The PGA Tour posted this as sort of a throw away piece of content on their Instagram channel yesterday.
But I was fascinated by it and couldn’t stop watching (okay I’m a golf nerd). The clip is absolutely mind-blowing.
Setting the table: Ryan Moore (background) and Jason Dufner (foreground) are on the practice range at Kapalua. Moore gets what looks like about a full backswing head start. And yet Dufner beats him to the punch. By like a lot.
Here’s the raw Instagram clip from the PGA Tour. And even at full speed, it’s pretty wild – with the Tour Instagram team noting: “It’s not when you start … it’s when you finish.”
Factoid: Yes, Dufner waggles it 3 times before address.
It gets even crazier when you slow it down, a little. We edited this down to 3-times slower than the original clip, above.
Now when you break it down, frame by frame, that’s when it gets truly mind-boggling – delivering an even clearer look at Moore’s concerted pause against Dufner’s quick trigger.
Pro tip: Keep an eye on the roof behind Moore. It acts as a perfect ruler for Moore’s club/shaft at the top of his backswing.
1. Moore starts his backswing, while Dufner is still at address.
2. Moore is now at the 180 position while Dufner is still waggling/waiting.
3. Dufner finally starts his backswing, while Moore is at about what appears to be the 210 slot.
4. Moore finally gets to about the 265 position while Dufner quickly brings it to around 180.
5. Moore is now close to 270, while Dufner quickly meets him – although Dufner never truly reaches 270 (closer to about 250) before starting his downward motion.
6. Moore is now exactly at 270 (his shaft is perfectly aligned with the top of the roof), and yet Dufner already fires the trigger with his knee, and is now in full downswing mode.
7. Moore, still hanging in like a statue at a perfect 270, while Dufner is preparing his wrists/hips for impact.
8. Dufner strikes the ball, as Moore just (barely) gets ready for his downswing (his club’s shaft is no longer even with the roof).
9. Moore finally starts his downswing (his club head is now clearly above the tip of roof), while Dufner is in his follow-through mode.
10. Moore’s knee finally gets into the action, preparing for full downswing mode, as Dufner is in the process of finishing his swing – with his club pointing at the target.
11. Moore is now getting ready to pull the trigger, while Dufner is decelerating and turning his hips on follow-through.
12. Moore finally strikes the ball, while Dufner is getting ready to do the pose.
Pretty cool, huh!? Well, that’s a wrap from the film room here in beautiful, but snowy, New England. Time to enjoy a little NFL football, and some great golf from Kapalua.
PS – If you like this kind of (nerdy) golf analysis, please follow me on Twitter at @JeffSmith_Media.
Credits/Sources: PGA Tour, Instagram, Kapalua
