Take an analytic, frame-by-frame look at Jason Day’s driver swing.
George Connor is the owner and director of instruction for the Golf Channel Academy at ConnorGolf, located at Farmington Woods Golf Club just outside of Hartford in Avon, Conn. A three-time Connecticut PGA Section Teacher of the Year (2000, 2011, 2018), Connor is known as one of the top putting instructors in the game today. For more information about George and to book a lesson - please click here
Great spacing! His tailbone overhangs his heels a little bit, the middle of his trail shoulder runs through the balls of his feet and his lead hand hangs directly under his chin. Hit these three checkpoints and you’ll stand the correct distance from the ball every time.
The space between his ribcage and lead bicep tells me that he’s using the turn of his ribcage to initiate the swing, rather than his hands. This helps the clubhead stay outside the hands longer on the takeaway, rather than getting sucked to the inside.
BEST MOVE: Perfectly on-plane. The butt of the club points inside the ball and his lead shoulder moves under his chin rather than into his jaw. The hands remain in front of his chest and there’s good extension to the arms. In other words, he’s making a back-SWING rather than moving the club into a position.
If you look closely at Jason’s trail heel it’s evident that his weight is on the inside of his back foot, not the outside, which makes for an easy transition and also allows him to apply force into the ground.
Jason’s right ear starts to move back toward the camera and away from the target, which helps anchor his head and keep his spine and upper body tilted behind the ball. This allows him to hit up on the ball and launch it high with little spin for maximum carry and distance.
Day’s hips have already turned past where they started (at address) yet his shoulders remain closed to the target, meaning there’s a lot of separation between his upper and lower body. By keeping his upper body so calm he’s able to create a lot of stretch in his lead side and generate a tremendous amount of speed at the ball.
Note how the tee hasn’t changed position at all, an indication that Jason’s clearly hitting up on the ball. Also note the full extension of his arms at impact - his arms are being pulled out away from the ball, toward the target, while his weight is going away from the target, counterbalancing that pull.
The high-hands/arms release is a function of a slightly upward angle of attack and the arms swinging and not resisting all of the momentum his body’s rotation has created to this point. This high release is very common with players like Day who like to hit a high draw.
It’s amazing how little tension there is in Day’s arms. This produces more of a whip-like effect through impact, leading to more distance. The back of this lead hand is almost touching the back of his neck, indicative of a full release.
George Connor is the owner and director of instruction for the Golf Channel Academy at ConnorGolf, located at Farmington Woods Golf Club just outside of Hartford in Avon, Conn. A three-time Connecticut PGA Section Teacher of the Year (2000, 2011, 2018), Connor is known as one of the top putting instructors in the game today. For more information about George and to book a lesson - please click here
