Mac O'Grady and the Magic Move of the Greats

Recently a bunch of Mac swings were posted on KZbin, and I encourage everyone to check out his action to see how it changed over time. It was always a great swing, and his ball striking abilities are legendary. He is also known for his knowledge of swing mechanics and just about any other subject regarding the game, but his eccentricities have kept him from rising above the cult status that he currently possesses (although I’m sure he could care less). In this video I take a Mac swing from down the line that demonstrates what I consider to be the optimum way to change direction (right upper arm adduction, right forearm supination, and right shoulder external rotation) and compare it to some of golf’s all-time greats, including Hogan, Snead, and Nelson.

[@robsaxepga]

You don't need Mac to tell you you don't know what you're talking about. I've been watching your videos for years and you don't know what you're talking about! 😂😂😂 No but seriously... Great video as always.

[@ryanu3708]

Geez! I’ve been a student of the golf swing since the 1970’s and I distinctly remember when Mac was somewhat of a cult figure back in the day. I don’t know if it’s just a camera/optical illusion but his lower body and legs look super quiet in these clips. I know he was constantly tinkering but that’s what stands out in this video. Love your channel. Always on point observation.

[@magnumentertainment7400]

What a fantastic swing and analysis, thank you

[@TSK24692]

Great analysis! Low handicap players' primary focus should be on not getting stuck on the downswing in my very humble opinion. The understanding of the golf swing has made tremendous strides since the 80's, which players like Tom Watson incorporated. This improvement is not based on marginal variances in swing plane, but on connection between upper and lower body.

[@golfbulldog]

Could you describe this move as "getting the right forearm and elbow behind the sweetspot" so that the sweetspot can be driven rather than pulled down??? I've tried this move for years but never been able to utilise it in my swing...just can't reproduce it. Maybe you have to make transition and downswing more of a right hand throwing motion rather than a left hand/arm pulling motion??

[@AndrewDCDrummond]

I think I am going to model my swing on Mac as I am struggling to get open and he looks about as inflexible as me :-)

[@pjpredhomme7699]

whoa that would be incorrect - Mac was lifelong yoga practitioner and frankly an amazing athlete / physical specimen I can't say exactly when this clip is I would say the 20 Oughts - he is well into his 60s at that point .

[@stevedriscoll2539]

Wayne, I went to a few Pro Tourneys, so I am no expert, but I was amazed when I saw Lietzke live at Glen Oaks C.C. during the Principal tourney. Jim Colbert and some other senior pro had banged their drives out there a long way on a par four (11th, I think), and Bruce just bombed it by those guys. He drove it past the end of the fairway. But, the most impressive thing was the Aesthetic beauty of the big man's swing, and that cut action.

[@thomasfraser9072]

I think what you are describing ( while the golfer is maintaining their posture over the ball) can easily be achieved with a clockwise baton twirl of the handle at the transitional part of the golf swing. The transitional clockwise looping of the club head (large or small depending on the golfer) automatically places the golfer’s trail elbow into its slot bringing the club to it’s plane of action through the ball while the golfer’s body is rotating back to their lead side as they stand up to their classic finish. The clockwise baton twirl can easily be seen in many great golfers many of whom are not fully aware they are doing this. Personally at 75 I find this easy to do and love doing this myself. Cheers 👍😃⛳️🥂

[@wdefrancesco]

I call what you are describing as the "helicopter move". I would hesitate to say that it is "easy" to accomplish, for a myriad of reasons, not the least of which is having done it wrong, or even the opposite way, for thousands of swings.

[@thomasfraser9072]

@@wdefrancesco here is exactly how and why to learn and teach the baton twirl. kzbin.info/www/bejne/emS3aJaai7d6m5o

[@batman48195]

Nice review Wayne! How about Ernie Els swing? He seemed to open the face up on the back swing and not keep the face square to the path or am I not seeing it correctly?

[@JoeScuderi]

Hi Wayne, It doesn't look to me like Mac has as much rotation as any of the other players you put him side by side with. And it looks like his head raises a bit on the backswing, but even more through impact. Plus, he seems to pull back away from the ball a little through impact. A comment below mentions how Mac has "quiet legs,' and so do you when you say his left leg doesn't "disappear" on the downswing as quickly as the other players. I think these are swing flaws. If on the backswing the rotation of the shoulders is not completed - or if the rotation of the shoulderes comes off the arc they establish at set-up- then the left shoulder will look "high." And consequently, the rotation of the shoulders, of the torso, through impact will then tend to be incomplete because once the arc is broken, on the backswing, it's hard to re-establish it on the downswing. Not impossible, but it adds a level of complexity. Mac actually finishes higher than the other players, his hands more over his shoulder, between his head and left shoulder, and less to his left, on, say, a 45 degree angle to the target line. Sure, his is a pivot driven swing, which maybe Hogan pioneered or helped pioneer -you can tell us that, you're the expert -but a pivot driven swing will have that "over the top" look, yet with the "shallowed" club, for the very reason that the pivot in this kind of swing is the primary motive force of the action -not at all like the old school swing, where the hands lead the action, and then you get that separation of hands and arms, especially through impact, and the main swing thought becomes "staying behind it," and "hitting to right field." Maybe Mac has helped make the pivot driven swing the "modern" swing. But I know he has back problems. Maybe that's why he doesn't really complete the "downward" rotation of his shoulders on their arc. If you see him in a face-on video, it looks like his first lateral move back to the ball has too much upper body leaning, and is too much straight to the target, and not to the left at 45 degrees, and this would cause a block, preventing the left hip from pulling back through impact, and thus forcing the head to rise because the rotation can't complete and the clubhead is out of room. I never knew why, with Hogan and Woods, for example, as well as so many young players on Tour nowadays, who all have this pivot driven action... I never knew why it seemed like they were almost "scooping" through impact - a really "one piece" action! -with the arms exiting so far left, definitely 45 degrees, maybe more. I don't think Mac's legs are "quiet," or rather, they are quiet but not in a positive way. He's just "losing" his torso rotation, both going back and then through the ball.

[@oldschooloats]

Look at Scheffler. He leans left like Mac but even more. I remember Mac saying (from the top): Shift the weight, fire the hips and in that order. I wish I could find that video…

[@meggaro9278]

Hi Wayne Love your work Great video on Mac Since I'm not a low handicap player I am having problems straightening my right arm from P4 to P5.5 I'm starting to think it's very difficult to manipulate the pronation and supination you allude to from top of swing. I think specific body motions might allow that to occur If I am correct another video on another day might address those moves Thank You

[@GothamGolf]

Is my friend Wayne still around?

[@christianmauer]

Hi Wayne, it’s been a long time since I took a few in person lessons which I still have a recording of. My question is what do you think a player should focus on relative to squaring the clubface as they introduce the act of using the right arm action of the greats. I pulled the handle down for 20 years.

[@wdefrancesco]

Squaring the face while keeping the right arm in pitch and producing a forward leaning impact that compresses the ball with an iron requires left forearm supination and left wrist flexion.

[@StevenMoney]

The Tiger swing is clearly the best or in other words the one I’d like to have. Just watching O’Grady makes me think of a power outage.

[@TSK24692]

Which one? Pre-Haney or post-Haney?

[@pjpredhomme7699]

@@TSK24692 come on - definitely pre- Haney - why he ever changed from that is a mystery - I mean I am positive his relationship with Mark Omeara had a lot to do with it - but I think all the players on tour should contribute to him for doing that - because there is no telling what he might have done had he just stuck to that thing that worked devastatingly well

[@tobyrichardson1837]

i I love watching your swing analysis, esp this one comparing so many of the greats. Does the movement of the left hip to the left help facilitate this arm action/flattening of the shaft?

[@wdefrancesco]

Once the swing triggers it is a continuous motion, so anything that happens will be influenced by what happens directly preceding it. The outward hand path and shaft flattening has everything to do with timing and technique of the transition, which is initiated by the right hip rotator muscles changing direction. The flow over to the left hip is almost (not quite) simultaneous, but there is an order of movement that you can track with 3D analysis, which would go pelvis first, then rib cage, then shoulders, then arms and hands. So the answer to your question is yes, along with the movement of everything else.

[@tobyrichardson1837]

@@wdefrancesco Thanks Wayne I hope some of those things happen for me on the course today!