“Golf My Way” by Jack Nicklaus: Pre-Shot Routine

5 comments

1. Jack had an interesting swing that I’ve heard referred to as ‘rock and block’. Many tried to copy, some with success and some not. His upright swing and Hogan’s flat swing had few similarities except results for each. So many ways to place the club head on the ball effectively that one hardly ever tires of trying to improve.

2. He had the great physical gift of being able to throw everything he had at the ball and it was repeatable. He once mentioned that when he was under pressure he saw things in slow motion. Just an extraordinarily gifted individual. Kind of like that with Lee Trevino as well…. I watched him hit balls back in the early '80s. And it was almost as if there was no thought they're just gifted with athletic ability to move through the ball and it's repeatable. Cheers!

3. With regards to the waggle. Like a metronome it's rhythmic. Then that stop and the cock of the head. It was almost like a rubberband releasing its potential energy. And he knew where that ball was going every time.

4. A lot of the long drive champions pump their feet up and down and back and forth aggressively before drawing the club back. Good point. Bobby Jones also swiveled his head to the right before starting his swing.

5. What you didn’t mention but did instinctively out of habit in the first minute of this video is stand and grip the club exactly as he suggested with lead arm hanging naturally, hand turned inward 45° then just letting the handle of the club fall into it, then pulling it back so the butt end points at the belt buckle which is what creates the ideal ‘connection’ fulcrum point for lead arm across the pectorals, which I found worked much better for me after I started swimming laps and developed ‘pecs’ which have me good connect.

   Not performing that sequence of ‘connecting’ moves — grip naturally, pull towards center — is what dooms a golf swing from the start. What I see those with poorly coordinated swings do instead is allow the lead arm to hand and swing freely —like the swinging trunk of an elephant walking — independent from the movement of the shoulders, and not pulling the club back to center which angles the shaft forward too much at address and causes an ‘arms and hands first’ takeaway to pronate the lead hand which swings the club around still stationary hips and shoulders too low and too much inside which I did from 1983 when learning until 1987 when I read Golf My Way and used it as Gospel.

   In this video you hit on the other benefit of gripping with arm and hand hanging naturally and pulling back to center which is the reflexive movement of the hips and shoulders in sync with the waggle but what is causing that to happen is actually that connection of lead arm across pectoral up at the armpit which makes it impossible to move the hands independently of the shoulder turn which is why the waggling mass of the club head causes shoulders and hips to move harmonically in unison like the clicking of falling dominos. Without the connection at the armpit the lead arm ‘domino’ never connects with the body mass ‘domino’ 😊