How to swing like world No.1 Scottie Scheffler.
Scottie Scheffler was the first to win the Players Championship back-to-back, successfully managing the feat in 2023 and 2024. The now four-time major champion, 2024 FedEx Cup winner and 2024 Olympic Games gold medallist has one of the most iconic swings on the PGA Tour. Take a close look at each stage of his sequence.
1: Scheffler stands in an upright posture with a slight flex and his arms angled out away from his body. His weight is towards the balls of his feet.
2: He has a wide takeaway with his left arm under his left shoulder and the clubhead slightly outside his hands.
3: The upper body is coiling against a stable lower body with a slight hip turn.
4: The left arm swings up and over the right shoulder, maintaining his spine angle with his weight staying over the balls of his feet.
5: There’s a slightly open clubface at the top of the backswing with a flat left wrist illustrating a slightly weak left-hand grip position. It’s a powerful, upright backswing with the right elbow behind his chest more than other tour players. It’s a very similar position at the top of the swing to Jack Nicklaus, with a flying right elbow and the club across the line.
6: The clubhead starts to re-route back inside as Scheffler’s knee flex increases and weight shifts to his left side to start the downswing.
7: The left arm swings down-plane, maintaining his flat left wrist position. He’s starting to push up with the inside of his right foot elevating the right heel.
8: Scheffler keeps the angle between his left arm and the shaft as his arms continue to lower in front of his right hip. His weight stays over his feet with both heels off the ground.
9: Maintains his spine angle and square clubface through impact. His footwork is very active, as the left foot spins and rolls to help the lower body open, which promotes a left-to-right ball flight.
10: The upper body stays over the feet well after impact, which leads to a solid, consistent strike.
11: He’s still maintaining his spine angle with the right arm extended. The clubface is square with the shaft bisecting the shoulder plane.
12: His hands stay under and inside the shaft as the club swings up into a vertical position to prevent over-rotation of the clubface. Scheffler keeps his arms extended well into the through-swing, which allows him to control his club speed and provides unmatched distance control with his irons.
13: The hands continue to stay inside the shaft and move horizontally back around his body. His right arm is supporting the club and stays inside the left arm. The L-shaped left arm and flat left wrist keep the clubface stable as it moves towards the finish.
14: Scheffler’s unique foot position at the finish places his left foot parallel to the target line and his right foot past vertical.
Todd Anderson is the director of instruction at the PGA Tour Performance Center at TPC Sawgrass, home of the Players Championship. The 2010 PGA of America Teacher of the Year has seen his students amass more than 50 victories across the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour, including two FedEx Cup titles. He is currently rated by Golf Digest as one of the top 20 golf instructors in the United States. In this tutorial, Anderson breaks down Scottie Scheffler’s golf swing, which has helped him win 17 PGA Tour titles including the PGA and Open championships this year.
Featured photograph by Christian Petersen/getty images
