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A Swing That Repeatedly Drops In Winners
Ryan Moore's unique dip at the top might look peculiar, but actually leads to perfect repetition
By Paul Ramsdell, PNGA Media
Ryan Moore's name being among the leaders of any golf tournament shouldn't amaze anyone anymore, especially after what the 22-year-old from
Puyallup, Wash., did last summer.
Ryan Moore's unique swing, however, could still surprise some folks because while the senior at Nevada-Las Vegas was making a mockery of the
amateur golf world in 2004, it wasn't done with a lot of TV time.
That's going to change in April during the Masters when Moore will be paraded all over CBS-TV as golf's newest young gun.
That means casual golf fans who have just read about Moore's exploits will now get a close-up and slowed-down look at the slightly peculiar
swing that won the U.S. Amateur, the U.S. Public Links, the Western Amateur, the Sahalee Players Championship and the NCAA Championships in
2004.
"He re-routs it," said Todd Erwin, a teaching pro at Performance Golf Center in Gig Harbor, Wash., and a four-time Washington Open winner.
It's not as pronounced as Jim Furyk's swing loop, but there's a distinct point at the top of Moore's backswing where after taking the club
back very vertically, he drops it down in the slot for a downswing that's much more flat.
"Not too many guys stay on plane, stay on the same plane they go away on," Erwin said. "If he did, he'd be chopping wood. If he went down the
same plane he went up with, he'd be diving into the turf all day long and squirting it right."
It's obvious, just looking at his results, that that is not the case. By having such a vertical backswing and a flat downswing, Moore is able
prevent himself from coming over the top.
"Because he's so vertical on his backswing, he has to re-rout it or he wouldn't be able to hit it. It's really very effective, very effective,"
Erwin said.
It's not any recent discovery by Moore, it's the way he has swung his entire life.
"His swing has been the same ever since I've known him, so right when he was a little squirt," said Joe Beach, the head professional at
Brookdale Golf Course in Parkland, Wash.
"It was so natural," Beach said. "There was no thinking. This is how he swung. It just happened to be really good."
Beach first saw Ryan swing at The Linksman, a Tacoma, Wash., driving range owned at the time by Ryan's father, Mike.
After working there for two weeks, Beach knocked on the office door and this is how Mike remembered the conversation.
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"Well, I figured it out," Beach said.
"What's that?" Mike replied.
"I figured out the very most important thing I can do for you here at The Linksman."
"Well, what's that?" Mike replied again.
"Keep all the know-it-alls away from your kid, all the range rats, all the gurus, because that's the best golf swing I've ever seen," Beach
said. "It's repeating. He's like a well-oiled machine. He coils and uncoils and just rips it."
And for the past decade, Beach and Mike Moore have been successful in making sure Ryan is not tempted to alter his swing one bit.
"That was probably the hardest thing over the years at the driving range, keeping golf pros away from him, decent players who were always
trying to give the young kid advice," Beach said.
"Mike and I were always running out there, 'Thanks, but no thanks.'"
Mike Moore now is part-owner of The Classic Golf Club in Spanaway, and is still the only swing coach Ryan has ever had.
"The swing is pretty much like a fingerprint, and his is very unique and very his own," his father said.
Erwin said Ryan's swing quickly reminded him of Nick Price's swing, and even looked a bit like Ernie Els. While neither has the same pronounced
drop down at the top of the swing, both take it back vertically and then become more flat on the downswing.
One other player fits that description.
"He's always been a fan of Freddie Couples, and his tempo is very reminiscent of Couples," Mike said.
All those players take it back vertically, but bring it down underneath that plane.
"Swing plane is very important. You want to go back on a certain path, and return on the same path, which is very difficult to achieve," Erwin
said. "But the swing plane that does work is if you go up and under, that does work. The under and over does not."
While Erwin says Ryan's swing reminds him of Price, he says it's actually better than the winner of two PGA Championships and one British
Open.
"The thing you see different in Ryan Moore is I think he's in a better position at the top of the golf swing than Nick Price as far as weight
distribution. Nick Price is a little bit more over the top of the golf ball there where Ryan Moore is behind it."
Jim McLean, one of the leading swing coaches in the country, once told Mike Moore his opinion of Ryan's swing.
"It's a great golf swing," Mike said of McLean's response. "He said, 'Man, the worst thing you could do is get him with a guru. This kid
understands his swing, and that's what any teacher is after is a kid who understands his swing. He's obviously proven he can repeat it under
pressure.' And he said, 'It's a very good golf swing. It repeats, and it's powerful and it's accurate, so what more would you want."
After last summer, that seems plenty.
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