Mike Austin Swing

[vuhnan]

I have recently been in the process of making some alterations to my swing (as I usually am). From what I've read, the "Mike Austin swing" supposedly increases clubhead speed (and therefore distance), but also increases accuracy. One actually has to pay for this "secret," and that is clearly not happening, but I was wondering what your feelings are about this technique.

If you arent familiar with this swing, there is a brief desciption and frame-by-frame breakdown on wikipedia under "Mike Austin Swing". I would give you the link, but it wont let me because I am new to this site.

I haven't dramatically changed by swing to be very similar to his, however, I believe that he may have been onto something with the movement of the hips. I realized that I was arm-swinging, and the rest of my body wasn't really doing a whole lot.

Anyway, I went golfing today and I made a conscious effort to utilize my lower body for more power, and it definitely made quite a difference, as I noticed an increase in distance and clubhead speed. I hit a few bombs with my driver, FW woods, and hybrid 3, but as the day went on, those clubs began hooking quite drastically. My irons were all pretty good, which is surprising because I generally struggle with my long irons.

Do any of you know of any reason why more hip movement would create a hook on my long clubs? And, does anyone have an opinion on this technique (positive or negative)? Has anyone ever seen it or tried it? Thanks!

[gwlee7]

I don't know anything about Mike Austin or his swing but I do know a lot about hooking the snot out of the ball. If you are trying to power your swing with your lower body and let your arms take over, it's going to be hook city. You said that you were an "arm swinger". If you couple that with fast rotating hips you will continue to hit hooks. You can't have two masters so the arms are going to have to be "passive" to not hook the ball if you are rotating the body hard. Forget about the arms and focus on the body turn.

[jaacobbowden]

Hey vuhnan, I actually trained under Mike before he died...and also under Dan Shauger - his good friend of 20+ years. I can't link yet either because I'm new, but search for Jaacob Bowden on youtube.com and you'll find my swing.

I don't think that Mike Austin's swing (or any other swing for that matter) can really have a 'dramatic' difference on your swing speed. I've tried a multitude of methods...and although I hit the ball better with some vs. others, my swing speed was always about the same no matter which one I used. To really increase your swing speed, you have to train to do it. In fact, my Swing Man Golf website was built around the idea of swing speed training.

Beyond that, I believe the major benefits to Mike's swing are the improved ball-striking and a more efficient use of the body. Mike kept the upper part of his spine (his swing circle center as you'll hear it referred to) still while his legs moved the lower part of his spine back and through. Keeping your head as still as your flexibility allows helps keep the swing circle center (the point where shoulders, neck, and spine intersect) still while you shift your weight...and makes it easier to ground the club in the same spot every time. Power is generated from the legs through natural body leverage vs twisting violently around your spine (which it isn't really made to do).

Accuracy-wise, there is benefit too...but it depends on who you learn from. In the old days, Mike used a rolling type hand/blade action. After his stroke (and after all his videos came out), he started advocating a counter-rotating hand action that kept the blade squarer longer through the hitting zone. Unfortunately, most people don't know this...so out on the blogs you'll see some Mike vs. Dan hand-action (Dan teaches the counter-rotating action).

Are your hooks starting out straight and then hooking? Or are they pull hooks? In either case, a hook means the blade was closed at impact. You could just try weakening your grip a little bit.

Jaacob