What we see in a good golf swing

[mvmac]

Obviously good swings produce good shots but we've all seen the swing, whether it's on the range or on the course, that has made us say, "THAT is a good swing".  In a golf swing there is structure, geometry and dynamics.  I think what is aesthetically pleasing are the dynamics, all the pieces are moving in relation to one another.  I was at a golf school this past weekend and Grant Waite was there.  He regularly tells the story of when he went to go see Mac O'Grady and asked Mac what he was suppose to look for in a good golf swing.  Mac answered, "A good swing has the maximum time to make minimal compensatory actions, an unorthodox swing has minimum time to make maximum amount of compensatory actions".

Here is Grant's swing, to me the best example of minimal compensations.  Even though he's focusing more on teaching now, he stil makes a lot of tour players jealous :)

[inthehole]

If I were to take a stab at what makes a good swing look good (that mid to high hc players don't often do)... 1. KEEP LEFT ARM DEAD STRAIGHT on the entire backswing (most of us aren't flexible enough to do this); 2. foward weight transfer / hip slide;  and 3. CLASSIC HIGH FOLLOW THROUGH (finishing with the belt buckle at target).

[MarioBevilacqua]

symmetry and balance are great eye catchers!

[bunkerputt]

If I could pick one thing, I know someone has a pretty good swing if their back foot slides towards the target a bit after impact.  Lack of recoil is always nice to see too.

[mchepp]

Really awesome thread here. For me it is effortless power. The guy I like to watch is on the range who looks like he is hitting the ball about 75 yards but the ball shoots off the face and goes for miles. Those swings I love to watch.

For me it was like when I would watch batting practice while working in the minors, guys who could really hit it never changed their facial expressions. It was an effortless motion for them. A really good batting practice coach told me that.

[JasonFL]

Great swing for sure!

I cant get over how open his front foot is (compared to what I thought was normal).  Clearing my hips is my crutch!  Gonna go wider with my front foot an see what happens.

[Slide-n-Slap]

Wow, thanks for sharing... MAC...nuff said...

[sean_miller]

When I see and hear the following, I think it's a good swing

- there's a very consistent ball then turf click/thump on every shot regardless of the iron used

- there doesn't appear to be any wasted motion in any direction

- the parts of the body that should be bent (or bending) are bent and the parts that should be straight (or straightening) are straight

- club head accelerating through impact and ball flight very consistent

- unless it was a specialty or recovery shot, post impact the deceleration to finish position is very smooth and effortless. The player is in a balanced finish position more often than not

[DeanS]

A finished backswing or that little pause at the top that says Ok I got it.