Style Or Results?

[JustOne]

If you could change your swing to something that looks worse, but produced better results, would you do it?

Define WORSE?

I changed to a funny 'leaning left' swing and ain't complaining about shooting 67 (well not any more).

I don't care what anyones swing looks like, it's results that matter, and hitting the ball consistently is a good start. From there on it's down to the guy holding the club what he wants to achieve.

I'd tie one hand behind my back if it worked better.... which it might judging from the way I've been swinging recently

 

[surefire]

The thing is, most average people have horrible looking swings anyway, so they may as well take the bit of performance and still have a horrible swing.

Also, personally, I really couldn't care what my swing looks like, I rarely actually see it, the worse it looks making my opponents violently sick, so they can't play, whilst producing the results I want, the better!

 

[JT77]

I like the way my swing looks, it's very nice so I have been told. But I wouldnt care if it looked like I was having a fit while swinging if it meant hitting more fairways and getting it close to the pin. No pics on the scorecard.

 

[Toby_LeRhone]

I've never seen a tour pro with an ugly swing.

 

[JT77]

Jim furyk?

 

[Toby_LeRhone]

Jim furyk?

Beautiful.

 

[kinhell]

I had a beatiful swing, or so I was told with everyone I played with. A overswinging (John Dalyesque) full follow through and pose, grip it and rip it type of swing. Slices and hooks galore that led to a 1 in 10 success rate but felt reel good when successful. That was for the first few years I played. I restarted playing in April this year after having lessons and now have an old fellas controlled swing giving me more accuracy. Don't care what it looks like but if it works well then thats what I'll stick with.

Looks ain't everything as I keep telling the mirror.

 

[surefire]

I've never seen a tour pro with an ugly swing.

Depends on your definition of ugly. I think in this case ugly is actually being used in place of unconventional. I also think we are looking at the whole motion, not certain parts, such as through impact.

So under the OPs definition of ugly, I would assume we are covering the Jim Furyks, Ricky Fowlers, John Dalys etc... but are perhaps looking at people like maybe Trevor Immelman or Ernie Els for prettier swings.

Region 3: Feel free to step in here and say if I am right or if you thin I am speaking a load of rubbish!

 

[Region3]

What I meant was really really ugly.

I'd happily take the swing of any pro that's been mentioned.
What got me thinking was watching the Moe Norman videos. Granted, his swing isn't really ugly, but it's definitely not conventional, but you can see that everything he does is designed to keep the face square for as long as possible.

I wouldn't try to swing like that even if it got me cut a couple of shots.

I've played with single figure guys at my place that I wouldn't want to swing like either, but it gets the job done for them.

Let's use an extreme example.

Would you be happy to look like THIS if it got your handicap down a couple of shots?

 

[JustOne]

Let's use an extreme example.

Would you be happy to look like THIS if it got your handicap down a couple of shots?

If I was playing off +5 and that swing enabled me to play off +7 and win the Masters, The Open, the PGA and The US Open.... then YES I'd change.

Unfortunately I can't see that swing even helping me win a game against Smiffy

 

[Region3]

Like I said at the start, I (and I'm certain most) would change if it meant being able to compete as a pro.

The very hypothetical question is, would you change to go from 6 to 4?

 

[HomerJSimpson]

OK we'll give the the Barkley swing but then he's never going to get to single figures. A lot of you have seen my swing and know that it isn't great. When it's on, I can contend but the days when it all clicks are rare. So where does that leave me in this hypothesis. I regularly get slated for having lessons and changing even though brick by brick the changes are building towards something better. I posted a video of some changes made what seems a lifetime ago before the snow and some of the better players actually said it was getting there.

Do I quit now or go on? I know my short game is shot but that is so much a mental issue now and only needs a slight posture tweak at address and some v-easy work to be technically correct.

 

[JustOne]

The very hypothetical question is, would you change to go from 6 to 4?

No, not to Charles Barkley's swing! ...and problably not to Moe Norman's either. It's possible that I could play with more extension (as per Moe Norman) but that would only be something that I'd mess about with at the range. If I got it working then yes I might stick with it. Hard to say definitively.

To make any change and stick with it you HAVE to believe it, trust it and want it. The swing has to make sense, add up, and be something that your body can apply.