How Scottie Scheffler’s Swing Works | Film Study | Golf Digest

Scottie Scheffler has become the best and most consistent golfer in the world, yet he’s done it with a very unique swing. So how does his swing work? Why do his feet move? What is the secret to his consistency? Our very own Luke-Kerr Dineen is here to explain. In this episode of Film Study, we break down the swing of the World Number One and explain how your swing can benefit from what Scottie does so well.

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Everybody always looks at this part of Scotty Sheffller’s golf swing. But the problem is that they miss the most important bit. And that piece, the piece you can actually learn from, it’s been there this whole time. From his time as a kid to a junior golfer to a college player and now to the dominant world number one that he’s become. Scotty works on it with his coach Randy Smith relentlessly. It’s the engine of every golf swing and Scottish Sheffller has tuned it better than anybody else and it’s one of the big reasons why he’s become such a dominant ball striker. The best we’ve seen since Tiger Woods. Wow, that is so good. Took a little while to figure it out, but boy did he flush that one. Let’s dive in. So, this is the part of Scottish Sheffller’s golf swing that everyone loves, the flailing, sliding feet. But that move, it’s not really a cause. It’s an effect. It’s the light bulb turning on after you’ve already flipped the switch. To find a really important bit, you need to rewind to what happens. Starting right here, look at Scotty’s right leg as he begins his back swing. his hips and body turn, but his right leg stays in pretty much the same amount of bend that it started with. Now, this idea, the idea of keeping your right knee bent, is kind of a controversial move in golf swing circles. It started because of a big study called the X factor, which found that the most powerful golfers at that time had the biggest difference between their hip turn and their shoulder turn. In other words, they turn their shoulders a lot more than their hips. And that’s true for Scotty, too. You can see it. Just look right here. The problem was that a lot of people misunderstood the findings of this really good study. And they started teaching people to make a big shoulder turn while trying not to turn their hips to resist. For some golfers, this worked. But the strain of this move caused a lot of other golfers, sometimes even the best golfers in the world, back pain. Cut. Oh my god. This is uh probably 40 yards, maybe 50 yards left of the green. Wow. And it went down pain. It’s a death sentence in the golf swing. And it’s why this move is taught differently now than it was in the ‘9s and early 2000s. When you fast forward to now, most teachers acknowledge that hip turn itself is very good, but there is a wrong way to get it. The key is to stretch and turn your body at the same time. Imagine a big rubber band from your left foot to your right shoulder like you see David Leadb better doing right here. You want to turn while keeping this rubber band nice and tight. And this stretch contract move is actually very consistent when you do it properly because this is how our bodies are designed. Our oblique muscles power our ability to turn and they run all down our body in a kind of X pattern. If you want to snap them hard, you need to stretch them big. And if you want to stretch them big, you need to pull them apart the way they were designed, which isn’t just turning, it’s turning up and across. Amateur golfers often cheat this move. Yes, they turn, but they turn without stretching. Often, you’ll see them doing this by locking out their right leg and toppling their body back over to the left. Other times, you can see them getting smaller during their back swing, almost like they’re shrinking. They’re turning again, but they’re not really producing that stretch that they need. That doesn’t just cost them power, but also consistency because you’re not really using your muscles the way they work best. But Scotty, of course, doesn’t do this. As he turns into his bent right leg, he’s stretching all of these big leg muscles in his right leg. Then, as he lifts and turns his arms all the way to the top, look how high they get. He’s stretching all these muscles in his upper body. Now too, this turning and stretching, this is like 80% of your golf swing. And Sheffller hasn’t just spent years with his coach, Randy Smith, working on the technique of this. He trains relentlessly in the gym with his fitness coach, Dr. Troy Van Bezen. Day after day, they train getting better at turning and stretching and turning and stretching. I do work very hard at tournaments, but I would say my days are longer at home for sure. I mean, the the amount of work that we put in at home to get here to a tournament site to be ready to play is is pretty extensive. And I step on the first tea, I tell myself, I’m prepared. I’ve done everything I could to play good this week, and it’s time to go out and compete and do our best. He’s perfecting a movement. That is again how we are designed to work. Scotty’s working with his body, not against it. And this is why his golf swing lasts. Even when he’s tired, even when he’s not feeling it, even when it’s raining or he’s not 100% physically, Scottish Sheffller has put the time in getting this big important movement right. And with the engine of his car in such good shape, it allows Scotty to spend time to focus on all the other little details. Fundamentals like getting his grip right and his alignment, dialing in his club face control and his routine. He keeps the big stuff in good shape so that during tournament weeks he can hone the boring fundamentals. It’s a recipe for day-to-day consistency. And as for his feet, like I said, this is kind of an after effect. After he stretches and turns up to his right on the back swing, his muscles contract forcefully down. Then after he hits the ball, it’s the same move just reversed. He starts stretching and turning up to the left this time. And when he does, he does this so hard, so much that he literally lifts himself off the ground. His feet slide as his body lifts towards the sky. And for a brief moment, the best player on the planet becomes weightless. It’s the true sign of an important move well-made. Yes, it may look a little funny, but the next time you see it, remember that there’s something far more important that you can learn from it.