Golf is a strange and weird game. Some players have the most beautiful swings. When I think of beautiful swings the players that come to mind are Fred Couples, Ernie Els, Justin Rose, Steve Elkington, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead. They have all had great careers that produced many wins and even major championships.
However, there are players that have played professionally that have some of the weirdest golf swings. Sometimes you wonder how in the world they are hitting the ball as solid as they are and scoring like they do. It leaves you scratching your head on why there is so much instruction on hitting certain positions at certain points in the golf swing.
With the popularity of the high speed cameras just about every amateur in the world can pull out their smartphone and record their swing, download an app and draw all those fancy lines all over the screen.
I have been down this rabbit hole and while I did improve the look of my swing, I have had greater success following the teachings of golf instructors such as Shawn Clement and Mike Clement who focus more on the target or task and directing the momentum of the golf swing.
So I decided to research some of the weirdest golf swings and highlight why they look weird and what we can learn from each swing.
Check out our 15 best golf swings of all time.
Top 10 Weirdest Golf Swings
- Jim Furyk
- Matt Wolfe
- Miller Barber
- Allen Doyle
- Jim Thorpe
- Nancy Lopez
- John Daly
- Josh Broadaway
- Eamonn Darcy
- Ho Sung Choi
1 – Weirdest Golf Swings: Jim Furyk
Jim Furyk has won 17 PGA Tour Tournaments, 1 major championship and once shot a 58 in a tour event and maybe has one of the most unique swings ever.
Different college golf coaches wanted to change his swing if he decided to join their team, but Jim and his Dad refused any swing changes. Instead he attended the University of Arizona and maintained his weird and unique golf swing.
What makes his swing weird is the takeaway, how close his hands are to his body and how vertical his left arm is at the top of the golf swing. Like we will see with most golfers on our list, by the time he gets to the halfway point in the downswing he is in an ideal position to get to a great impact position.
At the impact position his hips are very wide open, but overall he has been a model of consistency year in and year out on the PGA tour. Never the longest hitter, he was known as a straight hitter that played with great course management.
He was consistently able to deliver the club to the same spot on a rather frequent occasion. His 2003 US Open victory solidified his career and put him on the map as one of the greatest weird swingers of all time!
Jim Furyk Golf Swing:
2 – Weirdest Golf Swings: Matt Wolfe
New to the scene on the PGA Tour, Matt Wolfe has some amazing power in his game. He won a NCAA Championship and has already won on the PGA Tour. He swings all out and rips his driver and his irons.
His weird and unique swing starts with a very strange takeaway that goes way outside and is across the line at the top. He also lifts his left heel way off the ground and then sets, squats and turns while holding nothing back.
What we can learn is the great amount of hip turn and the way he shallows the golf club in the downswing. This helps him generate the amount of speed that he does. His left foot spins out and actually moves away from the club during the downswing.
Matt is taught by George Gankas (who his George Gankas?) who is an up and coming coach who will help change the swings on the PGA Tour to be more Sam Snead like with a squat move and a great turn. Most of his players squat and get wide open in the downswing while swallowing out of the club. The speed generated is very impressive.
How do the pros hit the ball so far?
Matt Wolfe Golf Swing:
3 – Weirdest Golf Swings: Miller Barber
Not only a weird swing, but also somewhat ugly his swing led him to 11 PGA Tour victors and 43 total professional tournaments. He had a lot of success on the Champions Tour.
His swing has a right elbow that really pops out, but once again on the downswing he is able to shallow the club and drop it into the slot that leads to success. His left heel, much like Matt Wolfe’s left heel, comes way off the ground. He really chases the ball down the line in the follow through which lowers his body through the shot.
The elbow is truly something unique and interesting to watch.
Miller Barber Golf Swing:
4 – Weirdest Golf Swings: Allen Doyle
Maybe the shortest golf swing I have ever seen where the golfer can actually play at a high level. The amount of hinge that he creates from the hands starting to move back down well before the finish of a normal backswing helped him create enough power to play the game. He sets up with a wide stance and then keeps the swing extremely short.
The length of it can be somewhat compared to Tony Finau, but it doesn’t look as fluid as Finau’s swing. Doyle managed to win 11 times on the Champions Tour and was one of the top 5 most accurate drivers of the golf ball over a 10 year period of time. Truly a weird and unique swing, but once again it worked for him.
What we can learn again is his ability to shallow the club and to drop the club into the proper slot for this shot shape. So far, our top 4 golfers, all had some great shallowing of the club and allowing the club to drop into that perfect hitting slot to be able to go hard at the ball.
Allen Doyle Golf Swing:
5 – Weirdest Golf Swings: Jim Thorpe
Another golfer who takes the club a bit outside the line on the backswing and then drops it in. What makes Jim Thorpe’s swing so unique is the follow through. It looks like he is chasing the club and trying to fight off something above him.
Johnny Miller once used the words Kung Fu to describe what this swing looked like. Even with this weird and unique swing Jim Thorpe was able to win 20 times professionally including 3 PGA Tour Victories and 13 Champions Tour Victories.
HIs swing was repeatable and he knew that he took the club outside and then wanted to drop it down on the inside, shallowing the club out and creating some great space to really go at the ball. His follow through is a must see.
Jim Thorpe Golf Swing:
6 – Weirdest Golf Swings: Nancy Lopez
Nancy Lopez has such a beautiful impact position and tempo and timing in her golf swing. Growing up, one of my high school teammates loves her swing so much that he would try to replicate it. Her ability to chase the ball down the line and hit with such grace was impressive.
What made her swing unique and weird was the lifting of the hands right before the swing started. She would then somewhat wrap the club around her and would end up with a flying right elbow and the club across the line at the top.
However, she then was able to drop the club to the inside and send the club flying towards the ball. It is awesome to me how her swing goes against all of the teachings on what a proper backswing looks like, but she gets to the top in a position and then fires away. Her slow to fast tempo was impressive and full of power.
How can one argue with her swing or her results? She had 52 professional victories including 48 on the LPGA Tour. She was also able to win 3 majors on the LPGA Tour. Her swing is a must to check out. The power comes at the perfect time in the downswing.
Nancy Lopez Golf Swing:
7 – Weirdest Golf Swings: John Daly
John Daly was about 25 years ahead of his time. HIs ability to hit the ball a long, long way was simply amazing. He also had some great touch around the greens and with his wedges. Without some of the personal battles he had, he might have won a lot more.
However, we can still marvel at his golf swing and the power that he created. What made his swing unique and weird was the overall length of the backswing.
The swing went well past parallel as he stored up and geared up for a hard downswing. HIs right elbow flew out and he was way across the line. He might have the longest swing of all time. However, he then ripped into the shot and swallowed the club out just enough to create massive power. Nobody could ever accuse John Daly of not swinging hard enough.
John Daly won 5 times on the PGA Tour and 2 major victories. He is a fan favorite due to his swing and power and his highly entertaining personality and loud pants. His son also has one impressive swing and we look for great things to come out of little John in the future.
John Daly Golf Swing:
8 – Weirdest Golf Swings: Josh Broadaway
To be honest, I have never studied Josh Broadaway golf swing because it looks somewhat normal, until you look at his grip. He actually hits the ball with this left hand low as a right handed golfer. I have seen this in softball, but never before in golf. While he never made it big on the PGA Tour he did spend time on some of the minor league tours. He ended up playing 6 PGA tour events.
The swing speed is rather impressive and if you didn’t look closely you would think his swing was quite normal.
Josh Broadaway Golf Swing:
9 – Weirdest Golf Swings: Eamonn Darcy
Not only does he make our list for the weirdest and most unique swings, but of the 10 on our list, I think I would give him the ugliest swing award as well. The takeaway is rather unique, but even worse is the early extension and the firing of the hips towards the golf ball.
Oh my is this swing weird. He pulls it back slightly inside, lifts up with the elbow flying and then jumps at the ball. However, I don’t say this to be mean, but to prove a point that you must own your swing. He was able to win 15 times professionally including 4 times on the European Tour.
There is hope for all of us golfers out there as he was a 12 handicap at age 16 in 1968 and then won a European Tour event in 1977 just 9 years later. His swing is ugly, but it worked for him.
Eamonn Darcy Golf Swing:
10 – Weirdest Golf Swings: Hung So Choi
Our favorite swing on this list comes from Hung So Choi. I don’t even know how to begin to describe this swing other than it sets great to music and looks like a dance move with him jumping off the shot and almost falling over.
Several times in the swings I have seen he ends up on one foot and almost falls on his face, but somehow he has won professional tournaments. He has now won 3 times on the Japan Golf Tour.
I just really can’t believe this swing, one you think is almost a Saturday Night Live Skit and someone is goofing off. It might be the closest thing to a Happy Gilmore style swing that seemed rather unrealistic at the time. These types of swings give us all hope for what could become of our own golf swings.
You have to check this one out!
Hung So Choi Golf Swing:
Final Thoughts
There are several final thoughts that come to mind in our series on the Weirdest Golf Swings: Top 10. Here they are:
- We often hear the following golf instruction:
- Take the club straight back.
- Keep that right elbow tucked.
- Keep your back leg flexed.
- Don’t swing past parallel.
- Don’t have your swing get across the line.
- Make sure you maintain proper balance.
- Don’t slide your hips at all.
It just makes me truly question some of the teachings that are out there. I know there are exceptions to every rule, but you often see these “truths” being blown out of the water more and more today with some of the new swings on the tour. I believe there are only three true fundamentals in golf and they include: hitting the ground consistently in the same spot, controlling the curve of the ball and having enough power to play the game.
- You don’t have to have a perfect swing to play golf at the highest level.
- All of the golfers end up dropping the club into a slot and swallowing it on the downswing.
- There are all different speeds of tempo in the golf game. I believe many have a 3:1 ratio as described by Tour Tempo Golf.
- Make your swing your own and be able to control impact position.
- Short games are still very important in golf. The best looking swings might produce some great shots, but a golfer must be able to save par when they miss a green in regulation and make birdie putts when the opportunity presents itself.
- The best instructors today promote a simplified approach to the game. One based on targets, certain motions and finding your matchups in your swing. George Gankas is the best at finding matchups. Shawn Clement is amazing on working with targets and Mike Malaska truly understands the movements in the swing and utilizing momentum and forces.
- Where would these players be if someone had try to change their swing. Would some of them had more success and would some have had less success? Is their true mastery in creating something that was reliable and repeatable?
Take Action – What You Can Do Today to Get Better
What does this mean for you? I believe in the following recipe to get better:
1 – Improve your motion in the golf swing by identifying a golf instructor. Here are some options:
Here is a list of golf instructors that we have reviewed:
2 – Train to swing faster and improve your swing speed. Here are some options:
Looking to gain more Speed and Distance in your swing. Two Options:
3 – Understand course strategy and work to break through your next barrier. Here is a series on breaking through:
We have provided guides on how to break 100, 90, 80 and 70. Check out more below, if interested.
Don’t Forget to Check out our 15 best golf swings of all time.
Recommended Products
Check out our recommend products:
