The swing everyone dreams about produces playoff victory at Colonial for the world’s No. 1 golfer
May 29, 2014- It is a swing that is the most admired on the PGA Tour for its fluidity, its effortless beauty and the efficiency in which it generates power. It is why nobody is every surprised when Adam Scott wins a tournament – which he did this past weekend at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. How Scott creates this swing of beauty is relatively simple.
“Adam Scott is a master at keeping his head steady and his body centered, which in turn, gives him the ability to maintain his spine angle during his swing,” said Lou Guzzi of Talamore Country Club in Ambler, PA., and one of Golf Magazine’s Top 100 Teachers. “This is what instructors call ‘staying in the shot,’ and Adam does it as well as anyone in the history of the game.”
Guzzi is one of the Top 100 Teachers who breaks down Scott’s museum-quality swing in Golf Magazine’s newest instruction book – PLAY LIKE A PRO (Time Home Entertainment Inc., 2013; $29.95, Hardcover). In PLAY LIKE A PRO, Golf Magazine’s Top 100 Teachers – the nation’s most elite group of golf instructors – analyze the techniques and moves of the game’s elite and make them accessible to the average player.
One of the featured PGA TOUR pros in the book, Scott’s chapter is – not surprisingly – on the full golf swing. Scott said it was based on copying that of his idol, Greg Norman, but Top 100 Teacher Mike Adams of the Medalist Club in Hobe Sound, Fla. writes that it actually more resembles Tiger Woods’ swing, vintage 2000.
“Scott swings on his right-arm plane with massive extension on the takeaway and incredible hip-speed through impact. That’s vintage Tiger,” Adams writes. “Add the best setup in golf and you have the perfect recipe for balance and speed.”
You also have an enviable recipe for ball-striking. Scott’s seamless swing enabled him to claw out from an early hole he dug. He was 2-over through 27 holes and in danger of missing the cut. Then, Scott’s swing and steady putter produced three birdies and six pars over his last nine Friday holes.
From there, Scott rolled out twin 66s on the weekend to force a playoff with Jason Dufner. With two of the last five major champions taking on a classic shot-maker’s course, Scott prevailed by not missing a fairway or green in the three-hole playoff. He finished off Dufner after splitting the 18th fairway with a 301-yard 3-wood, then hitting his gap wedge to 7 feet
At Colonial, Scott was in the top-10 in both fairways (37-of-56/66 percent) and greens-in-regulation (52-of-72/72 percent). Not only is he No. 1 in the world, but Scott is No. 1 on the Tour in the All Around category, one that measures his overall statistics in scoring, putting, eagles, birdies, sand saves, greens-in-regulation, driving distance and driving accuracy.
In otherwords, the No. 1 player in the world has the No. 1 total golf-swing package. This is no coincidence.
“Easy power starts with a balanced, athletic address,” Scott said. “You know you have it when you feel like you can move in any direction – like a linebacker after the ball is snapped – once you sole the club.”
Few people will ever know the feeling of being the No. 1 golfer in the world, but but in PLAY LIKE A PRO, they can learn how to harness and channel some of Scott’s full-swing secrets.
In the book, Scott’s swing and power sources are broken down and analyzed by several Top 100 Teachers. Practice drills that show how to increase power, generate proper rotation and get your hands and club on the right path are also included by Guzzi and Adamrs, along with fellow Top 100 Teachers Laird Small (Pebble Beach Golf Academy, Pebble, Beach, CA), Krista Dunton (Berkeley Hall, Bluffton, S.C..) and Scott himself.
Pictures of Adams’ full-swing breakdown of Scott’s swing, Small’s tactic to gain extra power and Dunton’s “power circles” method are ready to scan to video.
“Stealing even a few of his moves will make your error-prone full swing a thing of beauty and add yards and accuracy in the process,” writes David DeNunzio, the managing editor-instruction for Golf Magazine.
GOLF MAGAZINE: PLAY LIKE A PRO
By GOLF Magazine’s Top 100 Teachers
Edited and Introduction by David DeNunzio, Managing Editor-Instruction, Golf Magazine
Publisher: Time Home Entertainment Inc.
Publication date: October 22, 2013
$29.95, Hardcover, ISBN: 978-1-60320-239-8
About the Authors:
GOLF MAGAZINE, one of the most widely read golf publications in the world, presents award-winning features and articles every month to help golfers stay on top of their game. Golf.com provides up-to-the-minute news from the professional tours, live scoring, and course and equipment ratings that can’t be found anywhere else. Its video instruction library features hundreds of score-saving tips and drills from the Top 100 Teachers in America.
THE TOP 100 TEACHERS IN AMERICA, Golf Magazine’s team of instruction professionals, are recognized as the best coaches in the game. There are more than 28,000 PGA of America members, and the magazine selects only the 100 most elite among them to help golfers lower their scores, improve their swing, hammer the ball longer and putt lights-out. For more information, visit golf.com/instruction.
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