Pro Vs. Joe

How to take your swing from average Joe to touring pro in no time.

By Brady Riggs, PGA. With Mike Chwasky Photos By Warren Keating

JOE
His right-side tilt at impact throws his arms out during the release. His hands are more active than the PRO’s. This helps produce a slight draw, but can easily lead to inconsistency.

PRO
With less tilt at impact he’s able to rotate his shoulders more level during the release. This allows his hands to work left and not out, removing the need to use his hands to square the clubface.

Jesper Parnevik’s clubface seems attached to the ball during the release.
This gives him control over the trajectory of his shots and makes it easier for him to shape shots. Driving the arms and hands with the body is key.

Less flexibility in the body requires more active hands.

The position of the body at impact dictates the differences in release from PRO to JOE. JOE’s upper body is leaning back at impact. As a result, his clubhead will pass the hands more quickly than the PRO’s, producing more hand action and clubface rotation. When combined with JOE’s slightly inside swing path, the typical ballflight produced is a draw.

In contrast, the PRO’s hands and clubface are much more passive. The “stacked” position of the PRO’s body keeps his hands and clubhead in-line well past impact. This limits face rotation and moves his hands, arms, club and body through impact as a unit.
This enables the PRO to maintain control over the ball’s trajectory and shot shape much more effectively than JOE. If you feel pretty sure that you’re a JOE, it’s best to let your hands release the clubhead quickly, or pushes and slices will result.

JOE
A lack of flexibility makes it impossible for him to rotate his body completely at the finish. When his body stops short, his hands have
to play a much more active role.

PRO
With a stronger core and more flexibility, he’s able to complete his finish and point the right shoulder at the target. More body equals less hands and more consistency.

Don’t expect to finish like a PRO if your body won’t let you.

The finish is all about flexibility. While these two positions can be effective, the differences are obvious. JOE’s lack of flexibility makes it difficult to rotate his hips and shoulders completely around to his target. His hip rotation has stopped short of the PRO’s, causing his right shoulder to point right of the target. The PRO is able to continue rotating his body to the point where his right shoulder actually points directly at his target. This is made possible by the PRO’s flexibility and the neutral, centered positions he produced during the swing.

Once again, this is a situation in which it’s much better for JOE not to try to copy the PRO. If you consider yourself a JOE, and you try to finish like Tiger or Zach Johnson (above), you’re likely to hurt yourself. Instead, concentrate on maintaining your balance into the finish and let your level of flexibility and core strength dictate what your finish looks like.

Want to see more of Brady’s Pros vs. Joes instruction? Visit our site, golftipsmag.com, and check out the Video/Instruction section. It brings the story to life in a full, high-definition widescreen format.

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Pro Vs. Joe

How to take your swing from average Joe to touring pro in no time.

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