Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller break down Scottie Scheffler's unconventional foot action
Adam Schupak- Scottie Scheffler's unorthodox footwork, where his right foot slides back, facilitates a unique swing.
- This footwork allows Scheffler to keep his hands close to his body and swing down the plane, similar to Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller.
- Scheffler's swing path, like Nicklaus's and Miller's, goes "right up the line and right down the line," keeping the clubface square.
- This swing style allows for better contact and performance, especially out of the rough.
OAKMONT, Pa. – Scottie Scheffler’s footwork is unique – to put it mildly. World Golf Hall of Famer Nick Faldo recently told me, “You wouldn’t teach that to anybody, would you? His feet are all over the place, my goodness.”
But look past the backward slide of his back foot and Faldo says his face awareness with his club is second to none.
“He has an incredible set of hands,” he said.
On Saturday, Jack Nicklaus, winner of the 1962 U.S. Open at Oakmont, was asked if Scheffler’s swing reminded him of his own. He and Johnny Miller, the 1973 U.S. Open winner here, weighed in with the best explanation of why Scheffler’s footwork works that I’ve heard.
“Well, I don't think there's a whole lot of resemblance,” he said. “Well, the swing path is – Scottie's is very good, and I felt like my swing path was pretty good. Johnny's swing path was very good. But most good players' swing path is good. Scottie has an unusual way of coming into the ball and having his right foot slide behind him. But that evidently allows him to get his right hip, not into the shot but out of the way, and allows his hands to stay close to his body and swing down a plane,” Nicklaus said during a press conference ahead of the third round of the 125th U.S. Open. “That was one of my keys was always to get my hands as close to my body as I could. I remember Byron Nelson when I went to see him years ago, Jack Grout sent me down to see him, and Byron made one statement, he says, ‘I don't believe you can ever have your hands too close to your body when you swing,’ and I feel felt that's getting your arms and hands underneath you when you swing.
“Johnny was very much the same way, you were well under the ball and hands were way close to your body. When your hands get away from your body, then you make bad swings, and Scottie doesn't do that.”
Then it was Miller’s turn to break down Scheffler’s swing. “Yeah, Scottie has got sort of an old-fashioned swing. When you watch his club – most guys are playing, the club is coming in like this and then going that way. He goes like Jack, and even the way I swung with especially my irons, right up the line and right down the line, and it keeps the face square longer, so I think that's an advantage,” Miller said. “Also, when you're this way, you can get out of the rough a lot better than guys that are going inside and going through all the grass behind the ball.
“Yeah, he's got some unusual foot work, but a little bit like (Mark) Calcavecchia and Greg Norman with the right foot coming into the ball. The right foot pulls this way, they pull it in and it sort of hits a high fade. When you make that move with the right foot, pulling it back in the hitting zone, it hits a high fade, which Jack loves that high fade.”
Nicklaus, for one, was impressed with that analysis.
“Incidentally, I've never heard my swing analyzed that way,” he said. “He was dead on. That was really good.”
“Thanks,” Miller said.
It doesn't get much better than hearing the all-time major winner and the all-time greatest golf analyst break down the world No. 1's swing.