– Well hello, Adam Bazalgette here, founder of Scratch Golf Academy. Today we're gonna have a look at the great swing of Brooks Koepka, three
time major champion. (uplifting techno music)
(club clicking ball) So Brooks Koepka, let's
have a look at his swing. Now the purpose in my video,
when I do swing analysis, isn't so much to go into exhaustive detail but to give you some things to work on. So as we go through the video I'll show you a couple of things probably I would try to copy that he does and maybe something I wouldn't recommend so much. And we'll give you some drills for each. If you like the video, please subscribe to the channel. Scratch Golf Academy is my home website. Full courses in every
aspect of the game there. So there he is, Brooks Koepka. Looks like he's hitting a long iron in each instance here.
And obviously the first thing you notice is how strong and athletic he looks. Looks like he's a professional team sports player of some description. Claude Harmon, Butch
Harmon's son, is his coach. Obviously doing a phenomenal job there with his track record. First thing I notice is his posture. Very dynamic and athletic. His hips are about on the
inside of his ankle joints. A lot of people sit with their tail back behind their heels really. Toe line hits him right behind the tricep. And a pretty straight back. Not everybody can get that straight a look through their body line there. But it's a very, very athletic look. And again big, wide stance
there from the front view. Just strong and athletic. And here's the first thing in his swing that I would notice and the first thing that I would copy if I was most people without watching you swing. And you may say, well that club face looks a little closed to me. I really don't think it particularly is because again, as long has he hasn't altered the angle in the back of that hand just because the club face is looking down doesn't really mean it's truly closed.
But the great majority of people get this club back here and they get their hands active in the take-away. No such movement here. Just strong body movement off the ball. Everything, not rigid, but everything really together. And I think it's just a fantastic start to that pivot. So let's look at something you can work on for that. Then we'll get right back to Brooks and see the rest of his back swing. Okay, this element of the swing I'm telling you, it is hard to overdo. And it'll do you a power of good. Believe me, if the club
stays in front of you, stays on this side of your hands, it is so much more likely to get on plane and drop in. Golfers who get it here, unless they have the talent of they'll have to have the
talent of John Daly but this club is predisposed
to come over the top.
There's a lot of problems here. Here's the key, there's two real keys. Number one. Literally, you
cannot exaggerate this. I'm telling you you would be hard-pressed to feel that concave angle enough, feel the club looking at the ball enough. Unless you're changing
the angle of your hand. You're not shutting the face, believe me. And number two. Whatever you do, don't
try to place it there with these hand muscles. That's when people get into trouble. I feel like the relationship from my left arm to my body is staying exactly the same. I feel relaxed. I'm not aiming the club with my hands. I just have a very exaggerated sense of that concave feel.
And, of course, just play around with it on a small scale. Relax your mind. I've got a tee under this eight iron here. I'm gonna really exaggerate that. Small scale. (club clicking ball) Just chip one out there like that. Small scale. (club clicking ball) Again, that was probably
a little exaggerated. I don't care. I'm getting the feel. Let's have a look at the
rest of Brook's swing. So as we look at him
complete his backswing here.
Very strong look from there. But you'll see from this angle his arms really ride up a lot. That left arm really rises. It's up in front of his face. The left wrist starts to really bow. Now, most golfers could
not drop it in on plane from as upright as that arm position is. And they probably
couldn't, you know, avoid. They probably couldn't
get the face square enough through impact if they bowed
their left wrist that much. Now here's why I think that happens. It's a little bit unusual. At least in my humble opinion. If you look at Brooks's knees, let's say, at the beginning of his backswing. Let's look at a line on his rear end. Late in the backswing, that right knee literally doesn't go back at all. Nor does his right hip go back. So his hip turn, I won't say it freezes, but it really dries up. And when his right leg just locks in place his arms just go up there. Now, listen, most people if they did that, they would lose the
tilt of their body here.
They'd start to stand up. He's so strong and flexible that doesn't happen to him. But I think that's a difficult way for most people to play so I would certainly recommend his results. Hey, he's athletic enough to do that but I wouldn't recommend that move. I would vote for something
a little bit more let's say in the Sam Snead category.
Now watch his right leg and hip. Do you see how they
push back a little bit? And they push really in this direction somewhat. Now he looks wound. He doesn't look loose up there. But it's a lot more free and his left arm's able to get across his shoulders a lot more. Let's have a look at that for you. So best drill to get the feel for it. Get a driver if you're not that flexible and you need a wider object. Just get a broom handle or something. Put it behind your back. The old posture drill. But here's the key. When you bend forward there get your good posture. This right side here has to go both up and behind me. It's in a big diagonal line that way. Once you start to experience that you're gonna start to feel what you should feel in this ribcage. And you'll see my right
hip get a little taller.
My right thy go back a little bit. This is the engine that's gonna take those arms back in that plane and not cause you to stall and lift it up. You just have to customize it a little bit for yourself. Hey listen, I want to
create some resistance and some torque in my body for sure. Some resistance there so I feel some stretch up here. But I still want to feel like I can move and complete my backswing. What I may have to feel like, will likely be a little different for you. Play around with that with a stick til you get the right
amount of resistance. But this is going to put you in a great spot up there. With that great Sam Snead look as you get to the top. So as you look at his downswing here's something I would highly recommend. If I bracket his hips in just watch the drive he gets towards the target of those hips. And if you watch the leaves on the trees behind his left ear, say. His head's pretty stable as he does it. So as he drives those hips forward what he creates is some
side bend in the body.
His spine bends back a bit. And that is what drops
those arms back in there. Now he can really rotate
those hips a lot as well. I think for the average person. If they got their hips
that rotated that early in the downswing they might start to swing too much to the left. So, hey, if you can do that, that's fine. But certainly that drive
and those passive arms really set him up. Not only to get the club back on plane but to hit the ball in a heck of a long way. Fantastic line of compression there as he hits it between left arm and club.
And right through to the finish. And in my golf teaching, I don't see too many everyday golfers that get enough drive of the hips towards the target. Let's have a look at that. Now, many golfers quite
honestly don't even think don't even realize, let's say, there is a pretty good size lateral hip bump in most top players. So that's a disadvantage right there. You can see in Brooks that
that's happening, though. So the next thing is they
find it very difficult to do.
And enemy number one, I promise you, is prematurely thrusting
the club and arms down to get that thing sped up too much. What's going to happen, it's going to push weight into that foot. These great golfers as you saw Brooks do, they are fantastic at just momentarily leaving the club and arms in space. And that makes it so much easier to do. Again you'll find without a golf club it's pretty darn easy
to shift your weight. So problem number one. Here's a little drill I think you'll like. I've got this as an eight iron. I'm going to hit a short
distance off a tee. Make it easier. I'm going to set up to the ball. I'm going to bring this
left foot over to my right. And I'm going to do a
little step-through drill so that when I step in I'm stepping in to hopefully the correct position. And what I'm going to feel is a very exaggerated sense of relaxation, patience. I'm going to make a nice, big step. I may move my head a little bit forward.
Which I don't want to do but
it's okay for this drill. So let's try it here. (club clicking ball) Like that. Really start to get the feel. I can put pressure on that foot before I feel any move of the golf club. You can do this thing. You've just got to slow it down. You know, people get this information. They get out to the golf ball. They swing at full speed. They're judging their contact. That's not an environment you're going to shift this in.
So get in there now. I've done that drill. I've got that feel. Get my feel here. And again, very exaggerated sense of putting pressure down there. (club clicking ball) And then swinging through
a little bit like that. Alright finally. If you've watched some of my videos before you've probably heard me say this. On the downswing, don't
swing at the golf ball. That's not what we're trying to do. This hip business we've
just been talking about is supposed to get the club coming down as I shift forward. Not at the ball. Down. Underneath me and most importantly headed in that direction.
That's what we're trying
to accomplish here. So remember, the club swings down and out to the target. Mentally not at the ball so much. Let's see how I do here. Small scale. Feel the hip movement. (club clicking ball) Felt like I could swing underneath me and out that way pretty well that time. Hope this is helpful. Well, I hope that gave you some
insights into Brooks Koepka. Super talented player. Physically just a specimen, so. Big fan of his. And hopefully some things you can work on. If you like the video, please subscribe to the YouTube channel. Lots of content.
ScratchGolfAcademy.com's my home website. Hope you'll consider that. Thanks..