Instruction
Who is the greatest driver of the golf ball, ever?
Greg Norman said, “he is the longest living human on earth” and Ken Venturi stated “he combines power and accuracy better with a driver than anyone I have ever seen.”
Who is the greatest driver of the golf ball?
Quite possibly it’s a golfer you don’t know: Mike Dunaway. Dunaway is regarded by many as the greatest driver of the golf ball, ever. Greg Norman said, “Mike Dunaway is the longest living human on earth” and Ken Venturi stated “he combines power and accuracy better with a driver than anyone I have ever seen.”
Dunaway is the only long drive professional to ever land the cover of Golf Magazine, which he did in August, 1985 when he issued a $10,000 bet to anyone who could outhit him. Nobody did, and that issue went on to achieve the magazine’s record for newsstand sales. (Dunaway later hosted the November, 1987 cover as well.) He was the pioneer of professional long drive, the founder of the famed 350 club, served as Ely Callaway’s human “Iron Byron” for the company’s launch of the original Big Bertha driver, and was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Long Drivers of America (LDA). He truly is the “Legend of Long Drive”.
I know what’s coming next, “So how did he do it?”
Before we go there, it is first necessary to understand the three key components to distance, where Distance= club head speed + mass at impact + center of club face impact. (We will forego factors like spin and launch angle at this point).
The faster and heavier the hit, along with taking full advantage of the 0.83 coefficient of restitution of the driver face with center-face strikes, the more distance will be generated. Dunaway’s swing techniques allowed him to maximize these three key components to distance, while eliminating what we call the “canceling effect.”
For example, golfers who try to swing their arms faster to increase club head speed very often deactivate the higher massed movements of the legs and torso. So any potential club head speed gains that would increase distance are cancelled out by having less mass coming into the ball at impact. Another example is the golfer that attempts to increase their center of club face impact by keeping their left arm stiff in order to maintain the radius of their circular motion. While they increase their chances of a center-face strike, the tension increase in their shoulders and arms slows their club head speed. The net result is the potential distance gain resulting from more solid contact is cancelled out by the decrease in club head speed.
“Mike Dunaway has the best golf swing in the history of long driving.” — Art Sellinger, Founder of Long Drivers of America
So the trick becomes maximizing each component, while avoiding the canceling effect. “So how did he do it?” Tension free, natural movement. These four simple words are your key to dramatically increasing both your distance and accuracy. There is more than meets the eyes in these two apparently simple concepts, starting with natural movement.
Natural movement allows the body to move as designed by nature, in the most anatomically efficient manner possible. It creates three advantages. First, maximizing anatomical efficiency lets all of the key joints involved in the golf swing (ankles, knees, and hips; wrists, elbows and shoulders; spine) move comfortably through their complete range of motion, verses only a partial range of motion. As it pertains to the golf swing, complete range of motion increases the time and distance the golfer has to accelerate their circular motion. Secondly, the more naturally we move, the less stress and strain we place on these joints and their supporting muscles, ligaments and tendons. Net result is less aches, pains and injuries. Thirdly, the more naturally efficient our movements are, the easier it is to accelerate them. The bottom line is by moving naturally, we improve our range of motion, we reduce stress and strain and we give ourselves the best chance to accelerate our movements.
For example, let’s take a look at the spine, which plays a key role in the golf swing as it is what connects the lower half to the upper half. Dunaway recognized that in order to create the most natural and efficient system to maximize distance, the torso needed to turn as a unit. The lower and upper part of the spine moved in harmony, as evidenced by his November, 1987 cover shot. 
Compare this to the “modern swing,” where golfers attempt to turn their shoulder line as far as they can around a static hipline to supposedly create torque for power in the swing. They are, in effect, twisting their torso, and as a result their spine to create distance. Most golfers believe this concept is the holy grail to distance. As if they are holding the bottom of a spring while turning the top, so when they let go of the top they are going to whiz around into the ball like the uncoiling spring.
Unfortunately, most golfers are not aware that the spine is not a spring and it is not a rubber band. It does not store energy—if you go to the top of your back swing, hold your shoulder line and jump off the ground, your lower half does not fly around underneath you. It takes a force to twist it one way, a force to stop that twist and a force to reverse directions.
The spine has a considerable amount of forward flexion and side-to-side lateral bending built into its natural range of motion. It is quite limited, however, in backwards extension, and even more so in its propensity to be twisted. PGA Tour players including Tiger Woods, Matt Kuchar, Ben Crane, Patrick Cantley, David Toms, Chris Couch and Briny Baird have noted back issues, and we could certainly add to this list those players that play through their nagging back issues on a daily basis. So while the masses continue to unnaturally twist the spine for distance, they are actually limiting their potential to increase club head speed while increasing their chances for injury. This combination of lack of distance improvement along with the increasing rate of lower back injuries is rampant across all levels of the game today.
Let’s now take a look at the role of being “tension free” as the descriptor for natural movement. Tension has a split personality when it comes to the golf swing. While it is the root of all evil in the golf swing, it also plays an important, positive role. Tension on the through swing side is a killer. It slows club head speed, negatively affects balance and shortens the radius of circular motion decreasing the chances of returning the center of the club face back to the ball for solid impact. Tension on the back swing is necessary, however, in that the opposite of tension is “slack” that we need to remove from the swing system at all cost. This is why Mike Dunaway stressed the importance of “swinging into tension, so we can swing out of tension.” The tension he refers to is not stiffness or rigidity, but a taughtness that eliminates all slack from our swing system.
“Hit the longest drive personally I’ve ever seen. On the 485 yard 9th hole at Jeremy Ranch, his drive came to rest 15 yards from the green, which I was on.” — Gary Player
His main objective was to create as much escape force on the club head as possible. This force is the result of circular motion that pulls the club head away from the swing center of the golf swing, much like the iron ball pulls away from the hammer thrower in the Olympics. He used his legs and torso to create a turning and thrusting system of the hips—the turning component created tremendous circular motion, while at the same time the thrusting component created a “wrecking ball” effect that maximized the amount of mass coming into the ball.
Dunaway realized that the arms needed to be reactive to these bigger forces, as this would eliminate the canceling effect of tension-filled, active arms. He also realized that if he wound his arms tightly around this turning and thrusting system on the backswing, they would then be able to simply unwind in response to the turning and thrusting forces on the through swing creating a tremendous slinging effect of the arms. Take note that this concept of winding and slinging the arms is very different from the modern swing initiative of pushing the arms away from the body to create the supposed “width” in the golf swing that many believe is the key to power and distance.
To better understand this, let’s compare two scenarios where we have a drill and drill bit, with a 16-inch piece of cord with a washer attached to the end. In the first scenario, we wind the washer tightly around the drill bit so there is no slack in the cord. In the second scenario, we wrap the washer very loosely with slack in the cord. What will happen to the washer in each scenario when we pull the drill’s trigger and apply a rotational force to the drill bit? The washer that is tightly wound speedily escapes on a circular path away from the rotational force. How fast and far the washer unwinds the cord is determined by the intensity of the rotational force of the drill bit, and in turn, how much circular escape force is imparted out to the washer. In the second scenario, despite the same rotational force, the loosely wound washer will not escape on a circular path because of the “slack” in the cord. The more slack that exists, the less circular motion is created resulting in dramatically less escape force passing from the rotating drill bit, through the cord and out to the washer.
Wind and Sling Washer Video from Wind and Sling on Vimeo.
If we apply this scenario to the golf swing, the drill is our legs, the drill bit is our torso, the cord is our arms and club shaft and the washer is our club head. Our legs (drill) provide the energy to turn and thrust our torso (drill bit), while our attached arms and club shaft (cord) simply respond and unwind creating tremendous speed out to the club head (washer). And just as the cord can only unwind to its full 16-inch length, our tension free arms along with the club shaft will always unwind to their combined measured length. This means that no matter what the club head speed, if our arms remain tension free they will consistently return the speeding club head to the same measured point of impact. The predictability of this system established Dunaway as the longest, most accurate driver of the ball in history.
Creating a system of natural movement that allowed him to wind and sling tension free arms was the foundation for Mike Dunaway’s unequalled distance and accuracy. We will examine more long drive techniques in the next article in this series.
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My golf learning began with this simple fact – if you don’t have a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, it is practically impossible for your body to execute a fundamentally sound golf swing. I’m still a big believer that the golf swing is much easier to execute if you begin with the proper hold on the club.
As you might imagine, I come into contact with hundreds of golfers of all skill levels. And it is very rare to see a good player with a bad hold on the golf club. There are some exceptions, for sure, but they are very few and very far between, and they typically have beat so many balls with their poor grip that they’ve found a way to work around it.
The reality of biophysics is that the body moves only in certain ways – and the particulars of the way you hold the golf club can totally prevent a sound swing motion that allows the club to release properly through the impact zone. The wonderful thing is that anyone can learn how to put a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, and you can practice it anywhere your hands are not otherwise engaged, like watching TV or just sitting and relaxing.
Whether you prefer an overlap, interlock or full-finger (not baseball!) grip on the club, the same fundamentals apply. Here are the major grip faults I see most often, in the order of the frequency:
Mis-aligned hands
By this I mean that the palms of the two hands are not parallel to each other. Too many golfers have a weak left hand and strong right, or vice versa. The easiest way to learn how to hold the club with your palms aligned properly is to grip a plain wooden ruler or yardstick. It forces the hands to align properly and shows you how that feels. If you grip and re-grip a yardstick several times, then grip a club, you’ll see that the learning curve is almost immediate.
The position of the grip in the upper/left hand
I also observe many golfers who have the butt of the grip too far into the heel pad of the upper hand (the left hand for right-handed players). It’s amazing how much easier it is to release the club through the ball if even 1/4-1/2″ of the butt is beyond the left heel pad. Try this yourself to see what I mean. Swing the club freely with just your left hand and notice the difference in its release from when you hold it at the end of the grip, versus gripping down even a half inch.
To help you really understand how this works, go to the range and hit shots with your five-iron gripped down a full inch to make the club the same length as your seven-iron. You will probably see an amazing shot shape difference, and likely not see as much distance loss as you would expect.
Too much lower (right) hand on the club
It seems like almost all golfers of 8-10 handicap or higher have the club too far into the palm of the lower hand, because that feels “good” if you are trying to control the path of the clubhead to the ball. But the golf swing is not an effort to hit at the ball – it is a swing of the club. The proper hold on the club has the grip underneath the pad at the base of the fingers. This will likely feel “weak” to you — like you cannot control the club like that. EXACTLY. You should not be trying to control the club with your lower/master hand.
Gripping too tightly
Nearly all golfers hold the club too tightly, which tenses up the forearms and prevents a proper release of the club through impact. In order for the club to move back and through properly, you must feel that the club is controlled by the last three fingers of the upper hand, and the middle two fingers of the lower hand. If you engage your thumbs and forefingers in “holding” the club, the result will almost always be a grip that is too tight. Try this for yourself. Hold the club in your upper hand only, and squeeze firmly with just the last three fingers, with the forefinger and thumb off the club entirely. You have good control, but your forearms are not tense. Then begin to squeeze down with your thumb and forefinger and observe the tensing of the entire forearm. This is the way we are made, so the key to preventing tenseness in the arms is to hold the club very lightly with the “pinchers” — the thumbs and forefingers.
So, those are what I believe are the four fundamentals of a good grip. Anyone can learn them in their home or office very quickly. There is no easier way to improve your ball striking consistency and add distance than giving more attention to the way you hold the golf club.
More from the Wedge Guy
- The Wedge Guy: Golf mastery begins with your wedge game
- The Wedge Guy: Why golf is 20 times harder than brain surgery
- The Wedge Guy: Musings on the golf ball rollback
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Not the dreaded headcover under the armpit drill! As if your body is defective and can’t function by itself! Have you seen how incredible the human machine is with all the incredible feats of agility all kinds of athletes are accomplishing? You think your body is so defective (the good Lord is laughing his head off at you) that it needs a headcover tucked under the armpit so you can swing like T-Rex?
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This is a classic drill that has been used for decades. However, the world of marketed training aids has grown so much during that time that this simple practice has been virtually forgotten. Because why teach people how to play golf using everyday items when you can create and sell a product that reinforces the same thing? Nevertheless, I am here to give you helpful advice without running to the nearest Edwin Watts or adding something to your Amazon cart.
For the “scoring clubs,” having a solid connection between the arms and body during the swing, especially through impact, is paramount to creating long-lasting consistency. And keeping that connection throughout the swing helps rotate the shoulders more to generate more power to help you hit it farther. So, how does this drill work, and what will your game benefit from it? Well, let’s get into it.
Setup
You can use this for basic chip shots up to complete swings. I use this with every club in my bag, up to a 9 or 8-iron. It’s natural to create incrementally more separation between the arms and body as you progress up the set. So doing this with a high iron or a wood is not recommended.
While you set up to hit a ball, simply tuck the towel underneath both armpits. The length of the towel will determine how tight it will be across your chest but don’t make it so loose that it gets in the way of your vision. After both sides are tucked, make some focused swings, keeping both arms firmly connected to the body during the backswing and follow through. (Note: It’s normal to lose connection on your lead arm during your finishing pose.) When you’re ready, put a ball in the way of those swings and get to work.
Get a Better Shoulder Turn
Many of us struggle to have proper shoulder rotation in our golf swing, especially during long layoffs. Making a swing that is all arms and no shoulders is a surefire way to have less control with wedges and less distance with full swings. Notice how I can get in a similar-looking position in both 60° wedge photos. However, one is weak and uncontrollable, while the other is strong and connected. One allows me to use my larger muscles to create my swing, and one doesn’t. The follow-through is another critical point where having a good connection, as well as solid shoulder rotation, is a must. This drill is great for those who tend to have a “chicken wing” form in their lead arm, which happens when it becomes separated from the body through impact.
In full swings, getting your shoulders to rotate in your golf swing is a great way to reinforce proper weight distribution. If your swing is all arms, it’s much harder to get your weight to naturally shift to the inside part of your trail foot in the backswing. Sure, you could make the mistake of “sliding” to get weight on your back foot, but that doesn’t fix the issue. You must turn into your trial leg to generate power. Additionally, look at the difference in separation between my hands and my head in the 8-iron examples. The green picture has more separation and has my hands lower. This will help me lessen my angle of attack and make it easier to hit the inside part of the golf ball, rather than the over-the-top move that the other picture produces.
Stay Better Connected in the Backswing
When you don’t keep everything in your upper body working as one, getting to a good spot at the top of your swing is very hard to do. It would take impeccable timing along with great hand-eye coordination to hit quality shots with any sort of regularity if the arms are working separately from the body.
Notice in the red pictures of both my 60-degree wedge and 8-iron how high my hands are and the fact you can clearly see my shoulder through the gap in my arms. That has happened because the right arm, just above my elbow, has become totally disconnected from my body. That separation causes me to lift my hands as well as lose some of the extension in my left arm. This has been corrected in the green pictures by using this drill to reinforce that connection. It will also make you focus on keeping the lead arm close to your body as well. Because the moment either one loses that relationship, the towel falls.
Conclusion
I have been diligent this year in finding a few drills that target some of the issues that plague my golf game; either by simply forgetting fundamental things or by coming to terms with the faults that have bitten me my whole career. I have found that having a few drills to fall back on to reinforce certain feelings helps me find my game a little easier, and the “towel drill” is most definitely one of them.
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Jafar
Oct 2, 2014 at 3:31 pm
Sad to learn of his recent passing. Here’s to the man, the myth, the legend, Mike Dunaway.
Amanda Smith
Oct 1, 2014 at 11:49 am
Our prayers are with Mike’s Family and Friends. Our Lord has the honor of getting some great golf tips now. Please keep his mother Dorothy and sister Debbie in your thoughts and prayers, along with his daughters as they face this struggling time. Rest in Peace Mike.
ed smith sr.
Sep 15, 2014 at 11:36 am
What I care about is becoming a better golfer even at age 65. After reviewing Duke’s website Wind and Sling I purchased the program and in about 5 weeks have had the following results. I am no longer exhausted after every round of golf. My back feels healthy and loose after a round of golf. My average score on a 6600 yard tract used to be 80. In the last 6 rounds of golf I have played my high score has been 76 and the low score 71. If you find this article hits the mark I suggest you check out the Wind and Sling website. Thanks Mr. Duke.
Dan Stasiukiewicz
Sep 15, 2014 at 10:12 am
I happened across this article through my travels and looked into the authors credentials and information. I have been playing since I was 5 and I am now 35. I am self taught for the most part and play to scratch. The information the author is providing is valid stuff for distance in my opinion. I read some of the comments as well regarding “snake oil” and such. Snake oils in golf are club and ball gimmicks NOT valid swing mechanics lessons.
I used to listen to people claiming that keeping the feet on the ground is the way to generate more power. I am not sure if it is or not but its definitely a way rupture your discs in your back and wreak havoc on your body.
General intuition and a even a mild level of intelligence directs me to players who have played and played well for many many years and who are injury free. If you look at the best who have stayed around forever and competed at a high level ( Tom Watson comes to mind at the top) they all use the hips in the swing and their feet come off the ground on back and thru to allow proper rotation in the spine-back.
I personally feel the author is teaching a good swing for those who want to develop power and I am going keep him on my radar. If you are reading this Mr Duke do you have any tips for putting because thats where my issue is??!! LOL
From a self taught scratch golfer who can carry it 350 on a great day I would recommend this way and style to anyone looking for more distance without sacrificing health in their back-hands and wrists.
Dan Stasiukiewicz
KB33
Sep 7, 2014 at 11:38 am
so…not going to tag this ‘content’ as advertising…the comments are hilariously scripted as well. I have this snake oil…it will make you hit the ball 300 yd on a rope.
Want to know what is wrong with golf? It’s this…bullsh&t instruction that doesn’t make you better, but rather breaks your swing to the point that all you can do is require more lessons. If you are smart you will stay far far away from these folks and swing models.
Find yourself a real instructed that will build your swing around your ability and actually puts together a lesson plan for you with guaranteed progress…this is out there you just have to find it.
Good Luck!
Rocky K
Sep 7, 2014 at 3:03 pm
I have seen Tom Duke rocket a ball 327 yards into a 2 club wind. Oh by the way, on the ReMax Grid at the Orlando qualifier. He swings smooth and relaxed and does not appear to over swing like most long hitters. Mike Dunaway is a long driver legend and I think this was very well done and can benefit anyone who wants to put in a little time. Tom shots in the 60’s fairly frequently so something is going right with his ideas.
KB33
Sep 7, 2014 at 9:53 pm
okie dokie…how about your game? Did you win ReMax…did you shave 10 strokes off your game? How has this person made you better?
I agree…this person is great. However, that doesn’t make this model anything less than another quick fix
ParHunter
Sep 7, 2014 at 7:11 am
Quote: “So any potential club head speed gains that would increase distance are cancelled out by having less mass coming into the ball at impact.”
Are you serious? At impact the clubhead acts as an unattached object as it isn’t connected to the shaft or golfer in any way. How can you add weight of a golfer behind the impact? I think you might want to talk you theories through with some scientist.
larrybud
Sep 7, 2014 at 7:26 pm
Exactly. Some basic physics lessons would help, or he should read “Search for the perfect swing”, which was written in 1968, so it’s not like it’s any kind of ground breaking physics. From pg. 145:
“Impact with the ball pushes the clubhead back on the shaft by only a few tenths of an inch. To bend the shaft by this amount requires a force of only a few pounds; and conversely in this bent-back condition the shaft applies only a few pounds’ force to the clubhead. So this is all that the shaft (and with it the player’s hands) can apply to the clubhead during impact — quite negligible compared with the force approaching one ton which the clubhead applies to the ball — and the ball to the clubhead. It means that virtually all the resistance to impact, during actual contact, is borne by the inertia of the clubhead. That is to say, at that moment it might just as well not be connected to the player.”
Which is why someone can hit a club such as the two-hinge medicus just as far as a regular iron.
J Francis
Sep 7, 2014 at 6:44 am
At 42 and without much practice Tom’s system took my swing speed from about 102 up to 117-119, and I’m just getting started with it. I have studied Mike Austin and Dunaway’s teachings and they are great; Tom gives due credit to Austin and Dunaway; Tom does an excellent job explaining how to utilize the body’s natural, powerful movements without injuring the back. It is too bad injuries may be leading to a decline in golf participation here in the US; I know that Tom’s Wind and Sling has increased my involvement in this great sport. At 42 I’m supposed to be slowing down but just the opposite is taking place! Golf is fun again and isn’t that the point?
Peter Beck
Sep 13, 2014 at 8:27 pm
I just want to add to this post. I saw Tom and his girlfriend hitting balls at a night lighted range in South Florida. I am a 4 handicapper at 55 years old who hits the ball with a 95 mph swing speed. After listening and then asking a few questions, Tom showed me a few things that made sense and within 5 swings his measuring device had me hitting balls at 106 mph swing speed. A markedly incraese in distance that is so important at my age. I have been tuning in to Tom’s web site since and can honestly say I feel much better about my game both distance and accuracy since that evening. I am a fan of the centrifugal force lessons……
Joe
Sep 7, 2014 at 3:46 am
Trevino.
Large chris
Sep 6, 2014 at 12:41 pm
Well that’s at least five people commented on this who have never posted before on golfwrx……
Ron Nay
Sep 6, 2014 at 11:15 am
I am 74 years old. In my 50 yrs.of playing golf I have been to over 45 instructors in different parts of America. I was an NFL scout and a former football and baseball coach. I found Thomas Duke on Mike Dunaways website and ordered his Wind and Sling program. It is the Best way to swing I have found.Not only have I regained distance but accuracy both with driver and irons. There is no difference in the two swings as taught by Thomas. He is an outstanding teacher who will make you a better striker of the ball.
Evan
Sep 6, 2014 at 10:01 am
Typically, if you are an exceptional and extraordinary driver of the golf ball, your iron play is less than great. The mechanics and motion that makes the perfect driver swing (snappy release behind the ball w/ flat or upswing AOA) is not the same as a solid iron/ wedge swing (weight over the ball, forward shaft lean). Not to say that all these guys can do is drive the ball, you can still have a serviceable iron/ wedge game with a great driver swing… rarely if ever a person has both at the same time.
Golf has three very different motions to master. Driver swing, iron/ wedge swing, putting/ chipping. I think the key is developing motions that transition well into every part of the game. If you want to drive the ball long and straight, this is a very good swing to copy… I think history proves that it is not a well balanced golf swing that transitions well into the other parts of the game at the elite level.
JW
Sep 6, 2014 at 11:45 am
I definitely agree that “Mike Austinesque” swings are pretty much driver swings. I think that is why you predominantly see this swing style on the LD circuit.
The used car salesman mentality of most instructors teaching this swing turns people away from it. Its borderline infomercial and if you want to learn the swing just look up Mike Austin on youtube to figure it (it is not that complex). That is what I did when I was dabbling with this swing.
mrjoe
Sep 6, 2014 at 5:15 pm
Kenny Perry would disagree with your premise.
As would Hogan.
Evan
Sep 7, 2014 at 9:51 am
No one is the best all around driver and has the best iron/ wedge play… Hogan might be the closest thing to that, but Hogan was not the longest and straightest driver. Hogan was not in the 350 club and sniping irons like he did.
To maximize driving distance and accuracy requires a distinctly different motion from excellent iron/ wedge play… the equipment and setup is too different. That is why the BEST ALL AROUND players have a swing that marries the two full swings. Could they hit the ball further off the tee if that is all they had to focus on? Sure. Name one guy in the so called 350 club that has a hall of fame golf career… crickets.
Other than Long Drive competitors (who are not tour players with great all around game) who averages or has averaged 350 off the tee? No one, ever… not average for a full season.
Ballstriker
Sep 6, 2014 at 3:37 am
I’m goin’ with the special guy “Moe Norman.” Ball striker extraordinaire! Goodnight Canada!
Chris
Sep 6, 2014 at 11:35 am
So in your opinion distance is not part of the “greatest driver of the ball” equation? I am not questioning Moe’s accuracy and control, but he wasn’t known for being a long hitter.
mrjoe
Sep 6, 2014 at 5:18 pm
Fair enough, but compare the golfing resumes of Dunaway and Moe Norman. Who was won more important golfing tournaments? Who is more esteemed by his peers?
Chris
Sep 6, 2014 at 11:39 pm
The title of this article is “Who is the greatest driver of the ball, ever?”, it isn’t who won more, or who is more esteemed by his peers. It has nothing to do with iron play, or putting either.
mrjoe
Sep 7, 2014 at 12:03 pm
Nearly the whole premise of Duke’s claim as Dunaway as the best driver ever is based on random quotes from golf pros saying Dunaway hits it long and straight. So yeah, I’d say that the whole esteemed-by-his-peers thing is relevant to this article.
Claiming that Dunaway is the best driver ever requires some sort of actual evidence to prove the claim. I would argue that it requires a LOT of evidence, given the lofty claim.
Heck, why not call Mike Austin the best driver of the golf ball ever? He certainly knew more about the swing than Dunaway, holds that 515 yd drive record, and he actually competed in pro tourneys.
I am just going to say it: I AM THE BEST DRIVER OF THE GOLF BALL, EVER! I haven’t won any tournaments, but I can swing it fast and I have a whole section of my brain devoted to storing compliments about me that I’ve heard on the course.
Silas Robertson
Sep 8, 2014 at 1:06 pm
Moe Norman was the greatest driving range player EVER. Unfortunately due to his autism or lack of a short game he never compiled an elite resume worthy of his legend or even tour stats that could back up any claims of his driving abilities other than watching him hit thousands of golf balls when he was a really old man. If anyone could find any distance and fairways hit stats for Norman I would love to see them. Having to hit a grid in mesquite in an LD competition with just one ball out of six and not playing your misses, while not easy is not the same as having a chance to win the masters and having to pipe it down that narrow chute on 18. I love opinion pieces because everyone’s is different but in my opinion based off stats the most effective total driver over a long period of time was Nicklaus. I don’t believe he was necessarily more accurate than Norman, Hogan, or Nelson but good driving was a pillar of Nicklaus game and combining length with accuracy made him the most effective driver.
Todd Turner
Sep 5, 2014 at 9:36 pm
Calvin Peete
Emsmizzle
Sep 5, 2014 at 9:12 pm
Last ditch effort to get our money is what it seems like to me
mrjoe
Sep 5, 2014 at 7:19 pm
Mike Flipping Dunaway is the greatest driver of the golf ball ever?!? You’ve got to be kidding.
Clearly it’s Jason Zuback.
Seriously, though, what has Dunaway WON with his majestic driving ability, other than LD competitions?
Jimmy
Sep 5, 2014 at 5:16 pm
Im going with mike ditka as the best driver ever da bears
Joe
Sep 5, 2014 at 6:51 pm
What would go farther, a golf ball named Ditka or a golf ball hit by Ditka?
Jimmy
Sep 5, 2014 at 10:35 pm
What if the ball was a ditka polish sausage pro v1 how far would dat go
vinax
Sep 5, 2014 at 4:25 pm
If this is such a great system why is there no one on the PGA tour using it to their advantage?
Joel
Sep 5, 2014 at 3:38 pm
Tough to distill all of toms great ideas into one article… I have purchased his entire learning system and found it priceless… His wind and sling system is beyond excellent… And his advice that flexibility is way overemphasized…. A past parallel swing can be achieved with proper mechanics even by a 66 year old stiff former footballer and competitive weightlifter and weight thrower…. I promise you will benefit greatly from this program!!!
Mike
Sep 5, 2014 at 3:00 pm
Thank you for writing the article.
You seem to take a stance that the body dominates the swing and swinging the arms faster adds tension to them. I’m not nearly qualified as you to comment, but common sense brought me to the idea that the more the arms swing the more freely they do. How are the arms adding to tension the more they swing? I’ve heard that the body is only responsible for 13% of speed in the golf swing. Do you disagree?
I watched your example with the rope and the drill bit, but I have to ask you this…. What can you move faster your arms or your torso? The speed, good angle of attack and center face contact are what hits it long not a brute force. I could be misunderstanding what you’re saying, but I don’t know how swinging your arms less or completely in sync with your slower body hits it the furthest?
Mike
Sep 5, 2014 at 3:06 pm
Sorry for the grammar issues!
Christosterone
Sep 5, 2014 at 4:30 pm
Using an ipad my grammatical prowess has digressed to the level of a neanderthal…
Dont beat urself up…
Plus anyone that corrects grammar on the internet is a bad person….its in the bible
Tom Duke
Sep 6, 2014 at 12:53 pm
Hey Mike, thanks for your question, and interest.
The key is where the energy for the “swing” in the arms is generated. You can certainly swing the arms independent of, and across, the torso through forces generated in your shoulder joints. The by product of this active “arm swing” will be some degree of tension in the shoulders and traps. The other option is to let the arms swing reactively to the bigger turning and thrusting forces of legs and torso, like the drill and washer example.
Another way to look at it is to take a look at the trebuchet in comparison to the catapult. The catapult was a wooden beam with a bucket on the end where projectiles were placed to be thrown. The trebuchet was a similar machine, but it also had a sling affixed to the end of the throwing arm, acting as a secondary fulcrum, to further multiply the speed of the projectile. So while the wooden arms moved the same speed in both machines (relatively slowly), as the sling reacted to the wooden arm it generated much more speed out to the projectile, allowing the trebuchet to throw much greater distances. There was no active energy in the sling, it simply responded to the forces generated by the wooden arm.
The arms can swing faster if they respond to the bigger forces, verses swinging independently of them. Just like if you were going to give someone a backhand smack with your left hand. You could certainly just swing an active left arm across the body by itself. You could deliver much more “smack” if you wound that left arm around your coiling body, and allowed it to react to the turning and thrusting forces of your legs and torso, and unwind and sling like a whip into impact.
CD
Sep 7, 2014 at 2:37 am
The trebuchet is fundamentally a poor analogy for a Mike Austin/Dunaway swing, as they both utilised a throwing of the clubhead, by the hands, from the top, it’s like a trebuchet with a motor at the pivot point of its sling.
Not disagreeing he swung in and out of tension, instantly relaxed arms after the throw are crucial for the throw from the top to have any serious speed, but he threw the club at the top of the swing into orbit, with the hands.
I would say more critical to his swing are:
– ‘measuring off’ precisely at address
– sliding the hips not turning
– the compound pivot
– the throw from the top (and immediately relaxing the muscles)
– the rope drill to train the compound pivot
– the carpet beater drill to train dorsi flexion in release
It seems an oversight to mention Art Sellinger but not Mike Austin when writing about Mike Dunaway.
Trent
Sep 5, 2014 at 2:11 pm
Great article. However, it’s a shame that you failed to mention that Mike Dunaway was Mike Austin’s protege. It was with Mike Austin’s teachings and swing methods that allowed Mike Dunaway fully take advantage of his physical gifts. I encourage anybody who wants to learn more on this swing to watch some of Mike Austin’s videos or read his instruction, some of which feature Mike Dunaway.
Christosterone
Sep 5, 2014 at 1:47 pm
Great article…
As usual, the greatest swings have every component of a reverse c.
I still cant fathom why more people dont hit it…
My all time favorite swings(Jack & Monty) were perfect under pressure…and before anyone whines about monty not winning in america he won the order of merit 8 times, 7 times consecutively.
And during ryder cup, his reverse c held up almost perfectly under immense pressure…
Vijay Singh’s reverse c worked beautifully as well…if he had been able to putt he wouldve been an alltime great…with a swing that looks forged from the 70s….
I continue to preach the ease of the reverse c and fight its negative propoganda as a back killer…watch monty
Jeffrey Adik
Sep 5, 2014 at 1:04 pm
Thank you for sharing your über-fascinating & visionary insights, Mr. Duke. You truly have a gift for making the complex dynamics of golf, tangible, accessible and engaging. Are you available for private lessons? I am confident that some “one-on-one-on-the-links-time” would serve as catalyst to transform my game, and be particularly enjoyable!
MHendon
Sep 5, 2014 at 12:20 pm
You know no movement in sport is dissected and critiqued more than the golf swing. People accept that what makes a great pitcher great is his abnormal athletic ability, people accept that what makes a great quarterback great is his abnormal athletic ability. They accept the great tennis player, basketball player, sprinter, hockey player, etc as being exactly what they are, a great athletes. However know one seems to want to accept that golf is a sport so there’s this constant attempt to turn the golf swing into science. Dunaway hit the ball so far because he was a great athlete and the same is true for every guy on the PGA tour. That’s why I respect Butch Harmon more than any other teacher. He focuses on the basics, grip, posture, alignment. Beyond that its all athletic ability. But I guess it’s big business trying to convince average people through science they can one day be great too.
Mike
Sep 5, 2014 at 2:55 pm
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Doug Fresard
Sep 5, 2014 at 12:15 pm
Great story for the game. Fantastic ” new. ” look into the swing. Very fun, informative read.
Donnie
Sep 5, 2014 at 12:12 pm
Interesting article. Does this mean that all these things regarding x-factor in the swing is actually counter productive? I will have to do a bit of reading. Mike Dunaway is a bit before my time.