By:
Zephyr Melton
November 14, 2022
Golfers are sometimes instructed that the backswing needs to be “low and sluggish,” however in line with Prime 100 Instructor Bernie Najar, that recommendation is overrated.
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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The takeaway is the muse of any good golf swing, and traditional knowledge means that “low and sluggish” is the recipe for learn how to correctly draw again the membership.
However in line with GOLF Prime 100 Instructor Bernie Najar, that recommendation will be detrimental — particularly for golfers who need to generate energy.
“Taking the membership again sluggish is overrated,” Najar stated Monday from GOLF’s Prime 100 Instructor Retreat. “You’ve heard it for years, but it surely’s most likely the dumbest thought for many of the inhabitants in the event that they need to hit it additional.”
Producing extra energy within the swing requires extra clubhead velocity. And if you wish to generate that velocity, Najar stated, it’s essential to begin with a faster backswing.
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“The longest hitters on this planet have extra clubhead velocity within the backswing than you’d ever think about,” Najar says. “The entire function of taking the membership again is you’re increase potential power to switch to the membership and to the ball. If I’m going actually sluggish and cautious, I’m not going to out of the blue get explosive on the downswing.”
Take Jon Rahm. He has one of many quickest takeaways within the recreation, and he’s additionally one of many longest hitters. Matthew Fitzpatrick is one other case examine. As he’s added distance off the tee over the past a number of years, his backswing velocity has elevated as nicely.
“They’re simply snatching the membership again,” Najar stated. “As a result of there’s a response time within the mind the place if I take it again at 40 mph, I can get it to 120 mph, due to the three:1 ratio. So if I take it again at 10 mph, how am I going to get to 120? Most likely not very simply.”
You may be considering that this opinion is misguided contemplating the success that slow-backswingers (suppose Hideki Matsuyama or Xander Schauffele) have on the PGA Tour. However whereas these backswings look sluggish, they’re nonetheless constructing great potential power on their option to the highest.
“[Matsuyama and Schauffele] have far more of a slow-moving motion to observe, however their muscle tissue are firing exhausting whereas they do it,” Najar stated.
Whereas “low and sluggish” may be a preferred adage in golf, it may truly harm you should you’re searching for extra yards. If you would like extra velocity, it begins on the backswing.
Golf.com Editor
Zephyr Melton is an assistant editor for GOLF.com the place he spends his days running a blog, producing and modifying. Previous to becoming a member of the crew at GOLF.com, he attended the College of Texas adopted by stops with Workforce USA, the Inexperienced Bay Packers and the PGA Tour. He assists on all issues instruction and covers beginner and ladies’s golf.