Vintage Monty

You probably don't need me to tell you that Colin Montgomerie's swing is a very personal piece of work. As his coach, I understand why and how it works for him, but it's not a swing that I teach wholesale to any other players. Monty is a unique talent, and, like most great players, he has found a style that works and one he has stuck to it - with fantastic results.

From an instructional point of view, what you have to realise is that the swing you are about to look at is what we term a 'two-dimensional' action - i.e. it goes straight back and it goes straight up. Simple. In contrast, a three-dimensional swing goes back, up and around on a more inclined plane (the blending of the three giving the swing width, height and depth, whereas Colin really only has height and width).

But there are many qualities in the swing of Europe's No.1 that you should definitely copy. If you are losing width in your swing, for example, then you should look closely as Colin's sequence of moves away from the ball, where he establishes a wonderful width and silky rhythm. Anyone prone to swinging the hands and arms a little too flat and around the body can learn from Colin's position at the top, as he swings his hands high above his right shoulder.

Perhaps most valuable of all - especially for those of you who are too impact-oriented - is that you try to get a sense of the way in which Colin sweeps the clubhead through the ball, as opposed to hitting violently at it. This is probably the thing that has impressed me most about the way Colin plays this game; in all the hours we have spent together out on the range, it is absolutely clear to me that from the moment he starts his downswing to the moment he arrives at the finish he has no concious awareness of actually striking the golf ball.

As he says, he starts the 'hit' as he starts down and finishes the hit as he arrives at the followthrough. It's one long sweeping action - not the typical 'wait...wait...wait...fire!'. And this is why he is such a pure and consistent ball striker. The ball simply gets in the way of the accelerating clubhead.

The other point I would like to make is that when you look at a swing sequence it's so easy to look at the parts in isolation that you forget the essential rhythm of the motion. And Colin displays a wonderful 'syrupy' rhythm. And this is a quality you tend to find in players who stand tall at address, who turn the shoulders on a fairly level plane and swing the arms quite high - think of Fred Couples, or the late Payne Stewart.

So let's take a look at one of the most recognisable swings in world golf - one that has earned its owner a record eighth European Order of Merit title.

In anyone's language, that's some endorsement.. . .

Stay relaxed, and create width

From a relaxed set-up position, Colin makes no effort to swing the club back inside the line; he takes it straight back, as the shoulders, arms and hands work pretty much as one to get the clubhead sweeping away on a wide arc. Rather than turning, the hips are in the process of sliding away from the target, enabling Colin to turn his left shoulder behind the ball.

Looking at the backswing sequence, the first thing that strikes me is just how relaxed and comfortable Monty is over the ball. Out on the course you can spot him a mile off - he has this distinct, easy posture. There are no false positions. He stands to the ball with a straight lower spine and a gentle curvature of the shoulders. One of his foibles is to hover the club above the ball and adjust his hold a couple of times before he settles, and in doing that he is simply reaffirming the lightness in his grip - Monty himself reckons he has one of the lightest grips in golf (something I personally recommend to all players with a view to improving the rhythm and flow of the swing generally).

What he is doing here is getting comfortable over the ball. This is not a 'high tension' position. You often here a player talk of being 'athletic', or 'keyed up' at the set-up, but to me that kind of language suggests tension in the body. Which stifles motion. Colin is totally relaxed, ready to create a swing.

The objective as he then starts the club away is to keep it as low and as slow as he can those first few feet back. He makes a wide sweep with the clubhead, and, as he does so, his thoughts are focused on trying to get his left shoulder and his right hip as far behind the ball as possible. He plays the ball relatively far back in his stance for the simple reason he has this lateral slide in the hips that enables him to get behind it. With the wide and the slide he loads up his backswing like a catapult.