I really like this face on slow-motion video of Beatriz Recari. It is excellent to learn fundamentals from. I will point out several of her swing positions that are great for you to try yourself.
Set up: 0:00. Beatriz has the ball forward of the middle of her feet, which is correct for hitting a tee shot with a fairway wood. The feet are slightly wider than the shoulders for our longer fairway woods and driver.
The first motion checkpoint we will look at is at 0:03 of her takeaway when her hands are waist high and the club is parallel to the ground. Her arms remain in front of her chest. She has begun to turn her back. She keeps her eyes on the ball.
0:04 At the top of the swing (feature photo top of the page), she has now reached a full back turn to the target while not budging her braced and flexed right knee, which has resulted in moving the majority of her weight to her right side. But it is on her right side properly. Her rear foot remains pinned down and pressing on the inside as it teams up with the flexed and braced right knee and accepts the majority of the weight from the turning of the back. Turning the upper body like this into a resisting lower body is a great example of torque, which we all want in our swing.
Beatriz always has terrific extension. See how far her hands are from her right ear? She has full torque with full extension. Her shaft is set at over a ¾, but plenty enough wrist cock! It is not necessary to have the shaft parallel to the ground. Many amateurs get the wrist cock, but do not get the torque and extension that is needed! Note the distance between her lead hip and the clump of tall grass to the right in the background.
0:05 start of the downswing. See how her lead hip has moved forward toward that clump of grass. The downswing starts with this lateral move of the lead hip. This is the proper sequence. Many amateurs do not lead the downswing with the lead hip and fire from the back foot, often leading to an outside in swing that cuts across the ball with an open face.
Her head remains behind the ball. Her left arm is parallel to the ground on the way down. Her wrists are still storing lag that she will release at the last moment of impact. See the club face tilt toward 1:00 at this stage? Many amateurs have the shaft tilted on the “other side of the clock” at this point which means they have not stored their wrist lag. Her back is still turned to the target as she made this led hip sequence move toward the target (another move to emulate)! Her lead hip will open in a strong rotational move after this little lateral move takes place.
0:11 Just before impact. See how her hands are in the lead just in front of her belt buckle and the clubface is still pointing to 7:00 pm? Her head is still behind the ball. Weight has shifted to her lead foot and her lead hip is opening up to the left. Opening up the lead hip while keeping the head behind the ball is a powerful move to practice. Her arms and hands are in front of her chest.
0:14 Impact. There is almost a straight line from her lead shoulder all the way down her lead arm to her ball. Here she unleashes all the stored lag in her wrists at just the right time! Her head is behind the ball at impact, which is what you want. The rear heal is lifted an inch or so at impact which is a great sign of a properly timed weight transfer. I like how she rolls off her rear foot onto the outside of her lead foot.
0:15 follow through. She allows her head to start to release toward her target. Leads hip is open. Note how her arms are extended out toward the target.
0:21 Finish. Beatriz’s rear foot is entirely up, showing everyone behind her the shoe size! This indicates a great weight transfer and a balanced finish. Her weight is on her left leg, which is braced and she has rotated around it. I like to see the right shoulder closest to the target, then the head, then the left shoulder. This indicates a fully released finish like Beatriz has here.
Beatriz Recari has a lot of positions to try to copy. Watching and learning from fundamentally sound swings like Beatrix’s always results in improvement!
Pete
Video courtesy of our friends at GolfSwingHD
