All of the recent talk about Matthew Wolff and Jimmy Bruen’s ‘loopy golf swings’ caused somebody to get in touch and ask me what I thought of Eamonn Darcy’s golf swing?
Eamonn hardly looped at all. His idiosyncrasy was no more than his right elbow ‘popping out’ as he gathered full power to apply a ferocious blow in the hitting area; the result of playing the game almost entirely with his right hand and arm.
LOVE THIS! Walking up 18 after filming and saw Eamonn Darcy ready to play his 2nd. Whipped out the iPhone for some slo-mo on that famous swing. AMAZING! btw, it finished bang on-line 2ft short of the pin #Legend #RyderCup87 @TheHomeofGolf @StaysureTour pic.twitter.com/eUvk27OKOY
— We Film Golf (@WeFilmGolf) July 27, 2018
Eamonn had vigorously slapped his elbow back into a classic position beside his right-hand, trouser pocket by the time he brought the club shaft down to hip height. The most unusual thing about Eamonn Darcy’s method was his exceptionally weak left-hand grip which, inevitably, forced his right hand to do all the work.
Eamonn was one of the best long iron players I ever saw, and his greatest assets were his strong legs, wrists and arms and the ability to keep his swing path on both sides of the ball ‘dead straight’ at the target. He developed his strong legs and wrists by riding horses when he was young, and I still admire the way he used the ground to generate extra power. Eamonn gave what might be described as a little jump as he hit the ball and his extremely upright swing was as close to a Ferris Wheel as he could make it, consciously or unconsciously, but I have no idea if the thought ever crossed his mind?
It definitely crossed mine when I was a good player because I figured swinging ‘outside myself’ with images of a wheel in my head was the most efficient way to keep the path of the swing in line with the target throughout the entire swing. I figured whichever direction my swing path went the ball would inevitably do likewise.
As I have mentioned previously, golf is where the ball goes and there is a lot more to it than the swing whether it contains a loop or not.
Leave a comment