Tag: Golf Instruction

Is Rory McIlroy working with legendary instructor Butch Harmon? This is what we know

McIlroy has been coached for nearly all of his career by Northern Ireland-based Michale Bannon.

Does Rory McIlroy have a new swing coach?

Reports began circulating on Wednesday based off a social media post by a journalist, who covers other sports but not golf, that McIlroy has begun working with famed teacher Butch Harmon.

Golfweek can confirm that McIlroy took a lesson from Harmon a week ago in Las Vegas, but that doesn’t mean he’s parted ways with his longtime coach Michael Bannon and is now working with Harmon, the son of 1948 Masters champion Claude Harmon.

Speaking on the “I Can Fly” podcast, McIlroy said that he took a lesson with Harmon on March 27.

“I went last week to see Butch Harmon for a golf lesson. I’ve seen him over the years, like once every few years I’ll say, ‘Hey, Butch, can I come see you and you can take a look and see what you think.’”

On the podcast, McIlroy, 34, recounts that as he was leaving for the airport, his three-year-old daughter Poppy asked him, “Dada, where are you going?”

McIlroy said he was going for a golf lesson, which drew this classic kids say the darnedest thing response: “She said, ‘Dada, you already know how to play golf,’” McIlroy said. “That’s probably the best piece of advice I’ve gotten in the last three years.”

The 80-year-old Harmon, who coached the likes of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Greg Norman during the prime of their careers, retired from traveling to PGA Tour events but still works with the likes of Rickie Fowler and Maverick McNealy, who visit him at his Las Vegas facility.

McIlroy has been coached for nearly all of his career by Bannon, who is based in Northern Ireland and travels to the U.S. to work with McIlroy when needed. McIlroy spent a brief stint with Pete Cowen in 2021 ahead of the Masters that year but returned to Bannon several months later.

McIlroy won the DP World Tour’s Dubai Desert Classic in January, but has failed to record a top-10 finish this season on the PGA Tour. If he fails to do so this week in San Antonio at the Valero Texas Open, it will mark the first time he’s headed into the Masters without one since 2010.

McIlroy’s iron game has been a point of emphasis of late. He has slipped from eighth in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green (+0.721) last season to 119th in the category this season (-0.176).

McIlroy needs to win the Masters to become just the sixth golfer – and first since Woods – to complete the career Grand Slam. The Masters begins on April 11.

On Wednesday, prior to the Valero Texas Open, McIlroy confirmed that he did spend time with Harmon in Las Vegas, a recurring theme throughout his career.

“I met Butch when I was 14 years old, so we’ve always had a good relationship. If there’s one guy that I want to go and get a second opinion from, it’s him. Yeah, I think just after The Players, I was just sort of struggling through that Florida Swing with my swing and with some of the misses I was having with my irons, I just thought to myself I’m obviously missing something here and I just would love to go and get a second opinion and have him take a look, a second set of eyes,” McIlroy said.

“The one thing with Butch is you go spend time with him and you’re always going to feel better about yourself at the end of it whether you’re hitting it better or not. He’s sort of half golf coach, half psychologist in a way,” McIlroy said. “It’s fun to go out there, I went and spent probably four hours with him in Vegas. He said a couple of things to me that resonated. It’s the same stuff that I’ve been trying to do with my coach Michael, but he sort of just said it in a different way that maybe hit home with me a little bit more.

“Yeah, it was a really worthwhile trip and I feel like I’ve done some good work after that. As I said, this is a good week to see where that work has gotten me.”

Golfweek’s Tim Schmitt contributed to this report.

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Fitness with Averee: Quick and easy dynamic golf warm up

Heading to the tee with no warm up and straight to driver is a recipe for injury.

Heading to the tee with no warm up and straight to your driver is a recipe for injury.

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This week, Golfweek’s fitness guru and long driver Averee Dovsek and Bradley Borne from Lab 18 are in the gym demonstrating a quick and easy dynamic warm up that can be done anywhere with just a golf club. This exercise is great for extension and rotation.

Watch this episode of “Fitness with Averee” above and check here for previous episodes.

If you’re interested in instructional content, check here to see Averee out on the course.

Golfweek‘s Get Better newsletter covers everything instruction and fitness-related. Sign up for Get Better here.

Golf instruction: ‘Keeping your head down’ doesn’t mean what you think

Is it really as simple as that?

Every golfer has heard at least once they are not keeping their head down while swinging. Is it really as simple as that?

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This week, Golfweek’s fitness guru and long driver Averee Dovsek and Kent St. Charles from Lab 18 explain how lifting your head from the golf ball does not necessarily mean you are picking your head up, but rather losing your posture during the swing.

Check out this quick tip to improve staying down on the ball at impact.

If you’re interested in any of Averee’s fitness content, click here.

If you’re looking for more instruction, click here.

Golf instruction: 3 quick things to check when you set up to the ball

Setting up to the golf ball properly is the first step in hitting a great golf shot.

Setting up to the golf ball properly is the first step in hitting a great golf shot.

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This week, Golfweek’s fitness guru and long driver Averee Dovsek and Kent St. Charles from Lab 18 give three simple steps to check before hitting a shot. The grip, ball position and posture all aids in a proper set-up and can greatly impact the result of your shot.

Practice these three easy checkpoints before you hit and watch the quality of your shots improve over time.

If you’re interested in any of Averee’s fitness content, click here.

If you’re looking for more instruction, click here.

Golf instruction: Easy points to master the takeaway of the golf swing

Taking the club outside and picking the club up can make a big difference in the simplicity of the takeaway.

For most amateur golfers, their hands start working away from the body and roll the club inside during their takeaway.

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Taking the club outside and picking the club up can make a big difference in the simplicity of the takeaway.

This week, Golfweek’s fitness guru and long driver Averee Dovsek and Kent St. Charles from Lab 18 demonstrate how to properly takeaway the club using an alignment stick. Getting the shaft parallel to the ground on the way back can make all the difference.

If you’re interested in any of Averee’s fitness content, click here.

If you’re looking for more instruction, click here.

Golf instruction: How to flight your wedges lower and create backspin

Hitting your wedges high can kill your short-game accuracy and scoring.

Hitting your wedges high can kill your short-game accuracy and scoring.

This week, Golfweek’s fitness guru and long driver Averee Dovsek and Kent St. Charles from Lab 18 demonstrate how to hit lower flighted wedge shots and create backspin.

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Adding more shaft lean at impact can help with this and lower the loft of the club face.

You can use data from TrackMan or other simulator technologies to measure your progress. Dynamic loft and launch angle will be the two most important data points to look at.

If you’re interested in any of Averee’s fitness content, click here.

If you’re looking for more instruction, click here.

Golf instruction: How to easily create lag in your swing

Try this simple move to help deliver the club and create that sought after lag.

Creating lag can be confusing and daunting, but it doesn’t have to be as complex as you may think.

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This week, Golfweek’s fitness guru and long driver Averee Dovsek and Kent St. Charles from Lab 18 demonstrate how creating lag does not come from throwing the club over the top, but the angle of the club shaft and lead arm can create it.

Try this simple move to help deliver the club and create that sought after lag for longer and more consistent shots.

If you’re interested in any of Averee’s fitness content, click here.

If you’re looking for more instruction, click here.

Golf instruction: Don’t let ‘turn from the top’ kill your swing

The dreaded ‘turn from the top’ move is almost always misunderstood.

We’ve all heard it. The dreaded “turn from the top” move is almost always misunderstood.

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These are words that professionals have been saying for years, but to the amateur golfer it creates an improper move where the golfer is inclined to come across the ball at impact.

This week, Golfweek’s fitness guru and long driver Averee Dovsek and Kent St. Charles from Lab 18 demonstrate how to properly initiate the downswing without turning from the top, but instead using a subtle weight shift.

If you’re interested in any of Averee’s fitness content, click here.

If you’re looking for more instruction, click here.

Best of 2023: Our top 10 instruction stories (including how to keep from blading your chips)

Our crack staff has been providing nuggets of golf instructional wisdom throughout the year.

People kept coming to golf in record numbers during 2023, as the pandemic and post-pandemic boom have allowed many who have never previously played the game to now share in the sheer frustration of not understanding why you can’t replicate something as seemingly simple as a golf swing.

But have no fear, our crack staff has been providing nuggets of golf instructional wisdom throughout the year, whether it’s World Long Drive competitor Averee Dovsek or 1996 U.S. Amateur runner-up and PGA Tour Live analyst Steve Scott.

As the year comes to a close, we’re offering up a snapshot of the top 10 stories from each of Golfweek’s most popular sections, including travel, the PGA and LPGA tours, instruction and amateur golf.

We’re leading things off with instruction, starting with the top 10 posts of the year, as clicked on by you, our readers:

Golf instruction: This is why you are initiating your downswing incorrectly

Check out this movement that is done with the heel at the top of the swing before the arms move in the downswing.

You have finally gotten to the top of your swing comfortably, but maybe your downswing is now the cause of your headaches.

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It is tough to manage a variety of thoughts while swinging, but this simple cue may transform your downswing.

This week, Golfweek’s fitness guru and long driver Averee Dovsek and Kent St. Charles from Lab 18 demonstrate a movement that is done with the heel at the top of the swing before allowing your arms to move in the downswing.

If you’re interested in any of Averee’s fitness content, click here.

If you’re looking for more instruction, click here.