Tall-Short, Thin-Portly - Your Body Type Will Dictate Your Swing Plane

By: Bob Boldt

Many of the best players were basically self-taught and their swings generally fit their body types. I have compiled the swing patterns of some of these legends and compared them to modern-day professionals.

Tall Players

Bob Charles: 6'2" 165 pounds. Over 70 international tournament victories, including the British Open and Canadian Open

Bob was left-handed and learned golf by swinging in a mirror so he could watch his swing as if observing a right-hander to compare with other professionals. Because he couldn't find any left-handed clubs in his home country of New Zealand, Bob had to go to a blacksmith to have them made.

Bob had a slow, smooth, upright swing that followed his natural body type, and in the many times I played with him I never saw his swing plane change.

Al Geiberger : 6'2" 175 pounds. First professional to shoot 59, 30 professional wins, PGA Championship

The first time I saw Al was during a college match that we had at Cal against USC. I later played with him on the Champions Tour. Al's swing never changed, just like Bob Charles': slow, smooth, upright, directly following his body type.

George Archer: 6'6" 180 pounds. 44 professional wins

George had a very upright swing due to his height. He was the tallest player on both the regular and senior tours, and had a slight loop at the top of his backswing in order for the club head to drop back onto the correct plane on the downswing. The taller the professional the more difficult it is to square the club face at impact. The longer the arc the more you leave the original plane. George also had an incredible short game; see http://www.cybergolf.com/golf_news/the_worlds_best_shortgame_player.

George Bayer: 6'5" 240 pounds. Six professional wins

Bayer was the only professional who came from the National Football League to win on the PGA Tour. The University of Washington graduate played in the East-West Shrine game and was drafted by the Washington Redskins, playing two years in the NFL. He started playing golf as a caddie at age 29.

I played many rounds with George, and if he were using today's equipment there would be no one even close to his drives, including Bubba Watson. Imagine hitting the ball over 300 yards with wooden heads, shafts that were not made for his power, and a wound-rubber, balata-covered ball that would have to be changed every hole because it would go out of round. George's hands were so big that he had to wrap 10 layers of adhesive tape over his grips (there were no oversized grips at that time). He had a flowing, balanced swing - unusual for a man his size. George was so athletic and flexible he could bend over and touch the ground with the palms of his hands.

Phil Blackmar: 6'7" 245 pounds. Five professional wins

The only professional over 6'6" to win a PGA Tour event, Phil had a smooth upright swing and was extremely supple for his size. This helped him to square the club head at impact. He is an on-course reporter for the Golf Channel, at the time of this writing.

Bubba Watson: 6'3" 180 pounds. Seven-time PGA Tour winner, Masters champion 2012 and 2014

Bubba is the longest driver on Tour but has an extremely difficult time squaring the club head at impact. For whatever reason, unknown to even himself, the bottom of his swing creates a rising of his feet at impact. My observation is that Bubba's swing is so upright and long, visually - to me, the longest swing path on Tour - and he is so off-balance that it is virtually impossible for him to square the club head consistently at impact. Bubba is a fun professional to watch, and probably the best natural athlete on Tour.

Matt Kuchar: 6'4" 195 pounds. 11 professional wins

Matt is one of the only players of his size with a flat swing plane similar to shorter professionals. How can Matt swing in opposition to his body type? An extremely loose, lanky body structure, which demonstrates that you can swing the golf club any way as long as your body type allows the club to swing on the plane it's set on.

Golf Tips for Tall Players

Smooth, slow, upright swing following original upright plane at address; do not go past parallel on the backswing (unless you're Bubba Watson); stretching before a round is a must.

Short Players

Ben Hogan: 5'7" 150 pounds. 64 PGA wins, nine majors

Widely considered the best ball-striker in history, Ben had a semi-flat swing plane which, unlike tall players, returns the club squarely into the hitting area more easily. Ben had very long arms for his height, which allowed him to return his flat plane to a square position at impact. If you have a short body and long arms you have to swing flat.

Gary Player: 5'6" 150 pounds. 129 professional wins worldwide, nine majors

Gary is the best-conditioned golfer to ever play on a professional tour. I watched and played with Gary on the PGA and senior tours. The key for him was to keep his backswing from going past parallel. Gary had longer clubs to create a longer arc and was always fighting the club dropping past parallel. I remember passing by Gary on the practice tee and he called me over to see if his club was going past parallel on the backswing. It was perfectly parallel to the ground. He said thanks and that was all he needed that day. So much for today's technological gurus.

Lee Trevino: 5'7" 155 pounds. 89 professional wins, seven majors, nicknamed the "Merry Mex." Trevino was one of the top four professionals during his career. The others were some guys named Arnie, Jack and Gary.

I was fortunate to play with Lee on both tours. He had a slightly flat swing with a bowed left wrist at the top of the backswing. Lee's club head was not only perfect in the hitting area but followed down his intended line of flight longer than anyone on Tour, past or present.

Ian Woosnam: 5'4" 165 pounds. 50 professional wins, 1991 Masters champion

Ian had a short three-quarter swing following his naturally flat plane, an extremely square club head, and Popeye-like arms that allowed him to generate enough power with a three-quarter swing.

Chi-Chi Rodriguez: 5'7" 150 pounds. 38 professional wins

Longest hitter of any professional of his size. Chi-Chi learned how to use a longer-length driver and would work out with weights to gain strength and speed in the hitting area. I was always amazed at Chi-Chi's distance on the Senior Tour. There was no money for golf when Chi-Chi was a young boy, so he started in the game by taking a branch from a guava tree, carving it into a "golf club," and using a metal can for a golf ball. Chi-Chi then started caddying at the local course and the members chipped in to buy him some golf clubs. His career in golf became legendary.

Ben Arda: 5'5" 130 pounds. Asian professional wins 15, nicknamed the "Toy Tiger"

Ben has almost an identical swing to Ben Hogan and a completely square swing plane throughout the hitting area; i.e., his club returned on the same plane it began.

Rod Curl: 5'6" 155 pounds. Only one professional win but it was a doozy, beating Jack Nicklaus by a shot at the 1974 Colonial Invitational

Rod is a personal friend, the first Native American to win on the PGA Tour, a pool shark and a poker player. He played on the PGA Tour without any money, only an American Express Card given to him by one of his Indian friends. I'll never forget one time when Rod and I were playing in San Antonio and he asked if he could drive my car to the next tournament, the National Airlines Open in Miami. He said I could fly and he would drive, as he didn't have the money to fly.

We were to meet at the Miami Springs Hotel, where I'd made reservations, and I was looking forward to staying there, being single and knowing it was the stewardess headquarters for National Airlines. Rod met me at the airport but said he couldn't stay at the Miami Springs Hotel. He told me he didn't have any money and was going from tournament to tournament on whatever he made, and if he could charge it on his American Express card he could play in the next tournament.

Rod tried to check in at the hotel but they didn't take American Express. I was in shock and admiration at the same time, wondering how anyone could play the Tour under the pressure of knowing that his only source of money was what he might win or, if not that, a credit card to survive until the next tournament.

In that manner, Rod upstaged Trevino's comment about gambling with no money in your pocket. I asked Rod what he did when he couldn't use his credit card. "It's sorta tricky," he said. "Last week I bought dinner for the pros I went out with and they gave me cash."

Rod went on to play successfully on the PGA Tour, winning the 1974 Colonial Invitational after edging Nicklaus by a shot. I don't know what was going through Rod's mind coming down the final two holes with the greatest player in golf history pressuring him. But I can assure you it was nothing compared to his early poverty-stricken years on the Tour.

Bob Boldt turned 77 in September 2014. Married for 31 years to Patricia, the father of two - including two sons, Rob and Jason, who are golf professionals and excellent players - played on the PGA and Champions tours for dozens of years, earning multiple victories in his amateur and professional careers.

Boldt, who attended Cal and became the Bears' men's golf coach, is a long-time native of Northern California and currently the director of golf at Vintners Golf Club in Yountville, where he is one of state's most recognized golf instructors. He received the Northern California PGA Section Junior Golf Leader Award in 1999.

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