Padraig Harrington has revealed the worst piece of swing advice he’s ever received in his 29-year professional career.
The 52-year-old has gone on to win three Major championships, and is widely regarded as one of Europe’s greatest ever players.
More recently, he has started to give back in the form of ‘Paddy’s Golf Tips’ on YouTube where he now has more than 150,000 subscribers.
When asked for the best piece of swing advice he could give to pass on to amateurs, Harrington said: “I actually don’t know what the best one I’ve got because there’s all sorts of things at different points in your life that really are important. It’s easier maybe to pick up on the worst piece of advice.
“Staying still is probably the worst thing. Keeping your feet still on the ground. Keeping your head still. Keeping your head down. Swinging slowly. These are all terrible things.
“Golf is quite counterintuitive. You’ve got to hit down on the ball to get it to go up. You can’t hit up on the ball. You can’t help it. There’s a lot of things.
“I had a guy last week who really, really struggles. It was a very unathletic golf swing. He would struggle to hit it 150 yards, and he was a big man.
“I asked him, did you play any sports? He said, yeah, I was a good baseball player in high school. I looked at him and says, but you’re swinging a stick now, and you used to swing a stick well back in the day, and now you look terrible swinging a stick.
“He had no concept that all he’s doing is swinging a stick at a ball. It’s the same as baseball on a different plane.
“It freed him up a lot now. Every time he goes to hit the ball, he has a few baseball swings to get the feel of it. He’s going to start moving a bit more, just like baseball.
“It will take him a bit of time because he’s got some bad habits, but in a year or two, he’ll be well able to hit the golf ball and enjoy the game.”
Harrington tees it up this week in the U.S. Senior Open at Newport Country Club, with the winner crowned on Sunday, June 30.
