Iconic golf coach, David Leadbetter, describes the A Swing that he invented and believes so passionately in. If you follow his instructions, you could start getting better results because it’s easier to repeat than a regular swing. The shoot was done at JA Jebel Ali Golf Resort.
WWG: What are the fundamentals of the A Swing technique and the philosophy behind that?
DL: The A Swing is just a commercial name that we have used that sounds cool and intriguing. A stands for alternative because for many years people have thought the golf swing was one plane that goes up and down but it doesn’t work that well in my opinion. I’ve always in some form or shape taught the A Swing. It’s an evolution of a technique I’ve been teaching for a while – not an epiphany!
In golf, particular amateurs, the biggest problem they have is making a backswing because they are so worried about that, that they never get into the downswing and they continue that for their whole golfing life. We’ve simplified the backswing so make it a steeper and shallower downswing because for people that slice they come outside, in so this technique makes your body work better as the club is on the right plane.
The key is in golf is to make the two main components (your body and arms/hands) work in sync. If you only work with your body, your club will get out of position and vice versa. We’ve had some tremendous results this last year since the A-Swing came out because people found it easier to repeat. It’s not a method, it’s an approach and Rafa has a form of the A Swing. Everybody has various degrees of it. I liken it to a curry. You get the extreme version that very few players can actually do which is like the vindaloo. Then there’s the mid version that Rafa has.
I’ve always been a believer of having a steeper backswing and a shallower downswing. Ever since I taught Nick Faldo, you can look at his swing and look at Nick Price’s and even the great Jack Nicklaus’. They all have a swing like this.
The swing is a little bit like a baseball swing in the way that the bat is held high then it changes pane as it moves to hit the ball. That’s the whole principle behind the A Swing.
Ultimately if your arms and body are synchronised together, that’s all the counts in the swing and the A Swing for most people really helps them to do that. We’ve found that people can practice less and get quicker results.
