By Paul Myers
In Part One of this post, we identified two players among the top five best golf swings in the present day – Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods. In this post, we deal with the remaining three. It should be no surprise that the players on this list are also among the most-accomplished over the last couple decades. With golf swings like these, good results are sure to follow.
Fred Couples
Freddy is one of the most-popular golfers of all-time, beloved for his laid back attitude and golf swing to match. Rather than creating power with an aggressive, muscular action like so many modern players, Fred takes a more-fluid approach. Watching Couples swing the club is something close to poetry-in-motion, as he makes hitting 300 yard drives look completely effortless.
It is truly hard to believe that Couples hits the ball as far as he does when you watch him swing. From an open stance, he takes the club up steeply on the backswing and reroutes it back inside the ball on the way down. Relying on a go-to fade shot the majority of the time, Freddy can still move it out there with the big boys even as he moves further into his 50’s. There will come a day when Couples decides to no longer compete at the highest level – but golf fans all over the world hope that day is still a long way off and continue to see him among the best golf swings…
Ernie Els
Along with Fred Couples, Ernie Els is another one of the most-popular golfers in the world, and he too has a laid back style and swing. Appropriately nicknamed ‘The Big Easy’, Els is able to use his large frame to produce impressive power without the appearance of a lot of effort. The mechanics of Els’ swing are a little more traditional than the looping swing of Couples, yet the smooth tempos are strikingly similar.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Els, again like Couples, is aging gracefully on the golf course. Well into his 40’s, Els remains highly competitive having won The Open Championship as recently as 2012. Ernie keeps the club extended nicely during his backswing and is able to use that wide arc to accumulate speed down into the impact position. The result is powerful, efficient, consistent, and among the best swings in the world.
Adam Scott
Having finally gotten the major championship ‘monkey’ off his back, Adam Scott can finally be recognized for what he is – one of the best golfers in the world. As far as golf swings go, it might not get any better than the one Scott brings with him week after week. Technically, many consider it is as close to perfection as it gets. Add in Scott’s impressive build and level of fitness, and the results are truly spectacular.
Unlike Els and Couples, there is a little more obvious effort during Scott’s swing. He represents everything that we now expect in a modern swing – big shoulder turn, solid base, wide arc, and aggressive acceleration. Scott certainly has plenty of distance both off the tee and with his irons, but he also controls the ball beautifully.
So, which of these five best great swings should you copy for your own game? Well, probably none of them. Rather, you should learn things from all of them and apply them in a way that makes sense for the swing you already have. By watching any of these five swings, you should be able to learn things about the golf swing that you might not have known previously. Think then about what parts of their swings could help you, and try to integrate those elements into your practice sessions. You won’t end up with a swing that looks like one of these professionals, but you will hopefully find more power and consistency in your ball striking as a result.
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