Trackman’s launch monitors, as well as 3D swing analysis technology, are becoming more and more common. I think it will bring a new era to professional golf and instruction in general. The current trend of teaching swings will disappear. It’s a style that dates back more than 100 years.
You can see this ‘classic style’ of swinging as it features more energetic hips and legs and free clubhead release. It dates back to 1900. James Braid (John Henry Taylor), Harry Vardon and Harry Vardon were known as ‘The Great Triumvirate. They won 16 British Open titles within 21 years. Surprisingly, the trio won five of their 16 British Open titles in 21 years. One was runner-up.
The three-year-old swing featured an early version of the freelifting left heel in the backswing. It also had a swinging spine. To ensure suppleness, the left arm could be bent slightly at the elbow. For suppleness, the clubhead was to be thrown in a baseball style lashing sidearm motion. Braid, a rumored to have been woken one morning with this idea. Soon Braid was driving the balls insanely far for his time – maybe as far as 325 yards!
Walter Hagen in 1920 and Bobby Jones 20 years later continued the swing tradition. The latter refined the style through practice and thought. At Eastlake Country Club, Mike Austin was probably influenced by Jones around this time.
There is some evidence that Austin may have been gifted in golf at an early age. But it was Eastlake where his true potential was revealed. Austin was a strong, muscular young man who began to make more impressive drives almost every day. At first, the drives were over 300 yards of lake. Then, they went on to 350. Finally, Austin was hitting more prodigious drives in tournament play.
Mike Austin is a gifted and talented athlete. But he was just as shrewd in his studies. Although his college experience is questionable at the moment, Austin still managed to gain a basic understanding of all his subjects. Austin was able to master psychology, physiology and then engineering and apply them all to golf swing. Austin was awarded a PhD degree in Kinesiology by 1946. He had refined the traditional swing model to scientific perfection.
Mike slowly improved his raw swing, becoming more precise and measured. With it, distance and accuracy increased. Mike spent a lot of time studying the anatomy and physics behind the swing. This resulted in what was often called “the perfect golf swing”. Mike said that his technique is the ‘best way to hit a golf ball.
This style of swing has many benefits. The body’s 12 levers are used to generate large amounts of power. They also help in swinging the clubhead into the ball by turning it around an elliptical wheel. This allows for maximum energy transfer from collisions. For weight transfer from foot to feet, the spine can also be used as leverage. In the same way as other sports such as tennis or racquetball and baseball, the clubface movement is controlled precisely by your wrists and forearms.
The Austin swing has another advantage: it reduces the risk of injury. The Austin swing puts less strain on the joints than modern golf swings because they only move in accordance with their designs. Even though the golf stroke is standard, it can pose a risk to the lower back and lumbar spine. Today’s golf styles put an enormous amount of pressure on the lower spine, and it is not uncommon for young players to sustain chronic injuries.
Let’s get the technology going! Trackman supports Mike Austin’s “Under. Up. and Out” philosophy. It shows that the ball is more likely to carry and roll if hit higher from the driver’s inside.
It is clear that scientists have finally begun to investigate the mystery of the golf swing. The Austin swing as well as the original swing are certain to hold up. This will usher in an era of swinging and teaching which looks suspiciously similar to 1950.