By Jonathan Craddock, PGA Professional, Pete Cowen Academy
The 2023 Open Champion has a fantastic swing with many attributes we can all learn from. He may not be the biggest hitter on Tour, but his simple and repeatable swing is one to copy. Let’s break it down frame by frame below.

He starts in a perfectly balanced position with solid foundations. I would like to highlight just how comfortable Brian looks in this moment, arms hanging down from the shoulders with space between them and his thighs.

The movement starts very simply with the upper body moving the arms away from the ball. Note how the golf club is out in front of the hands as opposed to being pulled inside of the hands and arms.

Brian operates the swing with a slightly open clubface as the wrists begin to set up the left forearm. The right-hand position is being maintained in front of the right shoulder.

Brian has maintained his posture wonderfully with the body fully spiraled around and up to the top of the backswing. Note how Brian is using the ground correctly by pushing down with his lead side. We can see his right knee, hip, and shoulder lower than his left side.

Brian has maintained his posture wonderfully with the body fully spiraled around and up to the top of the backswing. Note how Brian is using the ground correctly by pushing down with his lead side. We can see his right knee, hip, and shoulder lower than his left side.

Brian unloads the shoulders downward during transition, moving the golf club slightly under plane. Take a look at the position of his club shaft at this moment: above the trail elbow, clubhead behind his spine. Next time you are at the driving range, take a look at your clubhead at this moment and check to see if you have kept the club behind your hands.

I particularly enjoy how stable Brian remains during impact. This is something all amateur golfers could benefit from. Being able to execute a shot maintaining stability with the feet. Far too often we see golfers jumping during impact, and although this can be a natural consequence of a powerful downswing, it is certainly something that can cause inconsistency with the arm, hand, and club structure.

Brian maintains his posture wonderfully, his right side moving around and up. As with all consistent players we can see how Brian has maintained the distance between his legs and hands.

As alluded to earlier, Brian utilizes his stability really well, which is a large contributing factor to his consistency. Next time you are at the driving range, try hitting balls maintaining your trail foot position on the ground. You will need to reduce the speed as you are not finishing the swing but take note of the strike. I guarantee you will hit solid consistent strikes once you get the feel for

Brian demonstrates his wonderful flexibility in this frame as he fully releases the golf club around and up to the right. Posture still being maintained, left shoulder below right.

A very simple golf swing fully utilizing his stability to create consistency. Brian, in terms of PGA Tour distance, is not the longest but is for sure a consistent ball striker. It is clear to see how he won The Open Championship in such style.