Worldwide Golf

Padraig Harrington has established himself as one of the most successful golfers of his generation having secured 38 professional victories including the following major championships: Open Championship in (2007 & 2008), PGA Championship (2008) and the US Senior Open (2022). In 2024, he will be an inductee of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Raised in Dublin, Ireland, he developed a passion for golf from a young age of five years old. The Irishman is known for his unique swing and meticulous preparation with his swing has being a subject of much fascination and analysis. This combined with his attention to detail and relentless preparation are often credited as key contributors to his success on the course.

The 52-year-old’s dedication to his craft is often lauded as he is in constant pursuit of improvement, always striving to reach new heights in his golfing career, especially with regards to speed. At Arnold Palmer’s tournament last year Shane Lowry challenged Harrington to get over 190 mph ball speed and he would pay for the evening meal. Paddy got 192, and Shane paid up! Let’s see how he does it below.

Perhaps unknown to many, Harrington is one of the most fascinated players when it comes to the golf swing. He’s always tinkering to achieve new heights, particularly with speed. We can all learn a little here because by working on raw speed you can unlock a more natural movement. He actively works with the Super Speed team on overload and underload training which provides the body with different stimulus to unlock potential speed.
It’s evident with Harrington’s swing how he has been able to stand the test of time. Throughout the following slides imagine there is a line down from his tail bon. You will see how he maintains his connection to the line and therefore his posture throughout the whole movement. The first movement here is a very simple one. Note how the club is in front of the body. This is due to the Irishman maintaining his arm structure and not adding any unnecessary manipulation away from the ball.
Just prior to parallel to the ground with the left arm, Harrington begins to set the wrists. Notice how the club face is square, pointing more towards four o’clock as opposed to two o’clock which would be an open face and a common mistake I see. Padraig’s arm structure can be maintained due to the excellent body action. He’s spiralled into and up from the ground allowing the arms to stay in front of the body action.
As mentioned, Harrington practices a fair amount of achieving high speed levels. Notice the amount of body spiral but not an excessive amount of arm or club movement. He actively thinks about a large body spiral with a stable arm movement rather than a large arm movement with little body action. If you look closely you will see Padraig’s left heal off the ground. This is down to his speed practice and how he creates high amounts of leverage. By understanding how to push the spiral into the ground you will create greater opposition from ground reaction forces.

Something perhaps a little unusual that you might not know is how Harrington has size eight feet, yet is six foot one therefore his platform is not the biggest. Therefore his work applying the correct spiral and therefore ground force reactions is essential to the Irishman maintaining his posture and therefore unlocking the 190 mph ball speed he is still able to achieve with his driver at the age of 52. If you are 50 years old or more, I challenge you to keep watching Harrington as he is only getting faster and proof that age isn’t that much of a limiting factor in this sport. You can do the same and also get faster with the correct movement.
The three-time Major champion lifts his heal in the backswing which he says this gives him a simple idea of transition (or as we call it the reverse spiral). By placing his left heal down and feeling like he is squeezing his thighs together he is able to allow the club to move down onto plane. Notice how Harrington has not opened his upper body too early, but rather by pressuring the spiral from top down with the arm hand and club action, he is primed for a powerful release. This a key part of his effective movement which shouldn’t be overlooked.
Again, due to his understanding of how to create power, his left leg action allows him to maintain a solid clubface through impact. It’s also worth noticing at this stage that pressure on the ball is key to power. Of course, the quickest way to find more distance is to consistently find the centre of your club with a relatively square face. Quite often when amateurs work on their swing, they tend to over think the movement. I recommend these in-depth thoughts are done away with from the golf course and focus instead on a more dynamic movement when swinging through golf balls in scoring situations. This is a game at the end of the day, and many great players say they have no swing thoughts when they are playing well.
Note in the previous slide how Harrington’s hips were open to setup whilst his upper body was square, forearms arms perhaps pointing slightly right. In this frame the energy from the body action and arm, hand and club movement have been matched, which provides an efficient transfer of energy through the golf ball. Next time you swing your club or the superspeed sticks following a warm up, try to swing as fast as you can without thinking about the movement. The only thing we are looking for is speed. You will feel the momentum build from your arms and hands, remember keep them loose, and use natural forces. Just watch how the body reacts.

CONTENTS

FEBRUARY CONTENTS 2024

SWING SEQUENCE