Decoding Bryson DeChambeau’s Recent “Eureka Moment”

If the 2020 US Open champ has a big year in 2024, we’ll be thanking (the folks at) Insta’s “curemyswing” golf-account for their recent-efforts in posting video-evidence of DeChambeau grinding on the range.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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During the short-clip, the LIV-Golf star interrupts his own practice-session to stare at a fixed point in space while contemplating whether or not he’s arrived at an epiphany. In vintage “Mad Scientist” fashion, the 30 year old American wasn’t shy during the clip about leaving no stone unturned over the last “fourteen years” amid his continuing pursuit of clarity while (also) leaning on his vast knowledge of physics to provide a satisfyingly compelling-&-detailed analysis of his own golf-swing.

Specifically, this brief-clip highlights Bryson’s powers of wizardry and zeroes in immediately on the former world number four’s aha, “eureka moment”.

If you’ve already seen the video, you might be on-the-hunt for a translator of sorts. Luckily, you’ve come to the right place.

Like (a) Jordan Spieth, Collin Morikawa, or Jon Rahm and unlike Dustin Johnson, Zach Johnson, and Rory McIlroy among others (more so) in the latter group, Bryson DeChambeau is where he is today thanks to his weak-grip. Not as fashionable as it once was, the weak (lead hand) grip still works for numerous professionals despite the declining state of its popularity.

If you’re hooking the golf ball and at-least two-knuckles on your lead-hand are visible at address, weakening your grip might be the way to go. As Bryson alludes to in the above-clip, his chances of missing to the right of his target are greater than the odds of him missing left. To protect against a right miss, the pre-Eureka version of DeChambeau “applied force internally” to the handle with his right hand during the down-swing; a fancy-way of saying he’s trying to feel like he’s hitting his right-pocket with the handle on his down-swing, or “dropping his hands” during the down-swing, or trying to deliver the club (more-) from the inside.

Before he had his sudden realization of great truth, the world’s 144th ranked player protected himself from his preferred-miss by using a “feel” that, as it turns out, isn’t real. In the video, DeChambeau shows us what actually ends up happening when he tries to apply force internally with the trail hand; or deliver the club-head to the ball from the inside.

As Bryson puts it, applying internal-force with the dominant trail-hand on the down-swing can either cause the handle to move-left (meaning the club-head is delivered from out-to-in leading-to a heel-cut) or cause the path to remain fairly (unchanged or) on-plane/neutral while the club-face/head, on the other hand, lags behind the arms-&-hands (meaning the club-head’s delivery is delayed/late/mistimed leading to an open club-face at impact and a high-block).

In lament’s terms, Bryson’s demonstration reminds us that just because we’re trying to perform a specific move with all of our might doesn’t mean we’re going to end up doing that; and, sometimes, we end up performing a move that’s the opposite of what we were hoping to do.

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In any event, be advised that DeChambeau plays with a weak (lead hand) grip and is clearly a right-hand man; meaning that his “feel” often plays out in a manner that isn’t real. Expressed differently, it’s very possible that a “feel” of yours can be thought of or internalized (by you) in a manner that runs counter to what’s actually occurring; no matter how good or bad the result is.

That’s especially true when your dominant-hand is (also) your trail-hand; which happens to be the case for most golfers, and if your dominant eye-&-hand match your trail-eye-&-hand, then your feel is the least “real” compared to other golfer’s feels. For instance, a righty golfer who’s also right-handed and right-eye dominant is the most prone to falling into “feel traps”; meaning the most common type of golfer (or the same-eye dominant player who also golfs with that hand; like Jon Rahm) is also the most susceptible to having feels that are misleading and potentially damaging.

Still, it’s important to remember that all golfers are guilty of misinterpreting their feel at some level; even Tiger Woods. Prior to the 21st century, Tiger’s version of a “fade” was (actually) a 5-yard draw. In other words, Tiger was so draw biased (back then) that hitting a tiny-draw/straight-ball, or a ball that didn’t curve from right-to-left as much as his typical stock-shot did, required a swing that (either) FELT like he was hitting a fade or doing everything in his power to make the ball curve from left-to-right.

No matter how you frame it, it’s safe to say Tiger’s trio of US-Am titles preceded by that number of US Junior-Am titles aren’t half-bad for a kid who could only move the ball one-way. Thanks to (his) feel’s misgivings combined with the imperfect nature that accompanies all human-beings, Tiger was forced to work his tail off and, eventually, became the greatest player ever. As the old saying goes, Tiger molded himself “in the dirt”.

Circling back to Bryson’s epiphany, it’s important we know what’s happening when we misinterpret our own feel.

When our feel doesn’t align with actuality, or isn’t real, such an occurrence takes place due to the improper lenses that we’re employing and (over-) relying on. In short, we rely on our dominant side more than our non-dominant side; and both inputs contribute to the resulting imbalance that’s unique to everyone.

For Bryson and all of the players that happen to be “right hand men”, they haven’t earned their reputation merely because they’re righty-golfers who are also right-handed. They’ve earned it because they display a knack for relying on their right hand to the point where traditional-&-modern wisdom would advise against employing such techniques; if they didn’t happen to be the world’s best players (because what they do works).

Conclusively speaking, therein lies the double-edged sword that’s also spearheaded much debate in golfing circles since the advent of analytics-based swing-methodology.

Once “The Mad Scientist” realizes he can wave goodbye to his block by releasing his right-hand earlier during his downswing and only after he keeps his arms-&-elbows intact with his body, he begins to walk us through his reasoning behind his logic and lands on the following conclusion:

Like every other plausible theory related to the golf swing, Bryson’s recent-findings will only payoff if his timing is spot-on. In order to smoke the ball dead-straight by timing-up his right-hand’s early-release, Bryson needs to maintain his lag; which is no small feat. If I told one of my students (or the average player) to exaggerate the release of their trail-hand during the down-swing, their timing would be completely thrown-off. Some of them would cast the club and, consequently, lose their lag while others might hit the ball fat, thin, and/or off-line.

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As a world class athlete himself, Bryson can time it up properly and make adjustments on the fly like few others can; and this modified approach helps him place the club-head more in front of his body while also squaring the club-face.

Simply put, the abundant supply of detail and specificity in Bryson’s new-release makes it a tweak or adjustment that’s unique to him and his swing. In other words, the chances that this tip applies to you and your swing are very slim. But, if you like your weak-grip and you’re tired of fighting the blocks, then learning how to fire your trail-hand on the down-swing may be the recipe for you.

Underscoring the sheer level of talent that’s been gifted to the game’s biggest stars may be the wisest takeaway from Bryson’s latest revelation. While it’s true Bryson referenced the extent of his own swing-research and that he made the remark in order to emphasize this particular breakthrough’s importance along with its great potentiality, just be advised that the 30 year-old isn’t a great-player because he’s knowledgeable in the fields of physics, mathematics, and biomechanics.

Sure, the originality that’s inherent to Bryson’s game is physics-focused and it’s helped him get to where he is today. That being said, Bryson’s God-given talent combined with his competitive toughness is what truly separates him from, say, the lifelong journeymen or the pros that haven’t advanced beyond the Korn Ferry Tour. When I say “God-given talent”, I’m not just referring to hand-eye coordination or physical attributes; I’m talking about the intangibles.

Bryson has guts, he knows how to get the ball in the hole, and he’s shown a knack for playing his best when it matters the most. Long before DeChambeau even won the US-Am, he was the kid to-beat in local junior-events and didn’t convert to one-length clubs until his sophomore year of high school. All along, perhaps, the eight-time PGA Tour winner and two-time LIV winner hasn’t merely been thinking he’s a good player. He’s known it.

Cover Image via X