{"id":1669,"date":"2007-03-02T16:00:07","date_gmt":"2007-03-02T21:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/columns\/trap_five\/goofiest_swings"},"modified":"2007-03-03T19:04:57","modified_gmt":"2007-03-04T00:04:57","slug":"goofiest_swings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/b\/trap_five\/goofiest_swings","title":{"rendered":"Goofiest Swings"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TrapWith swings only a mother could love, the following players have made our list of the five goofiest swings in golf. While none of these swings looks quite right, they share one thing in common: they are repeatable. The golfers who employ(ed) them can repeat the train-wreck time and again.<\/p>\n

Some important things are illustrated by the following players:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The game is about scoring, not aesthetics.<\/li>\n
  2. A repeatable motion is vital to success.<\/li>\n
  3. Golf is unique to each individual.<\/li>\n
  4. An outside-in takeaway followed by an inside-out swing path is shared by most good players.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    So have a look at professional golf’s wackiest swings and see if you agree with my take.
    \n<\/p>\n

    Number Five: Lee Trevino<\/strong>
    \nGenerally, if you see a guy that stands as open to the ball as Trevino does, plan on a good 40-yard slice. Trevino’s setup and outside-in move wins him the low-spot on the Trap Five<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    Trevino is the best known of the open-stance swingers. There aren’t many (or any?) who swing like Trevino these days. Paul Azinger, David Duval, David Toms, and Freddie Couples have grips that generally resemble Trevino but none of them strike the ball quite like him. <\/p>\n

    Trevino described himself as a blocker, taking the club way outside and slipping into his own special and extremely inside slot. His swing couldn’t be further from the average slicer’s swing. A typical weekend hack takes the club inside and swipes at it from the outside. So if you need to fix a slice you might keep Trevino in mind at the practice tee next time.<\/p>\n

    Number Four: Arnold Palmer<\/strong>
    \nThe man who popularized golf for the masses made the cut. While most of his swing looks fairly orthodox Arnold Palmer has what looks like the most painful looking followthrough in the golf world.<\/p>\n

    I’m assuming he developed that little loop at the end of his follow through to hold off his release somewhat. Had he released the club on his swing-plane he probably would have hooked the ball something fierce. But what do I know? He snagged a total of 60 PGA Tour wins including seven majors in a six-year burst. Not bad.<\/p>\n

    Palmer had a much more pronounced hip turn than what you would tend to see these days. The fact that he was able to synchronize his swing is a testament to his athleticism and precise release. <\/p>\n

    Number Three: Nancy Lopez<\/strong>
    \n\"NancyI don’t think Nancy Lopez<\/a> read Tour Tempo<\/em> before embarking on her illustrious career. What she lacked in good tempo she made up for in success.<\/p>\n

    She once said, “My swing is no uglier than Arnold Palmer’s, and it’s the same ugly swing every time.” Well, I have to disagree. Face on her swing looks a bit better than Palmer’s but watching down the target line shows her clubface is shut at the top and her shaft goes across the target line. Not good. Plus I think she picks the club up a little from address, but what do I know?<\/p>\n

    Nobody has been as successful as Nancy Lopez with such “poor” tempo. But aside from her tempo and back-swing issues her followthrough is full and free. This is the place she beats Palmer.<\/p>\n

    Lopez gets impact right with her left arm and club forming a strait line and her head behind the ball. If only I could get my impact position to look as nice.<\/p>\n

    Number Two: Jim Thorpe<\/strong>
    \n\"JimThorpe once said, “The reason we can play, is that it’s not about the golf siwng. It makes no difference how you swing the club as long as you can win the money.” Thankfully for Thorpe golf doesn’t award style points. And he has won the money. Thorpe is famous for his betting ways. The most he ever won was $55,000 off of someone in Detroit. “I figured if this guy wasn’t on tour, he couldn’t beat me,” said Thorpe. “I was right. He played like a dog, and I beat him pretty bad.” <\/p>\n

    Pete McDaniel said in a 2002 Golf Digest<\/em> article<\/a> that, “Thorpe’s golf swing is so full of moving parts it appears he’s fighting off a swarm of hornets in a phone booth.” Thorpe has heard it all before and once responded to the smart remarks by saying, “The one thing I know is that all the guys who make fun of my golf swing I can beat.”<\/p>\n

    Thorpe’s swing hasn’t gotten any better with age but he’s still making more money than me. Never-the-less, it hurts to watch him swing a club.<\/p>\n

    Number One: Jim Furyk<\/strong>
    \nI can’t remember anyone (apart from a couple of weekend slashers) who swings
    \nlike     Jim Furyk<\/a>. Furyk wins the goofy swing award for taking the club almost strait over his head and re-routing it so far inside that his hands are nearly touching his right pocket through impact.<\/p>\n

    David Feherty said Furyk’s swing looks like “an octopus falling out of a tree.” Again, whatever you might say about his swing, it is repeatable and accurate. It has won him a lot of money.<\/p>\n

    Photo Credits: © Essen-Heidhausen Golf Club<\/a>, © Golf Legends<\/a>, © SI.com<\/a>, © Georgia Encyclopedia<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Thankfully golf is as diverse as the people who play it. The following players show us that you don’t have to be an orthodox swinger to find success on the course.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trap_five"],"yoast_head":"\nGoofiest Swings (Trap Five) - The Sand Trap .com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/b\/trap_five\/goofiest_swings\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Goofiest Swings (Trap Five) - The Sand Trap .com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Thankfully golf is as diverse as the people who play it. 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