Spain’s latest superstar provides a model to all young players of how to manage exceptional power with balance and athleticism. He also happens to be one of the game’s finest ambassadors
Thanks to the wonders of modern technology I sat down with Alvaro Quiros during the rain delay during the WGC at Doral and showed him the driver sequence you are about to enjoy on my laptop. Overall he was pretty happy with the look of his swing, and particularly the poise and balance displayed throughout which, as he was quick to acknowledge, is what enables players of his calibre to recover and hit good shots even when the swing is not technically 100% where they want it.
Quiros works with Jose Rivero, the former Spanish Ryder Cup player who himself was known for the silky rhythm and tempo with which he swung the club. I see this quality in Alvaro’s incredibly powerful swing; from start to finish he exhibits exceptional athletic balance, which is the first thing I would hope all the young and ambitious golfers out there would seek to copy.
Looking at the sequence face on, particularly, the early moves in this swing certainly reveal the benefit of being supple and athletic as Quiros winds his upper body over the stability and resistance of the hips and legs; he is notably limited with his hip rotation, while the shoulders move through a full 90 degrees and the arms arrive at a compact, almost three-quarter position. He then explodes through the ball, maximising his speed with long levers that give him such tremendous clubhead speed.
You cannot become a long hitter copying all that Quiros does, but you can certainly be the longest YOU CAN BE if you pick up on four key positions that I have highlighted here and through the copy. Ok, now let’s go and enjoy the sequences in full.
Studying a sequence face on always reveals the way in which a good player coils his upper body over the resistance of the hips and legs, and Quiros does this beautifully.
I have identified frame 5 in the face-on sequence as one you should give special attention to, as it not only screams ‘coil!’, but also exceptional width in the arms.
Frame 6 down the line, this impact position shows how the arms fully release with no flicking of the wrists.
This is the result of fantastic armspeed that originates in the coil and recoil of the upper body.
Moving to frame 9 in the face on sequence, this release of the arms towards the target as he continues to rotate his body left is fantastic to copy – note the gloved left hand clearly visible beneath the right.
This is a position you should actively try to replicate, and one that will help you to enjoy a fuller release
The follow through is always a tell-tale sign of whether or not a player has managed to keep it all together and in control to the end.
There are a lot of golfers who pose this position as if it’s an afterthought, but in Alvaro’s case it looks to be the perfect conclusion and is one that results from the momentum of what is a very good golf swing.
Width + coil
Shoulder rotation & fantastic width is the secret to Alviro’s immense power
As good as they are, one thing these images cannot convey is the tremendous arm speed Alvaro generates during his swing – to stand next to him and watch him launch a tee shot really is quite an experience.
Of course, that arm speed has to be matched with the body motion, and that requires not only strength but balance in the swing. When he gets it spot on his power is unbelievable. But it is this facet of the swing that he has to keep a close eye on, because when things go off…
Interestingly, as he was looking at these images Alvaro explained to me that as a kid he learned to play with clubs that were a little too long and heavy for him, which may explain why his swing is dominated by the strength of the arms. As a youngster he had to physically work harder with his arms to move the club around his body, which explains some of the positions you see here and overleaf.
(Sandy Lyle is another immensely powerful player who learned the game with clubs that were a little too long and heavy for him – and he is another example of the way the arms sort of do their own thing at times.) Of course, had Alvaro been introduced to the game with clubs suited to his frame he may have enjoyed a better balance of arms and body…and we may never have heard of him!.
To gel the arm and body motion Jose Rivero has clearly drilled into Alvaro the importance of ‘athletic balance’ from start to finish. That is perhaps the greatest lesson for all young players here. He is limited in his hip rotation to the top of a compact backswing, and then explodes his arms and his body down, across and around.
With every power hitter you are going to see incredible leverage in the swing, and you certainly appreciate that here. What is harder to detect is what I term the ‘twitch muscle’ speed that is generated in the way the upper arms work with the shoulders.
That’s just pure athleticism. You can look at as many images as you like, you will never get it if you haven’t got it. All you can do is make the best of what you have as a golfer – and there is plenty here to get working on.
The thing Alvaro particularly likes in his set up is that he’s neither too much on his heals or his toes – he is balanced on the balls of the feet.
I like the fact his head is nicely ‘up’, too; any tendency to drop the chin restricts the movement of the upper body
Alvaro was slightly concerned that he gets the club working ‘up’ a little too steeply in the early frames of the backswing (which you can see in pics 2 & 3).
The clubhead is fractionally too far outside the hands and the shaft plane just a little too vertical at this point (the margins these players work on!)
Had he started the club away on a slightly shallower plane he would expect to see the shaft plane here point more towards the ball (yellow line); as it is the shaft is inclined fractionally too steeply
Great coil here as the hips stabilise the lower body action and the shoulders rotate through a full 90 degrees. Alvaro was happy with this backswing; as a coach I like the way the left arm matches the plane of the shoulders
Notable shallowing of the shaft plane as he makes his move into the downswing – and you can see what he means when he says the club is now a little too far ‘behind’ him.
This is the penalty for frame 3, a reaction to being a little too steep going back; but he saves it with a great turn through the ball – and look at how well he explodes his body and his right arm
Body action working beautifully to accelerate the arms through the impact area – and no ‘flick’ at all with the hands. Fantastic speed all the way through the back of the ball
We have included this immediate post impact image to reveal the tremendous release of the arms – this is textbook
Club ‘exits’ through the tip of the left shoulder, which is exactly where I like to see it
Nothing fake about this finish – it’s all the result of good fundamental moves and momentum
Standard address position with the driver. He gets the shaft at right angles to the ground.
He doesn’t want to push the club too far forward at address like an iron swing, he wants to sweep it into the air. Hands never ahead with the driver
Clubhead low to the ground as he ‘glides’ it away from the ball
Tremendous stability in the lower body – just look at how he is winding his body over the stability of the hips and legs
In tandem with that powerful turn, here we appreciate the incredible width Alvaro achieves with his left arm – a naturally strong move
This is as far as he goes back – a powerful position loaded with energy, and yet controlled and in balance. Matches perfectly frame 4 down the line
In Alvaro’s eyes the least good position in the sequence (which tells me he knows precisely how his swing works); he is a little too narrow, and while the arms provide great leverage his body is too much behind the ball at this stage – he hasn’t moved across to the left side.
You can sense it is the arms that have initiated the downswing, not the body. This is Alvaro’s Achilles Heal with the driver. He is narrow because of a hesitant body action; what he needs to do is shift across and then drop the arms as he rotates to the target
Thanks to great timing, he recovers from being slightly out of balance in frame 7 to make a great impact position (his words, not mine!). From here, frames 8, 9 and 10 reveal how well he then uses his balance to save the shot
A fantastic power position – and Alvaro favourite image in the sequence. The arms are fully extended with the gloved left hand vicible beneath the right – the secret to a release that enables him to ‘punch’ the ball hard
Any coach would be delighted to see a player in this position at the finish – the arms and the body are now unified and Alvaro has maintained a wide arm swing without any flicking of the hands through impact
Originally published in 2011
