There were a few feel-good stories at the WM Phoenix Open last week, and potentially none more so than Daniel Berger.
Berger didn’t win, but he popped into contention during the final round and finished at 17-under en route to a T-2 finish. It was his second runner-up finish in his last six PGA Tour starts, and the latest sign in a comeback that’s starting to pick up steam.
It’s easy to forget that Berger was an important part of two winning U.S. teams—the 2017 Presidents Cup and record-setting 2021 Ryder Cup team—and notched four wins along the way. But a lower back injury halted his progress.
The Problem
The issue, he explained, came right here. Berger said he joined with Golf Digest No. 1 ranked coach Mark Blackburn, and together found that Berger would turn past his natural range of motion (a common issue among amateur golfers), which forced his lower back to bend excessively and take on that extra load.
“We did a lot of the 3D captures and through Ben and through Mark, looking at potential key areas of problematic areas. We noticed that I had a lot of back extension at the top of my swing… getting rid of the excessive back extension because that’s really the area that we saw was most prone to injury.”
So the pair began to make a change, but it wasn’t easy. Berger’s swing was homegrown, but he knew it was the right move.
“When you’re used to swinging the club one way for 20 plus years…you have that muscle memory from the time I was 11 years old. I had to undo some of that.”
But the way he fixed it is useful for a lot of golfers.
How He Fixed It
He and Blackburn began hitting balls using a step drill (which you can learn more about here, here, and also right here).
“As I’m taking the club away, I lift my left foot off the ground, then I press it back into the ground…that basically helps me get rid of the last few frames of my backswing. You can call it an overswing, and that gets rid of the extension in my back.”
The lesson for the rest of us is that when you try to make a longer golf swing than your mobility allows, different areas of your body will compensate to ‘cheat’ your backswing turn. Your swing may look longer, but it’s actually putting your body in a potentially vulnerable spot.
Berger is back on the right track now, though. We’re all rooting—and learning—from his journey.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
