A Look At the Unorthodox Swings - Part 7

Here I look at Paul Azingers swing.

Azinger was one of the world's best players back in the late 80's and early 90's. He was known for having a very well rounded game of ballstriking and short game.

As you will see in the sequences below, he has a very strong grip and mostly hit a punch type of shot with every swing.



In the Advanced Ballstriking curriculum, there are some things that would be looked upon favorably. Azinger's downswing is on the "4:30 line' or the 'elbow plane.' He also had very good footwork as he was considered one of the more athletic golfers on the PGA Tour in his prime.

The big key to me is looking at the DTL sequence. Particularly looking at his swing at the top and then at the 1/2 way point of the downswing. His clubface is dead shut at the top of the swing, but at the 1/2 down point his swing is dead square.

One of the things we see from these good ballstrikers with unorthodox swings is that most of them have very orthodox downswings and do those important things like keeping the face square.

That being said, I think it's rare for a golfer with a very shut face at the top of the swing to get it square at the 1/2 down point. Usually I find that even good golfers with that shut of a face don't get the face square until right before impact. Then it becomes a question of whether or not they can square it up on time.





3JACK