To Hit Key Swing Positions, Think Like a Quarterback

Randy Taylor

When I was growing up in Bridgeport, CT, most of the kids in my urban neighborhood played baseball, football and basketball. I was a golfer, but I also played a lot of contact sports and really enjoyed watching and playing football.

Many of our young men are also football fans, so I started thinking about similarities between golf and football. For this lesson, I focus on the quarterback, who needs to hit four main positions to complete a well balanced, strong throw. Biomechanically, these four positions are quite similar to four crucial positions in the golf swing.

Special thanks to Juan Cortorreal, who showed great patience as our model.

STANCE AND POSTURE: The proper stance starts from the feet up. We are looking for the most athletic setup possible, similar to a quarterback taking a snap. Your weight should be evenly distributed between the balls of your feet, which creates stability and prevents sway and lateral movement. It is important to feel your arms fully extended away from the body, just like a quarterback reaching for the ball. This makes it easier to begin a clean takeaway to the top of your backswing.

BACKSWING: From this strong stance, you need to create power without overswinging and losing your balance. The backswing should begin in a sequence: first the pelvis turns, then the torso, then the lead arm, then the club. Making a full shoulder turn creates tension in the core, which is the source of a powerful swing. When a quarterback takes the football back to make a throw, his eyes stay focused on his target while the throwing arm is building tension in a loaded power position. The golfer does the same thing while staying focused on his target — the ball.

DOWNSWING: The downswing is where most of the energy is released. When delivering a powerful pass, the quarterback follows a familiar sequence: first the pelvis turns, then the torso, then the arm, which is set to release the football. In order to make solid contact and have consistent ball flight, we must turn through the golf ball at impact like that quarterback making his throw. If a quarterback lunges, the football will have a much lower flight with less elevation. Why? Because his weight shifts laterally toward the target, which is much less powerful than turning the body with the sequence described above.

FINISH: Quarterbacks are taught to square up their chest and shoulders when throwing a football. The finish position in golf is no different. If a golfer overrotates the finish, the result is a snap hook. If the golfer underrotates, the result is a slice. If a golfer has his shoulders and chest square to the target, the ball will fly straight and true.