Swing Analysis: Xander Schauffele
By Wayne | Videos: Swing Analysis
Last year’s Rookie of the Year is having another excellent year with high finishes in three of the season’s biggest events, the U.S. Open (6th), the Players (3rd), and the British Open (2nd). He has a solid all-around game and is quite long off the tee for his size (5’ 10”, 175 lbs.) with a simple looking swing that is interesting to look at more closely. Xander sets up with more knee flex than most and his balance more in the middle of his feet than on the front, but he manages to lower in both the backswing and forward swing in spite of the fact that he is well bent over at address. Usually this kind of set up leads normal players into all sorts of problems with early extension and general loss of posture, but Schauffele is a strong kid who creates more space while staying nicely out over the ball. He has a neutral to weak grip that gives his left wrist a solid, flat look at the top, and when he transitions with aggressive lateral and rotational pelvic movement he bends the wrist down almost immediately. He looks great on the approach and it is obvious that he is squaring the face with the left hand, wrist and forearm, and he exits nicely to the left on every shot. The face on view of his driver swing reminds one of Tiger, Fowler, DJ, Koepka and several other longer hitters as his sequencing produces a large amount of secondary stretch in the left side lat and oblique muscles. While his play has been somewhat hit and miss he appears to save his best for the big events, always a plus for any player.
Continue reading