Wayne DeFrancesco | Wayne DeFrancesco Golf Instruction

Welcome to the Guru Invitational

By Wayne | Articles: Technology, Equipment and Teaching

I have a great idea for a golf tournament. Let’s invite all the so-called teaching gurus to a 72 hole stroke play event and call it “The Guru Invitational”. Like the Masters, we’ll have to make it fairly difficult to qualify for the field. After all, we only want those recognized as true golfing geniuses, the men and women who have figured out a technique and a mental attitude for every possible situation, and have earned a nice living dispensing such knowledge to the masses. So who qualifies to hold the title of “guru”, and thus earns an entry…

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Swing Analysis: Miguel Angel Jiminez

By Wayne | Videos: Swing Analysis

The “most interesting man in golf” has one of the most interesting swings you will ever see, as evidenced here in my analysis. He starts with a conventional set up and grip, then begins his swing with a slight lift of the arms and very little upper trunk movement. At about shaft parallel things start to get weird. He makes a deep move back with his right leg (without straightening his right knee) and folds both his arms into to his body, the antithesis of “width”. At left arm parallel that arm is more bent than any good player I…

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Lesson of the Week: Ravi Makam

By Wayne | Videos: Lesson of the Week

Ravi is a 13 year old who is just starting his freshman year at my old Alma Mater, Langley High School in McLean, Virginia. Ravi is quite large for his age, and his size 14 shoes suggest he will only get a lot bigger. This is not only his first lesson with me, but his first lesson ever, and what you see to start with is what you would call “homemade”, with a lot of common elements I see in young kids left to their own devices. The beauty of this is the natural fluidness of the movement, and the…

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Lesson of the Week: Elliot Smith

By Wayne | Videos: Lesson of the Week

Elliott is a 90’s shooter (although it looks better than that) who has come to Woodmont for his first lesson with me, and as we have seen before first lessons are always interesting as I have to assess the student in a short period of time by asking a few pertinent questions and then videoing the swing. I usually take a bit of time watching a swing for the first time as I have to formulate a game plan going forward without overwhelming the student with too much too soon, always a juggling match (what is too much or too…

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Swing Analysis: Jason Dufner and Ben Hogan

By Wayne | Videos: Swing Analysis

Dufner wowed the golfing world with his majestic ball striking at the PGA, and as a Hogan aficionado I thought it would be interesting to look at Jason’s swing and then compare it to the master. It is fairly obvious that Dufner has studied Hogan videos, and he has incorporated the Hogan tempo and rhythm into all of his swings. He also demonstrates the dragging takeaway, the flared right arm, and the stoppage of the right arm in transition, as well as the “hands out” transition move. Dufner diverges from Hogan when he pinches his right arm early in the…

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Online Students: John Mannion

By Wayne | Videos: Online Students

This lesson is a perfect example of how the relationship of the clubface to the body can dictate just about everything in a swing from set up to swing path as a result of trying to get the ball to fly in a desired fashion. In John’s case we have an excessively strong grip masqueraded by the hands forward, head back setup position and a corresponding closed face throughout the swing in spite of a cupped wrist, which should promote a more open face. John’s swing motion is powerful and fluid, but forced to be overly in- to- out in…

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Swing Analysis: Tiger’s Driver vs. His 3-Wood

By Wayne | Videos: Swing Analysis

[wlvar_Upgrade] I pulled some nice shots of Tiger teeing off at Firestone a few weeks ago and it gives us the opportunity to compare his driver swing, which has taken a lot of criticism for its lack of consistency and accuracy, and his 3-wood, which has been his go-to club in most situations that haven’t required extra distance. It is apparent that his overall motion, with the hands leading the clubhead into the ball and the shaft leaning forward, is more conducive to compressing the ball off the ground, or in this case driving the ball off of a…

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Swing Analysis: Matt Kuchar’s Radical Swing Change

By Wayne | Videos: Swing Analysis

[wlvar_Upgrade] So how do you stay under the radar with a swing change as radical as what these videos show Matt Kuchar has implemented? Easy: you just have to be almost a superstar (but not quite), relatively uninteresting in the personal gossip column, and you have to just not tell anyone what you are up to. I would be fascinated to talk to Matt about what he has done with his swing and why, but suffice it to say that I believe it is a great move on his part and gives him an opportunity to become one of…

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TP&C: Bobby MacWhinnie Parts 1 and 2

By Wayne | Tour Players and Celebrities

This is a good example of an excellent player with a good golf swing who is struggling and looking for help. I teach players of all levels, and certainly this swing as is would be way up there with the best I see on any given day. I have to listen to the player describe his or her struggles with ball control and then analyze the swing in a bit more detail in order to come up with ideas about why the ball striking is less than adequate. Proponents of “keep it simple” would more than likely tell Bobby that…

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Lesson of the Week: Jason Gandy

By Wayne | Videos: Lesson of the Week

Jason is just over a year out of college and has been struggling mightily with his ball striking, even though his swing would look great to just about anybody watching it. I was wondering myself what could be so wrong with something that looked so appealing, which just goes to show you that it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been looking at the stuff, if it’s too fast you can’t see it. If I had said “gee, the club must be coming in underneath your hands which is causing a complicated release action that you aren’t able to handle” then…

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