Ben Hogan’s swing was sweetly controlled. Arnold Palmer lashed at drives with powerful fury and Jim Furyk famously kills snakes in a phone booth. Clearly no two golf swings are quite the same. But, a recent study by Medicus Golf identified five basic elements that every great golfer—from Bobby Jones to Tiger Woods—has in common. 

“Arguably the next significant advance in golf instruction, the Pure Strike Keys to Consistency are principals that can help all golfers hit the ball with repeated accuracy and steady distance, which leads to better scores,” said Medicus Founder and President Bob Koch. 

“One reason teaching is so complicated is that a student can’t focus on 10 different parts of the swing at once,” explained Koch. “But while golf’s most prolific champions had different grips, stances and swing planes, all had mastered five essential things that are obvious on film and in photos. It’s the common traits that enabled the greats to strike balls with consistent purity.”

Even if a student focuses on just one Pure Strike key, he added, the performance of the swing is instantly improved. Put together all five and the combination is the simplest way any golfer can build an accurate, repeated swing that strikes a golf ball pure, time after time.

Developed in conjunction with PGA Instructors Dave Wedzik, Chuck Evans and Randy Sparks, the Pure Strike Keys can be found on the new website www.purestrike.com. It contains information, videos and will also feature links to webinars on each of the Pure Strike Keys. A DVD and instruction book will follow this spring. Meanwhile, Medicus is developing training aids for each Pure Strike Key to help golfers engrain the fundamentals. All five training aids will be available for purchase in 2012 on the aforementioned website.

A Simple Head-to-Clubhead Approach
A former PGA Tour professional who often talks about his struggles with the game, Koch founded Medicus Golf in 1986, after inventing the now widely-used hinged club that helps golfers address swing flaws. Medicus has since become one of the most successful golf training companies in the business, through a variety of training devices and accessories, videos on the short game and swing and instruction both online and through its schools in Gold Canyon, Arizona, Destin, Florida and Erie, Pennsylvania.

As Koch suggests, the basics are, well, fairly basic, and were identified by studying the swings of 100 years worth of champion golfers. The first Pure Strike Key is keeping a Steady Head, which means the old noggin atop one’s shoulders remains centered between the feet from address at least until follow-through. A fixed point that does not move side-to-side or up and down, the Steady Head promotes balance, an initial step toward consistency.

The second key is called Weight Forward, which means that 80 percent of a right-handed golfer’s weight should be on the left foot at impact. “One hundred percent of the best ball strikers have their weight forward at impact, while 100 percent of the worst have the weight on their back foot,” explains Evans. “There is a direct correlation between forward weight and handicap. Get the sequence down that puts the weight forward correctly and you’ve set the foundation for consistent ball striking.”

These two are followed by incorporating The Flat Left Wrist and the Sweet Spot Path of a swing, which together help bring the clubface’s sweet spot to the golf ball. Club Face Control is the final Key, involving the movement of the clubface from takeaway to follow-through. Such control has a profound influence on shot accuracy and consistent ball flight.

“Although the Medicus training aid and our instruction program have helped millions of golfers, I wasn’t satisfied,” explained Koch. “We still see more swing flaws that need to be addressed. The Five Keys are the next big step in golf instruction, because they will allow a golfer to apply a simple and repeatable swing that consistently produces pure ball striking, regardless of experience level or body type.” 

For more information, visit www.purestrike.com.