Who has the best swing of all time?

Good day golfers. I hope you are enjoying the season. I don’t know how much more we have but it would be nice to have an Indian summer.

Today’s question comes from Joe in Redmond and his question is who has the best swing of all time?

After getting this question, I thought the answer would come easy. However, as I started thinking about the possible answers, many possibilities came to mind.

Of the current players, I am partial to the golf swings of Stuart Appleby, Adam Scott, Tiger Woods, Rory McElroy, and Ernie Els.

All of these are very sound technically allowing the players to hit the ball very solid with a high swing speed giving them the luxury of being able to hit the ball far while maintaining control.

These swings tend to be very simple and efficient, trademarks of the modern era. To look at some of the other swings that I feel are worthy we need to look at some of the older players such as Sam Snead, Julius Boros, Al Geiberger, and Payne Stewart.

These swings are very rhythmical and involve more body movement. The biggest difference between these two sets of swings is basically technology.

First there is the technology in the playing equipment that is being used today and secondly the equipment that is being used for instruction. Nowadays video, swing monitors, simulators etc. are being used to breakdown the swing in very small parts whereas before there was very little technology available to instructors.

The other technology is in playing equipment. With a lack of available options in shafts, heads, and materials, the older players needed to adjust their swings to the equipment.

The modern players have an infinite amount of options which has allowed them to develop very technically sound swings and fit the equipment to that swing. That is why I feel that the older player’s swings have more character that the modern swings.

Even though these swings are drastically different, they do have a very important similarity; they get the club head through impact the same way. When studying these swings there are three positions that they have in common.

On the downswing when the hands are just in front of the back leg the club head is up, at impact the hands are leading the club head with the shaft leaning towards the target and just past impact with the hands in front of the front leg where the club head is turned over with the toe pointing to the sky and the arms are naturally extended toward the target.

I read long ago that these three positions are a must to get to if a player is to become a good ball striker with the rest of the swing being personal style. I have patterned my swing after this thought.

Remember a good golf swing is nothing more than a swing that is repeatable and includes these three positions.

Tyrone Hardy is co-owner of Hardy Golf LLC. and Director of Golf at Ballinger Lake GC.