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I love seeing players of my stature (I’m 5’8, 165 lbs.) like Collin Morikawa (he lists as 5’9”, 160 lbs.) achieve success on the PGA Tour especially when it seems like so many of the best players these days are much bigger, over 6 feet tall and over 200 lbs., not much of it being fat like in the old days. The big guys have a big advantage: technique combined with strength produces distance with less than 100% effort. The physically smaller player must make up the difference by maximizing efficiency and being more accurate with longer clubs. Of course, everyone needs to have a stellar short game where size makes no difference, and the same with putting. But when it comes to ball striking the little guys are fun to watch. Morikawa averages right around 300 yards off the tee, and no matter how long the course that’s long enough to have a bunch of short irons into greens, and it’s the iron play that’s Morikawa’s greatest strength. What is instantly noticeable in Morikawa’s swing is the bowed left wrist at the top, although I point out that his weak left hand grip has his wrist almost flat at address and when he adds even a small bit of flexion the wrist looks bowed but the face does not appear closed. He starts with his hands low and close to his body and from there produces high hands at the top. His flares his right arm to P3 and cranks it behind him a bit so that in transition he needs to adduct it (drive it down and forward) aggressively to get it back in front of his chest, which leaves it quite bent from the elbow and brings his hands high into impact. His left wrist is already in hitting position and he even adds flexion into impact, which makes him another example of a drive/hold release type. Also of note is the pace of his backswing which is much slower than the norm on Tour, more of a 4:1 ratio than the standard 3:1.
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