Golf Instruction: How Furyk Does It

By Sam Adams | Apr 21, 2015

How Fuyrk does it is an interesting topic. The golf swing of Jim Furyk is fascinating because it functions so well and absolutely defies all of the swing models and methods that are so prevalent in today’s golf instruction. We are inundated on a daily basis by all the “I’ve got the secret” snake oil salesmen out there trying to get you to buy their book, DVD or have you attend their golf schools and learn the their elusive (non-existent) secret.

Furyk is the embodiment of legendary teacher/coach/instructor John Jacob’s great quote, “”Golf is what the ball does.”

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The sooner golfers and many of the instructors start to realize that it is not about how the swing looks, but about what it causes the ball to do, the sooner golfers can start improving. It is all about getting the club to a solid impact position repeatedly and not how the golf swing should look to accomplish that.

” If a teacher has a model or rigid method, they would deem what Furyk does to be wrong. But, what some people are missing is that he is “skillful” at what matters.” – Charlie King

Here is a great swing analysis of Jim Furyk’s golf swing that explains exactly the point I’m trying to get across. The analysis is superbly done by

Charlie King

, who is a

Golf Digest 50 Best Instructo

r and a

Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher

. He is also the person that originated and developed the “

Anti-Method

” of teaching philosophy which is a welcome breath of fresh air.

That philosophy embraces and explains why swings like Furyk’s, Lee Trevino’s, Bubba Watson’s, and Nancy Lopes’, have been so successful and won so many times on tour.

Sit back, turn up your speakers and hopefully learn something very valuable.

Video analysis is wonderful when used properly like the video you have just seen. It is also a wonderful tool for demonstrating or explaining how to do something. What it is not very good at is being used as a stand-alone method for improving a golfer’s ball striking.

I once had a student with what appeared to be a very solid golf swing that was producing a low, diving or “duck” hook. Initially I couldn’t find a satisfactory solution so I videoed his swing and sat down and drew the lines, used slow motion and frame by frame. I could not identify a swing flaw that would produce that shot. The one thing I did know for a fact was that the club face had to be shut or closed at impact to produce that ball flight.

I had the student come back – at this point I haven’t charged him anything because I haven’t been able to help him. He started hitting balls with that low diving hook again and I focused on the club head. That’s when I noticed that he was re-gripping the club slightly just prior to starting his back swing and that was causing the club face to be shut. The move was so slight that I would never have caught it on video. Once I made him aware of it the problem was fixed.

Golf truly is about what the ball does and if you cannot see the ball flight that a swing produces you are only guessing at how to fix it. Golf instruction should be about helping golfers keep their uniqueness while helping them to improve.

Please don’t hesitate to leave comments or questions.

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