Instruction blog: Glover is 'good enough' at Bethpage

text size

Getty Images

The driver was certainly Lucas Glover's friend last week at Bethpage Black.

The 109th U.S. Open finally came to an end Monday and Lucas Glover won the biggest tournament of his life. After heavy rains and numerous delays, the second major of the year didn't disappoint with a fantastic finish and so many great storylines.

Listen to Travis Fulton

PGA TOUR Golf Academy's Travis Fulton breaks down the keys to Lucas Glover's win on the PGA TOUR Network (XM 146, SIRIUS 209). Click to listen

The sentimental favorite heading into the tournament was Phil Mickelson, who was headed back to New York where he had finished second in more than one past U.S. Open. After an eagle on the par-5 13th to gain a share of the lead at 4 under, the Long Island crowd was in a frenzy and it looked like Mickelson just would finally get his long-awaited U.S. Open title. However, an all-too-familiar story for Mickelson resurfaced as Lefty stumbled down the stretch, bogeying the 15th and 17th to end up runner up for a record fifth time!

Tiger Woods somehow hung around until the end as the putter and the long rough around the greens gave the world's No. 1 fits all week. And how about the former No. 1 David Duval? Just a great story all week was seeing the much-improved play of Duval. Even with some costly bad breaks on Monday, Duval was able to battle back and gain a share of the lead before his crazy lip-out bogie on the 17th.

A lot of great stories, to be sure. But in the end, it was the 29-year-old Glover who prevailed by two shots. With a premium on driving at Bethpage, Glover used the best club in his bag to help win his first major championship.

What Can We Learn
How would you like to hit it long and straight like Glover? Sounds pretty good doesn't it? This week at the U.S. Open, we were treated to perhaps the best driver in today's game. Currently ranked first in Total Driving -- a combination of accuracy and distance -- Glover conquered Bethpage with the help of the big stick.

There are a lot of things that go into hitting a golf ball long and straight off the tee. It just seems for some of us we have the ability to grab the driver and pipe it right down the fairway. For the rest of us, the longest club in the bag can be a real pain.

For Glover, his driver is certainly his best friend and a club that he has tremendous confidence in. One of the keys to Glover's driver swing is that he always seems under control and in balance. Every driver swing looks to be the same tempo with perfect balance from start to finish. Let's break down some of the incredible balancing act that is Glover with his driver.

Getty Images

Lucas Glover holds his finish on the fourth hole during Monday's final round.

Set-up
You may have noticed with Glover that he is a bit more bent forward from the hips than most TOUR pros with the driver. With the driver being your longest club, your spine angle will be tallest when compared to the other clubs. Over the years, Glover has continued to work on his spine angle standing taller at address. Nevertheless, Glover's balance with his driver remains solid with his weight centered over the balls of the feet.

A good checkpoint for balance we use at the TOUR Academies is draw a vertical line up from the toes when viewed from along the target line. If a player is in good balance then the back of their collar will be touching that line. Most golfers either err towards their toes at address placing the collar well right of the line, or towards their heels positioning their collar to the left of the line.

Top of swing
At the top of the swing, Glover remains in balance as he loads his weight over his right side. What allows him to do this is his rock steady right foot and knee. At the top, Glover's right foot stays glued to the ground and braced keeping the pressure towards the inside of the shoe. With the foot braced, Glover does a great job keeping his right knee flexed. This is a key component to good balance as it allows the weight to load into the right heel for maximum stability instead of out at the toes.

Two of the biggest issues for golfers at the top of the swing are to let their weight move to the outside of their right foot and straightening the right knee. Both faults result in wobbly balance that leads to a loss in power and accuracy.

Downswing to impact
One of the key moves in a balanced swing is to allow the weight to shift from the trail foot to the lead foot. This lower body transition will see the weight shift through the arch of the trail foot and into the arch of the lead foot. A good analogy of this movement is the right foot should respond as if it was pushing off the pitcher's mound.

One of the most common errors in the golf swing is during this transition the right foot goes straight to the toe promoting a player to lose their balance and posture at impact. Numerous TOUR players work on managing the movement of this weight as it has a great effect on the over-all sequencing to impact.

Finish
One of the signature positions for a professional golfer is their finish. Players that are swinging well will hold the finish in perfect balance until the ball comes to rest. With Glover, this happens quite often as he continues his perfect balance all the way to the finish. With the weight now into his left side, you will notice how his weight continues to move back into the left heel and even slightly towards the outside of the left foot. With no hint of weight moving towards the toes, Glover is able to maintain his spine angle all the way through the hitting area and in perfect balance to the finish.

Just because
One of the thing's Glover's former swing coach Dick Harmon always told him was that "You are good enough." Harmon was Glover's swing coach since he was 12 years old and one of the Harmon brothers we have grown to know over the years with their endless contributions to golf instruction. A little over three years ago Harmon died due to complications caused by pneumonia. Harmon was one of those rare teachers who could not only get his players to understand the components of the swing but also the lessons to be learned to be a better person.

Although I never had the privilege to meet Dick Harmon, I have heard so many great stories and can only imagine just how great of a teacher and person he was. This week, we were once again reminded of these great lessons Dick Harmon taught Lucas and countless others. With the best seat in the house on Monday, I can only imagine Dick looking down and telling Lucas, "You are good enough".