Legendary teacher Harvey Penick breaks down Fred Couples’ swing
The Secret to Fred Couples' Smooth Golf Swing: A Frame-by-Frame Analysis by Harvey Penick
Follow Us
Harvey Penick and Fred Couples ( Image via Golf Monthly )
When it comes to golf, few names evoke the same sense of nostalgia and admiration as Fred Couples. The man who won the Masters in 1992, with a score of -13, has been a prominent figure in the sport for decades. One of the hallmarks of Couples’ success has been his smooth, effortless swing that seems to flow with the natural rhythm of the game.
In an April 1993 edition of Golf Digest, legendary teacher Harvey Penick was asked to analyze Couples’ swing, frame-by-frame. Penick was the author of the famous “Little Red Book,” a tome that has been hailed as one of the most important instructional golf books of all time. Penick studied the pictures of Couples’ swings every night for a week and concluded that the key to the swing was what he called the “magic move.”
According to Penick, the “magic move” involved a slight shift of weight from the back foot to the front foot, just before the club reached the top of its backswing. This shift allowed Couples to create a subtle pause in his swing, which gave him the ability to generate tremendous power with a smooth, controlled release. Penick described the move as a “transition,” and he believed that it was the foundation of Couples’ success.
The intuitive approach to golf: Feeling over technicality
For Fred Couples, the “magic move” was an intuitive part of his swing, something that came naturally to him. He didn’t spend hours practicing it or obsessing over the mechanics of his swing. Instead, he focused on the feeling of the swing, on the way it flowed from start to finish. As he told Golf Digest in 1993, “I don’t want to get bogged down with technical stuff. I just want to feel good about my swing.”
The “magic move” was the secret to Fred Couples‘ smooth swing, and it’s a move that golfers around the world have been studying and trying to emulate for years. For Couples, it was a natural part of his game, a feeling that he honed over time through practice and experience. As we watch him compete in the Masters and other tournaments, we can appreciate the beauty of his swing and the simplicity of his approach to the game.
In case you missed it:
Popular golf commentator Gary McCord reflects on career-changing moment at Augusta National
Controversy erupts as LIV Golf players erased from history on live TV
Stay Updated!
Rohit Jambhulkar
(1239 Articles Published)