Tag Archives: Mike Austin golf swing

The Belly Button

To start the New Year with a bang I am going to give you a big secret of the Mike Austin swing.
It’s your belly button. Yes, your navel. Probably haven’t thought about it that much lately, have you? Unless, it relates to a New Year’s resolution.
However, it’s a major source of power. And yet, you will rarely hear about it. If you swing your belly button back and through you are activating and/or energizing many of the muscles that Mike Austin wanted you to utilize in the swing, including the internal and external obliques, the transverse abdominis, the glutes and the sartorius, just to name a few. The good news is that you don’t have to think about those muscles, if you don’t want to.
Just swing that belly button. The further and faster you move it (albeit smoothly) the further that ball will go.

Precision Hitting and Practice

2 Replies

It frustrates me to no end to hear people speak of Mike Austin’s instruction as if it was devoted only to power.
Note the effortlessness and accuracy (check out the barrel) of these partial shots utilizing the same motions and technique.
Also, note how Mike Austin had me practice – picking targets at various distances.

Get your game on and go practice these partial shots. You’ll be amazed at the effortless power and accuracy.

The Center of the Club Face

3 Replies

Mike Austin would constantly stress to me that you want to hit the center of the golf ball with the center of the club face.

You could hear the difference and he often commented on the the sound of hits. He did not want a dull thud. He wanted a lively thwack.

In addition, you could see the difference in hits. Often, Mike would grab my club and take a look at the face.

I’ve tried to work hard on my game recently with success. Broke 70 last week and had a great practice session yesterday.

At one point I stopped, thought of Mike’s club face comments and took a gander at the face of my 4 iron.

As Mike would say,

“Now that’s hitting the center of the ball with the center of the club face.”

The impression is the result of the measurements taken at address and the precision hitting stemming from Mike Austin’s action.

While practicing, be cognizant of the sound of impact. And, every so often take a look at your club face.

Mike Austin – the Golfing Bandit – Getting Impetus to the Clubhead

8 Replies

I wanted to share one of my golf treasures with fellow Mike Austin fans – some very rare footage.

Here is Mike Austin, aka, the golfing bandit, at age 90 hitting balls “on a string” one-handed for me during a lesson. At the time, Mike had an 80% loss of locomotion in his right arm and right leg due to a stroke. Fortunately, he had incorporated his improved swing tenets. Sadly however, most of his later lessons were restricted to his home.

Can you believe the power and accuracy generated with one hand, with virtually no pivot? It’s effortless power. Little wonder why Mike Austin’s long drive competitors commented that it looked like was “just playing with it”.

You can benefit from watching that action, over and over again. It’s an invaluable lesson in itself. There’s no cranking of the body. There’s no forced effort. That’s the beauty of the Mike Austin swing. It can benefit the athletic person and the not-so-athletic person, the strong and the not-so-strong, the young, and the not-so-young.

But don’t stop at just watching the clip. See if you can duplicate that action – with your left hand and then your right hand. Mike had me hit many balls one-handed. The resultant shots will tell you if you are properly using the hands.

As you can see, the name of the game is not brute force. The name of the game, as Mike clearly states, is getting impetus to the clubhead. He did that via a proper pivot and proper use of the hands so as to not impede the swinging clubhead.

Enjoy!

Cruising Speed – Mike Austin and Tempo

The Mike Austin Tripod

10 Replies

The continuation of the legwork on the backswing:

Mike Austin’s tripod position.

Here’s Mike Austin demonstrating the backswing left handed.

The Start of the Mike Austin Backswing

5 Replies

Many have asked how Mike Austin started the backswing. Here’s how:

Remember, when you took the proper stance, the trailing leg was flexed. The trailing leg now goes into extension, meaning it straightens.

For right handers, the right hip gets a bump to 4 0’clock.

The arms begin to move because the body begins to move.

The arms do not swing independently!

The Modern versus the Mike Austin Pivot

1 Reply

Mike Austin’s pivot differed from the modern pivot. Before getting into the details, check out the overall move. Both types of pivot are used by today’s Tour players.

An example of the modern pivot is Camilo Villegas. Note how the feet are anchored to the ground in the back swing for stability. The knees are often kept wide to inhibit lower body movement. The upper body is then turned against the stable lower body.

Source: You Tube, bignogga

Compare that move to the Austin-like pivot of Bubba Watson. Power is generated through mobility versus stability.

Source: You Tube, golfer 221

In Mike Austin’s opinion, the modern swing led to “arthritis, tendonitis, bursitis, and lots of other -itises”.

Mentored By The Legend – Mike Austin

Lessons With Golf's Longest Hitter