Instruction blog: Benefits of Kelly's laid-off swing

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Jerry Kelly's driver points well to the left of the target on the backswing.

What Happened
With some tentative play down the stretch by Charles Howell III, the door swung open for Jerry Kelly to capture his third PGA TOUR career win at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans. With 200 official PGA TOUR starts since his last victory, Jerry Kelly is certainly relieved to be the fourth winner this year over the age of 40.

Travis Fulton's TOUR Academy

PGA TOUR Golf Academy's Travis Fulton analyzes the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on the PGA TOUR Network (XM 146, SIRIUS 209). Click to listen The Student Manual will walk you through the "Building Block Approach" as taught at all TOUR Academies. Learn the proper steps on building an efficient full swing and short game. Buy the manual

With a three-shot lead heading into Sunday, Kelly needed birdies on the 11th and 14th holes to gain back the lead from Howell III, who took control after going six-under on his first 11 holes. With a tight a leaderboard all day, we were once again treated to some of those famous Jerry Kelly body expressions that seemed to help steer the ball in the right direction at just the right times.

What Can We Learn
Kelly is a great example that you don't have to have perfect mechanics to win on the PGA TOUR. This year, we have been treated to some young guns who demonstrate to perfection the modern golf swing from the perfect setup-to-body motion, to how they use the swing plane, clubface, etc.

There is no question from top to bottom on the PGA TOUR that more players are being trained to be mechanically solid in all areas so they can play with fewer compensations in their swings. However, these perfect mechanics certainly don't guarantee anything when it comes to winning tournaments.

Charles Howell III would be a good example of someone who has a great golf swing but yet many would argue has underachieved when it comes to getting in the winner's circle. Recently, Charles has switched coaches to get a different perspective on things in an attempt to be more of a player rather than a robot on the golf course, but this is still a work in progress.

Jerry Kelly is a player who doesn't have the prototypical "perfect" golf swing, yet gets so much out of his game. I always enjoy watching players like Kelly because it always appears they are feeling their way around the golf course. Now don't get me wrong, Kelly has a lot of solid things going on in his golf swing, many of which could help those of you looking to draw the ball consistently.

The most noticeable position is at the top of Kelly's swing where he is one of a very few players on the PGA TOUR that gets the club shaft laid-off. You may have noticed that at the top of Kelly's swing his shaft points well left of the target when viewed from the target line. This position for most amateurs is a great position to work towards as most get the club shaft too close to vertical or across-the-line at the top of the swing and pointing right of the target.

I would say more times then not, our instructors at the TOUR Academies are trying to work the club shaft more towards a laid-off position rather than a vertical or across-the-line look. Most amateurs simply don't rotate the club shaft enough at the top of the swing leading to a very steep position at the top and a downswing that most of the time can't swing back to the ball from the preferred inside path.

This position at the top of Kelly's swing allows him to swing the clubhead back to the ball from the inside of the target line. One of the key checkpoints on the downswing is when the club shaft gets about halfway down and lines up with the right forearm. Kelly, like so many other PGA TOUR players, positions the clubshaft on the downswing on his right forearm.

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Kelly plays with a lot of emotion on the course, says Fulton.

Often times due to the laid-off look at the top of Kelly's swing, he will get the shaft even a bit closer to horizontal than the right forearm halfway down. This angle of approach solidifies a draw as the clubhead will be traveling from the inside promoting the necessary clubface rotation through impact to turn the ball from right-to-left.

Most golfers err on the downswing by returning the club back to the ball on a steeper path than is optimal to create a draw. On video, this shows up as the clubshaft being between the forearms when viewed from down the target line. This steeper angle of approach leads to very little clubface rotation through impact usually resulting in a slice.

Here are two other tips that can help eliminate a slice:

1. Use a Stronger Grip
The grip, to a large degree, controls the clubface and the clubface angle at impact determines a shot's curvature. Almost everyone who slices will see progress by rotating their grip to a stronger position on the club. This means turning both hands clockwise for a right-handed golfer. You will see the V's formed between the thumb and first finger point towards the right shoulder when your grip is in this stronger position. A stronger grip alone can make a significant difference when trying to draw shots.

A general rule of thumb is if your ball is curving right; rotate your hands to the right on the grip. Conversely, if you golf ball is curving left, rotate your hands to the left on the grip.

2. Tilt at Address
At address, tilt your spine away from the target a few degrees. For a right-handed golfer this means the spine will tilt to your right. In doing this, move the hips slightly to the left as a counter balance. This spinal tilt will set the right shoulder and hip slightly lower than the left.

To achieve a downswing path like Kelly's that will create a draw, the right shoulder needs to work under the chin. The proper tilt at address will help this to occur.

Just Because
Merry Christmas to all my fellow NFL fans, as I hope you all got what you asked for this year at the NFL draft. Christmas did come early for me, as my Seattle Seahawks somehow got the best player in this year's draft with the 4th overall pick. The new player coming to the Pacific Northwest is Aaron Curry, and let me just say, I might be buying this young man's jersey very soon. With a 4-12 record just a year ago, we certainly have many holes to fill, and Mr. Curry just might begin this process.

The NFL draft is such a great event, and after nearly three months of no football and the never-ending NBA Playoffs, I needed a little NFL fix. I mean seriously, do we really need 16 teams in the NBA Playoffs battling in a tournament format with best of seven game series in each round? Painful!

Alright , back to the NFL and without wasting any more time, here are the rest of my presents this year:

Round 2: Max Unger (Center)
Round 3: Deon Butler (Wide Receiver)
Round 6: Mike Teel (Quarterback)
Round 7: Courtney Greene (Safety)
Round 7: Nick Reed (Defensive End)
Round 7: Cameron Morrah (Tight End)

For ways Travis can help your game, click here.