A Thinking Mans Swing With Geoff Ogilvy

A Thinking Mans Swing With Geoff Ogilvy…

Known on the PGA Tour as a deep thinker, Geoff Ogilvy apparently doesn’t limit his thoughtfulness to current events and playing strategy. “He thinks a lot about the way he swings it,” says Dale Lynch, his longtime instructor from Australia who now teaches at the International Institute of Golf near Greenville, S.C. “When Geoff swings the club, he combines his brain power with his athleticism. He’s very clever that way.”

Teacher and student have focused on removing the “weak cut” from Ogilvy’s game. Almost every golfer fights an Achilles’ heel in his or her swing, Lynch says, and Ogilvy’s is a lateral slide of the hips toward the target during the downswing. This steepens his angle of approach into the ball and the result is a shot that goes high and right.

“We’re trying to shallow his approach and get him to square the clubface without having to roll his hands over to do it,” Lynch says.

To turn that weak cut into a powerful draw, Ogilvy tries to keep his arms out in front of his body, especially in the downswing. He then lets his right side power through the shot. One of the drills he uses to practice this move is to set up with the clubface open at address and then try to square it with his path into the ball.

“To do this he has to work the club out and around his body,” Lynch says. “He really has to feel that the club stays out in front of him as he fires through with his right side.”

Lynch adds that this is a good player’s problem, the opposite of what most amateurs should do, “so don’t try it at home.”

Ogilvy’s swing is still a work in progress, Lynch adds, but the photos here show impressive technique. “It’s no wonder he won the Mercedes Championship by six shots in January (and the Match Play in March),” he says. “But we still haven’t seen the best of Geoff Ogilvy.”

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