Not long ago I had the opportunity to do a clinic for the PGA’s Southern California Section with renowned teaching pro Eddie Merrins, a legend of the game that has been involved with golf in several forms for seven decades.
Besides being a great teacher, club professional and ambassador of the game, Merrins has been amazingly kind to me my entire professional life and has always been selfless when it comes to helping me with my craft. Gleaning his knowledge, which is endless, has always been fun, informative and appreciated by me.
In short, I’m proud to know him as a friend and peer.
The night we did our clinic at Virginia Country Club in Long Beach, a question was asked about Tiger Woods, and I’ll never forget what Merrins said. He skipped all of the problems Woods is having now and went back to the time when Woods was dominating the game with an efficient and powerful swing and collecting multiple major championships. Merrins said Woods, in his heyday, took his swing long, wide and deep and wired those movements more than anyone else. He said all of Woods’s previous teachers taught him to have an incredible arc, an incredible width and a deep pivot. From that place he was able to generate more speed to hit the ball in a more dynamic way than anyone else had done before.
In a sport where too many people are critiquing the different positions of the swing, Woods, at his best, made the swing and game look and feel natural. There were no wasted movements; everything was on line and on plane; his impact position with irons and woods was nearly flawless; and his short game bordered on genius.
If you look at today’s stars, such as Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott, Jason Day, Jordan Spieth and others, almost all have borrowed parts of Woods’s swing and incorporated them into their own dynamic movements. Since the golf swing often depends on things such as body type, flexibility and strength, a cookie-cutter approach is never recommended. So, if you’re a young person learning how to play, my suggestion is to get your coach to teach you the fundamentals that Woods used so well, and if you’re a golf coach with a student whose swing is long, wide and deep, be very hesitant to change any of those habits. Work to enhance those movements, not change them.
I remember Jack Nicklaus’s coach teaching him to hit the ball as hard as he could. And I remember seeing footage of Nicklaus as a young player when he was swinging his club long and wide and making a deep pivot. And even though I never saw Bobby Jones in person, looking at his swing on paper or grainy footage showed a long and wide movement and a deep pivot through the ball as well.
Hmm. Maybe all of these guys were and are on to something.
Jamie Mulligan is the director of golf at Virginia Country Club in Long Beach.
