How Mahan gets maximum efficiency in his swing

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Hunter Mahan's right elbow moves down towards the trail hip on the downswing.

No question, one of my favorite golf swings on the PGA TOUR is Hunter Mahan's. When you look up the word efficiency in the dictionary, you see a swing sequence of Hunter Mahan.

Listen to Travis Fulton

PGA TOUR Golf Academy's Travis Fulton breaks down the keys to Hunter Mahan's win at the Waste Management Phoenix Open on the PGA TOUR Network (XM 146, SIRIUS 209). Click to listen

Just two months into the 2010 season, Mahan has hit over 70 percent in fairways hit and greens in regulation. With this type of precision off the tee and into greens, Mahan has more than his share of birdie opportunities.

Last week at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Mahan took advantage of his consistent ball-striking to capture the title at the biggest social gathering in the Arizona desert. One of the reasons that Mahan is so accurate is how he uses the swing plane during the golf swing.

Swing plane is simply the shaft's relationship to the target line. In order for the shaft to be on-plane, it should either be parallel to or pointing at the target line at every point in the swing. Last year, we talked a little about this when Steve Stricker was on his run to the top. After great feedback from all of you, I felt it was only fitting to revisit this concept once again with such a great example with Mahan.

Mahan's swing plane is one that geometrically makes sense for maximum consistency. The sequence of his swing plane, like so many others on the PGA TOUR, can be defined as followed:

Backswing: Up, back
Downswing: Down, out

This sequence paints a simple picture of what should be happening with the club during the backswing and downswing. Like Steve Stricker, Hunter Mahan follows this sequence to near perfection and it is one of the key reasons why he is one of most accurate ball-strikers on the PGA TOUR.

1. Up: When you watch Mahan take the club away, you will notice that the club head will begin to move up immediately. This can happen as a function of two things. Some players will work the clubhead up as function of cocking the left wrist like Ben Curtis would. Others will pick it up through the folding of the right elbow (example, Stuart Appleby). Regardless, the clubhead needs to work up and stay in front of the body until the club shaft gets to parallel to the target line.

One of the most common errors during the takeaway is the clubhead travels too far to the inside where the club head gets quickly behind the hands. This usually occurs as a result of the clubhead following the rotation of the body around the trail hip. Although we need to turn during the backswing, it's important that the club head works up in conjunction with it.

Mahan does a great job of blending the upward motion of the clubhead with some turn in the body to a perfect on-plane initial takeaway setting the stage for the next step of the sequence.

2. Back: With the clubhead working upwards you now can work the club back by making a full shoulder turn and rotating the lead forearm. These two components allow the shaft to stay on plane as well as encourage the proper clubface rotation. Mahan does a great job of blending this motion to a compact three-quarter backswing, which is a great place to hit consistent golf shots from.

What's interesting about this step of the sequence is for a lot of us, it is a result of the first step. For example, if the clubhead gets too far to the inside during the initial takeaway, your next move will more than likely be upward. This doesn't encourage a player's full shoulder turn or enough forearm rotation.

At the TOUR Academies, we will see players that sway the lower body during the backswing and/or a lack of shoulder turn because the club head traveled too far to the inside initially. Once a player can learn to work the club head up first, they can then learn to turn efficiently and set the wrists so the clubshaft is on-plane and pointing to the target line like Mahan's.

3. Down: The first move on the downswing should be exactly that: Down. This is the move where most golfers struggle as they will often times start the downswing by moving the club out towards the target first. This move sends the clubhead to the outside of the target line where the shaft reaches impact along a much steeper angle of approach resulting in pulled shots and weak fades.

Mahan starts down by allowing the trail shoulder to lower and the trail elbow to move down towards the trail hip. This movement will encourage the lower body to move a bit lateral towards the target and begin to rotate. This is a critical move as it allows the club head to lag behind the hands until the proper moment for the release to occur.

4. Out: The final step is to return the clubhead to the ball from inside the target line. This will feel as if you are hitting the back inside quadrant of the ball while swinging out towards right field (if the clubface were looking from home plate out onto a baseball field at impact). This inside approach is a key component to Mahan's swing and the final step of the sequence leading to a very consistent impact position.

Just Because
No question, one of my favorite tournaments every year is the Waste Management Phoenix Open at the Stadium Course at TPC Scottsdale. I actually once lived in Scottsdale, Ariz. Attending this tournament is just good old fun where hundreds of thousands of people come out to get excited about golf.

Although I understand this atmosphere is not everyone's cup of tea, I have always felt this type of tournament is needed. How great was it this week to see these players really get into it and show some of their personality? I mean watching, Billy Mayfair wear the Arizona State jersey and Paul Goydos raise the roof on the par-3 16th was simply priceless. Now, I know, booing after you miss the green isn't exactly by the book when it comes to the integrity of the game, but you have to admit, the 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale is a lot of fun and a real marketing gem.

Perhaps we can learn from other sports as well when it comes to other marketing opportunities. How about the Lambeau Leap? Wouldn't that of been great to see Hunter Mahan jump into the first row of the stands after he won the title? Or, how about how they do it in Seattle before the kickoff where they raise the 12th man flag to get everybody excited? It would've certainly energized the crowd to see the Waste Management flag being raised up on the first tee before the leaders teed off.

I am only kidding of course, but this stop on the PGA TOUR is a great one and in so many ways is a lot of fun and refreshing to see the personalities of these great players. Florida is next.

Travis Fulton is PGA TOUR Academy's Director of Instruction. His views do not necessarily reflect the views of the PGA TOUR. To learn more about the TOUR Academy, click here.