Frustrated with any of the following?
Tired of getting stuck on your golf shot and flipping at the ball?
Tired of trying to hit certain positions in your golf swing?
Tired of the same old style of golf instruction that hasn’t really improved your game over the past so many years?
Looking for something fresh that will allow you to focus on the task at hand and use some natural feels?
Then you have come to the right place!
Mike Malaska is a breath of fresh air in the golf instructional world. A golfer himself that admits when he first started playing, he played much more naturally and used his natural ability transferred over from baseball to hit a golf ball solid and get around the course, but then later fell into the trap of trying to make the perfect swing and get into the positions that the teachers of the time were teaching.
He was someone that often played from the stuck position and believes that it ruined his career. He is on a mission to provide the best, more clear golf instruction that makes sense and keeps the game simple.
Can Mike Malaska really help your game? If you fall into any of the categories above, I would highly recommend Mike Malaska. His no nonsense approach to golf, with the directing of momentum approach, can simplify the game, keep your injury free and ultimately help you lower your scores.
His youtube videos are of high quality and his work with Be Better Golf host, Brennan has been fantastic and there is a great deal of free material for you to soak up. Mike is someone who has spent many hours working and talking about the golf swing with Jack Nicklaus, arguably the greatest golfer of all time.
I break down the Mike Malaska Review into eight different categories. This will help you decide if his philosophy and approach can help improve your game and see if you agree with our overall review. See which category is most important to you and if it aligns with what you are seeking in an online golf instructor.
- 1 – Swing Approach/Philosophy
- 2 – Does the Swing Philosophy of Mike Malaska Set Up for Quality Online Instruction
- 3 – Simplicity of Instruction – Is it Repeatable?
- 4 – On Screen Personality
- 5 – Quality and Quantity of the Content
- 6 – Online Instruction and Support – Further Content and membership
- 7 – Overall Can Mike Malaska Help My Game?
- 8 – Personal Experience and Story
1 – Swing Approach and Philosophy of Mike Malaska
I think I have watched just about every youtube video that Mike Malaska has ever produced. The beautiful background of every video out in Arizona might be part of the attraction, but his ability to breakdown the swing and provide simple movements that has you focus on directing the momentum of the golf swing, clicks for me. He is an amazing communicator that has a philosophy that is simple to follow and allows you to play golf pain free. ‘
He often gets into his story as a golfer and how he felt misled by the confusing information and trying to get into certain positions that golf coaches that he had when growing up were trying to get golfers into. Instead, he focuses on what you are doing with the club head. First with a focus on directing the club head through the movement and only using your body to help direct the momentum and creating a towel like whip at the bottom of the swing your hands and clubhead.
One of his most impressive youtube videos is where he shows the 4 different styles of golf swing and actually imitates each one quite impressively. He is so impressive in imitating Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino or Justin Rose. His ability to change his swing on the spot, shows his knowledge and talent level that he has. He believes in using the right hand as the key component to the swing.
2 – Does the Swing Philosophy of Mike Malaska Set Up for Quality Online Instruction
When considering what golf swing coach you would like to follow online, one of the key criteria is does the teaching style match up with an online approach. A golf instructor that is going to focus on positions, wouldn’t be someone that I would recommend. However, Mike Malaska is the opposite, he teaches based on movements and feels that you can put into place to be successful. He often talks about how feels are different than reality, so trying to get into certain positions is counterproductive.
Mike Malaska believes in giving the arms, specifically the right arm and hand, a task to follow. The golfer then engrains that feeling behind the ball and steups up and tries to replicate that feel from the practice swing. If the swing is solid, the golfer than reinforces that feel right there on the spot. If the swing is bad, the golfers things about what went wrong and tries to get the right feel before walking down the fairway.
I personally love his work with Be Better Golf and some of their oncourse vlogs. This allows the viewer to get into the mindset of the instructor and see how they play a hole. Any instructor willing to go on camera and play a hole or two gets extra points for me because the are willing to put themselves out there and show they have some game.
Here is another youtube video that shows what the right arm should be doing? It also shows the simplicity that Mike Malaska uses in his approach to teacher going:
3 – Simplicity of Instruction – Is it Repeatable?
One of the frustrations with golf is that a swing feel or thought might help you have a great round or two, but will that instruction and feel or though last over time. I believe when one gets lost in worrying about where the shoulder is going, or where his or her weight is in the swing, it just leads to a disaster shot or two within a round.
The mind gets confused and doesn’t have a task or a target to focus on. Instead the mind wanders and is focused on the left shoulder and you leave the club face wide open or get way ahead of the ball and shut the face down with your hands. I love the Malaska approach to give your right arm and hand a task to complete.
With the mind focused on a task and each shot handled for that shot that needs to be hit, allows the swing thoughts and teaching of Mike Malaska to be repeatable. He believes that golf starts with the hands, he helps the viewer understand how to start training the hands to complete the proper task. Here is another great video that was produced with Be Better Golf:
4 – On Screen Personality
I love the personality of Mike Malaska. He reminds me of an instructor that is tired of all the crap instruction that is out there. He truly wants to help people because of the struggles he went through trying to learn the game. He has been studying the swing for longer than some of us have been alive and has simplified down to help us clear our minds and reach our full potential.
He appears to maybe lack some patience at some points, but I could understand. He loves to talk about baseball and how hitting a golf ball is like hitting a low outside fastball. He wants to free our minds and allow our hands to react to the task that must be completed.
Once again, he is willing to play on video and put himself out there. He has many great Jack Nicklaus stories and does a rather impressive impersonation. Also, his ability to swing like Lee Trevino is extremely impressive! Overall, his ability to communicate clearly and precisely about the golf swing is right up there with the best in the industry.
His series of videos with Be Better Golf really clarify and bring out some of the really good stories he has from time with Jack Nicklaus. He is a true student of the game and loves to help people simplify the game.
5 – Quality and Quantity of the Content
Mike Malaska has produced many videos over the year. There are a great deal of videos that range from the driver, to irons to putting. He gives Jack Nicklaus Jr. a chipping lesson in one of his videos. The quality is high and produced at a professional level. Plus, as I said before, the golf club that he teaches out of in Arizona has maybe the most impressive background to any driving range I have viewed on youtube. Overall, the quantity will provide you with many hours of free viewing and help you decide if you want to jump into his membership site.
The variety of different types of videos he has produced is impressive. It isn’t just all him giving a lesson or talking about the golf swing. There are a variety of different settings that helps you learn as a golfer about one of the easiest swings out there.
6 – Online Instruction and Support – Further Content and Mike Malaska Membership
Mike Malaska provides membership options that allows the golfer to truly jump all in. He has organized his videos in a manner that make sense and are in chronological order on the membership site. He provides the following series:
- M System
- Skills Pathways
- I Feel Your Pain
- Teaching Clinic
- Ask Mike
- Player Lessons
- Golf Talk
- Online Shop
His online membership allows a golfer to improve at their own pace and provides access to one of the brightest minds and best communicators in the golf industry. It is one thing to know the swing, but someone must be able to read your swing and communicate with you. I believe this sets Mike apart from many of the instructors on youtube.
7 – Overall Can Mike Malaska Help My Game?
Absolutely! Once again, he is a great communicator with a simple method that works. Gone are the days of trying to get into certain positions. Instead you will focus on directing the momentum, giving your mind a task to focus on, and then replicating a feel that works. He truly is refreshing and I believe can help golfers of any skill level. The golfers that might most benefit from the Malaska approach include:
- Those that get “stuck” in the downswing, which is oftentimes the lower handicap player trying to get the extra yardage.
- The new beginner that just needs a basic motion.
- The golfer who has a mind flooded with the belief that you need all of these certain positions and has a crowded mind of swing thoughts.
Give it a shot, I promise you won’t be disappointed. Keep it simple and your mind and golf score will thank you!
How Can Help the Person Who Gets “Stuck”
The “Mike Malaska Move” is different than most instruction you will see in the traditional golf teaching world. He promotes the feeling of having the club passing the hands, versus the hands leading the way, causing the club to get stuck behind you. His directing of the momentum push and philosophy is an anti stuck move that gets the club in front of the golfer. Too many golfers are trying to maintain their lag. Lag is an effect of the right movements, not a cause.
How Can Mike Malsaka Help the Beginner?
Mike Malaska has the ability to simplify the golf swing and break it down into simple movements. He has a video, found below, that talks about the first step to building a swing. As golfers advance he speaks to trusting the hands and allowing the hands and arm to complete the task.
The Crowded Mind? How Baseball and Other Sports can Help!
He will often utilize movements from other sports to explain the golf swing. The video shown below talks about the connection between baseball and the golf swing. In many of his videos, he references baseball and how the simple thought process in baseball and carrying that over to golf. He will also talk about skipping a rock frequently, which we can do without deep thought or a focus on what body part is moving where. This simplicity leads to better results and the swing becomes more natural.
8 – Personal Experience and Story about Mike Malaska
My tendency or swing fault when I hit a poor shot is to slide my hips and get stuck. This results in a push to the right or more frequently a hook to the left. I can feel the hips get out of place and my hands then respond. Oftentimes this leads to inconsistency. The Mike Malaska approach of direction the momentum and using your hip to make help whip the club through the hitting zone has been a game changer. The other key though I utilize from Mike Malaska is to give my right hand and arm a task to complete. I then stand behind the ball, feel that task and step up and hit the shot.
How Many Stars for Mike Malaska?
I would give Mike Malaska 5 out of 5 stars. Why? When learning from an online instructor, simplicity is the key, unless you are going to be receiving feedback frequently on the move you are making in your golf swing. His ability to communicate is maybe the top in the industry. His wide variety of videos, along with the work he has put forth with Be Better Golf provides a wealth of information for free. This information is easily sortable and you can see him in many different settings. These include: explaining the swing, giving lessons or answering questions from viewers.
Overall – Final Thoughts on Mike Malaska
Mike Malaska is a true professional who has worked with arguably the greatest golfer in the game. HIs stories about Jack Nicklaus and the lessons he has learned are phenomenal. The power of the internet can help change your game. Back in the 1990’s or even early 2000’s golfers did not have access to the best instructors in the world, unless one happened to be within a reasonable driving distance and even at that point, one would spend $100-$500 for a lesson. Here you get the best of Mike Malaska for free on youtube and then consider his membership site.
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