had a bent left arm at the top of the their backswing. They include Harry Vardon, Walter Hagen, Curtis Strange, Angel Cabrera just to mention a few. But all of those players had a very straight left arm at impact, which is what matters. In fact, I would say that it is easier to get a straight left arm at impact if you have a bent left arm at the top of your backswing than it is when you have a straight left arm at the top of your backswing.
As I’ve blogged before, this is the one thing Ben Hogan told me about my golf swing. He said I was swinging my left elbow around too far on my finish. This is another way of describing a blocky left arm. Spieth doesn’t do that as bad as I did simply because he doesn’t swing around to a more full finish as I did. Nevertheless, he blocks more with his left arm than I did. One TV analyst at the Masters this week described this error in Spieth’s swing as a “high left elbow” on the follow through. People have different ways of describing the same flaw, which most pros in my day called a “blocky left arm.”
Let’s see if Spieth can overcome hitting shots to the right due his blocky left arm and still win the Masters today. If he does, he will set more records as he has been doing.
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