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Swing Analysis of Matt Kuchar - part 2

Posted By: Chris O'Connell on 10/27/2009

(part 2 of 2)

Due to Matt Kuchar's great play of late and recent win at the Turning Stone Resort Championship, there have been requests to do a video blog of his golf swing.  I first started working with Matt in 2006 when he was on the Nationwide Tour.  He finished 10th on the money list that year and earned a trip back to the PGA TOUR.  He has steadily climbed the money list each year with 2009 being the best of his career.  We hit it off straightaway because I was the first to tell him I loved his backswing and our focus would be on the downswing.  Of the work we have put in I would say 80% has been to improve his downswing and therefore his impact and ball flight.  The way his arms work in the backswing is natural for him and we have spent maybe 5% of our time in that area with the other 15% of backswing work dealing with how the body movement works.

The video analysis I have done is quite lengthy, so we have divided it up into two video blogs.  Part 1 deals with why so many people view Matt's swing as overly flat and I do not.  When a golf swing is too flat the golfer struggles hooking, hitting thin, and launching the ball in the air.  He no longer struggles with any of these issues.  Many commentators have said he has the flattest swing in professional golf.  In this first part, I show comparisons of Matt against others to show why I think he is no where near the flattest swing in professional golf.  Other instructors and golfers focus on the arms and club and I feel this is where a one plane swing gets deemed flat.  If you were to focus on the body I think you would find a two plane swing is amazingly flat.

In part 2 I will discuss the things we have focused on in the past year with regards to Matt's golf swing.  Where appropriate, I will draw some lines and angles to illustrate.  I cover how we steepened his shoulder turn in the backswing by getting him to load into his right gluteus muscle.  I explain how his left arm position at the top makes it easier for him to find the inner circle.  In the downswing I speak of his tendency to hip thrust and how we worked on that to help him find the inner circle.  I hope you find it informative and beneficial in some way to your game.

Chris

20 Comments

    • Oct 27 2009, 2:28 PM Tim
    • CO: Great great job. One question is nagging at me, however. You describe the "shaft line", in the context of how little Matt has to drop his hands as he starts down, as equivalent to the inner circle. This is troubling conceptually for me because the ball represents the outer circle. And at the point in the downswing where Matt's hands have fallen back onto the "shaft line", that line is also the "ball line". Are the inner and outer circles actually merged onto one line at that particular point? The visual image or feel I get as I attempt to execute the twist of the right forearm at the beginning of the downswing is that the clubhead and my hands are already on the inner and outer circles, but the video of Matt shows convincingly that they are not. Thanks again, Tim
    • Oct 27 2009, 3:29 PM Donald F. Johnson
    • Thank you for posting this great analysis of Matt’s golf swing and what the two of you have been working on. I am looking forward to watching Matt have a fabulous year in 2010. Chris you’re doing a fantastic job with Matt. Wishing all the best to both of you.
    • Oct 28 2009, 7:58 AM Dan Leonard
    • Chris ... fabulous analysis! The hip motion you describe for Matt is exactly as Jim Hardy explained in "Secret From The Plane Truth Vault #5 - How the Hips Work in the Golf Swing". Anyone who wants to learn more about the hip motion should pick up a copy of that DVD. I occasionally drift back into hip thrusting, so thanks for the refresher! Dan.
    • Oct 28 2009, 2:31 PM Kevin
    • Very interesting analysis...thank you for posting. I would love to hear more about the exercises that Matt did with the group in Atlanta to "unlock" his hips. I suffer from the same problem. Thanks.
    • Oct 28 2009, 10:36 PM progk1
    • Thanks for the post. --I am also interested in drills that help cure the hip thrust as I've been working on this since Feb & can't get it right. It's really annoying. --on the downswing for a RH golfer do the left knee/leg rotate or is it more of a move back (Extension of the knee joint) Thanks!
    • Oct 29 2009, 11:32 AM CO
    • The left knee and left leg do two things at the same time. They twist counterclockwise while moving on a 45 degree angle away from the target line and closer to the target. The twisting allows the golfer to turn all the way through the shot as opposed to just pulling back the left leg and slapping at it with the arms and hands. Twist the leg so the outside of the left thigh is facing behind you while moving the top of the leg on the aforementioned 45 degree angle.
    • Oct 29 2009, 11:40 AM CO
    • Tim I see where my mention of the inner circle could be confusing. First picture the two concentric circles on the ground with the hands being on the inner and the clubhead being on the outer circle. If Matt were to come down with his hands above the shaft plane line his hands would miss the inner circle and be closer to if not on the outer circle. He can have them on the shaft plane pointing at the ball and be on the inner circle because the plane is angled. If you were to drop vertical lines from his hands before, during, and after the impact area you would see those would make up the inner circle. Now do the same with the clubhead and you arrive at the outer circle. I hope that clears up any confusion I may have inadvertently caused.
    • Oct 30 2009, 12:07 AM James Reeve
    • Chris, Thanks for the great video analysis. I seldom post (seeing as I am just a hacker, 7 index), but have been lurking almost daily since the days when Carol Mann used to post. This video and your comments helped me tremendously. Thanks for taking the time. Jim
    • Oct 30 2009, 11:31 AM Michael Farhm
    • I appreciate this very informative post. Couple of questions...How does the 2 move come into play? Seems like if I blow off the 2 move I cannot maintain balance but if I do a 2 move I stay more balanced. Does Matt K. focus on a 2 move at all or is that ingrained in him by now? thanks
    • Oct 30 2009, 2:38 PM Tim
    • Thanks, CO, Yes, your clarification works for me. The inner circle concept [and drill] is one that resonates with me due to my natural inclination to want to reach for the ball and swing in-to-out. Thats just old school gospel I guess. It was really nice to get to meet you this week. It was great seeing you and Matt working together, as well as just getting to talk to you a bit. If I were smart I would have figured out a way to get a private lesson out of you while you were here. :-) I was sorry about Matt having to pull out -- but hey, what can you do about the weather. The China tournament is a great opportunity. We're still floating down here. They've suspended play both yesterday and today. We've heard a couple of scenarios -- they might play Sunday thru Tuesday; or they might actually postpone it until next weekend since the tour is off. The course is really saturated today though. Even if the sun breaks out early tomorrow and every day thereafter, I don't see it being playable until Tuesday at the earliest. Hopefully they will figure out a way to get it in. Again, great meeting you and keep up the good work. Gotta order me one of those PlaneTruth hats... Tim
    • Oct 30 2009, 6:09 PM CO
    • Matt Kuchar always had enough lateral movement with his lower body in the downswing so we didn't have to implement a bump or 2 move. We had to get rid of the hip thrusting and get the left leg and hip to move behind him so when the right leg and hip moved it was moving parallel to the target line. In fact when he did it correctly he felt as if he was spinning out of it for awhile because of his inclination to slide laterally with no pivot in the hip area. If you hit it better with a 2 move then that is obviously a key for your golf swing, but it isn't for Matt Kuchar. I do have some students who feel a significant 2 move to get them on their left leg before the hip movement occurs. This person has the opposite problem of Matt K.
    • Nov 03 2009, 4:05 PM Grady Dickens
    • Chris, in looking at Matt's swing I am wondering if, in a perfect word, you would want him to rotate his shoulders more aggressively through the downswing. It appears to me that there is a bit of "tilt" in his shoulders. I asked this becuase this is something that I just noticed in my own swing. When I move the left hip back and behind I needed to allow my right shoulder to go out toward the ball to "counterbalance." This would get the shaft down to the line it occupied at address (it is coming in a bit above) and would eliminate the down the target line path of the arms.
    • Nov 08 2009, 8:11 AM Bart O'Shea
    • Chris, Great analysis. I have had a significant hip thrust problem. After watching your video I went out and hit balls. I focused on what you said about Matt staying in his spine angle and even lowering his head further until well past impact and in to the followthru. That was enormously helpful. You had seen my swing at the Hardy teacher's class in April or May and I was thrusting over to the next tee. JH had me working on my legs and hips but I still struggled. I found by focusing on staying in my spine angle and actually trying to lower it through impact and all the way into the followthrough I did not have to think about my hips at all. In fact, the hips were staying home so well that I was able to focus on more speed by turning my hips and shoulders to their post impact position ASAP like you mentioned Matt working on in the video. Thanks very much. Bart
    • Jan 20 2010, 12:56 PM tom h
    • Thanks for the post. I am having trouble with the left knee staying bend. This post should help a lot.
    • Mar 29 2010, 8:15 AM COL-911
    • Just saw for first time.Great,Great video
    • Sep 07 2010, 8:14 PM Oliver Short
    • Wow! Will need to watch it atleast 10 times before commenting.
    • Sep 28 2010, 7:31 AM Steve Hyden
    • Chris, Trying to swing my hands on the Inner Circle has me wiping the ball and hitting weak cuts. Any suggestions as to what I'm misunderstanding and doing wrong? Steve
    • Sep 28 2010, 7:38 AM Steve Hyden
    • Chris, Trying to swing my hands on the Inner Circle has me wiping the ball and hitting weak cuts. Any suggestions as to what I'm misunderstanding and doing wrong? Steve
    • Nov 27 2010, 12:32 PM Golf Instruction
    • Don't know how I could have missed this. Anyway, great video!
    • Jan 19 2011, 2:44 PM Hempa
    • Very educative and well explained, keep the blog running. Thank You. Henrik L
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