by: B.J. Hathaway
David Leadbetter’s new “A swing” theory has gotten a lot of attention lately and his star pupil Lydia Ko is apparently changing her swing to this new concept. Although I cannot endorse this new method, any swing method can be used to create a repeatable swing if the student is willing to practice enough to memorize it.
There was an “A” swing however that existed long before Mr. Leadbetter’s idea, and that was the one Mr. Hogan used.
From the face-on view, Hogan’s lower body formed the letter A with the right leg being the left side of the letter. His hips then moved 1-2″ towards the target very late in the back swing to finish this move. Typically this would cause early extension, but from the down-the line view he never moved closer to the ball. His moves were so subtle, and from that view you cannot see any lateral motion only turn. In the down swing, his left hip appears to go “deeper” behind him than the right did in the back swing. Absolutely no early extension in this swing!!
Mr. Hogan’s pivot was flawless, which enabled him to hit the sweet spot time and time again.