Instruction Blog: Perry swings to win at Hartford

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Kenny Perry has two PGA TOUR wins so far in 2009.

Kenny Perry put the Augusta National collapse behind him and won in impressive fashion at the Travelers Championship. After a bogey-bogey finish to eventually lose the Masters in a playoff back in April, Perry put the field away last week, carding a sizzling 63 on Sunday to win for the second time this year.

This season in the first two majors, we have seen players get a bit defensive and play not to lose, rather than to win. Perry at Augusta was certainly painful to watch as he hit some unconventional shots down the stretch to watch the green jacket slip away. The story was similar at the U.S. Open as we watched Ricky Barnes big lead slip away during the final round before settling down over the last few holes.

Playing with the lead is certainly something some players handle better than others. Whether it is a one shot lead with one to play at Augusta or you are heading towards a career-best round with just two to play -- things begin to change for all of us. This week, there was no doubt that Perry was playing to win as he continued to hit great shots down the stretch on Sunday. With five wins over the last 14 months, I am beginning to think that 20 wins and a lifetime membership on the PGA TOUR is not out of the question.

What Can We Learn
There is certainly a lot to choose from with this week's winner as he simply did everything right with his game. With incredibly consistent ball-striking and very solid putting, Perry is certainly one of the top three players in the world right now.

Earlier this year, after Perry won the FBR Open in Phoenix, I talked about how Perry uses his right arm on the downswing. I broke this sequence down into two steps: Down -- Out. This sequence is a good way to look at the downswing as it helps achieve the proper angle of approach into the ball. This week, I thought we would break down Perry's backswing -- in particular his first move and as it pertains to the backswing sequence of Up -- Back.

1.) Up
When you watch Kenny Perry start his swing, you will notice that the club head will begin to move "Up" immediately. This first move during the takeaway is a critical one and often times can be misunderstood. If done correctly, it sets the stage for a player to be in the proper sequence throughout the entire motion with very little compensation. When done incorrectly, a player is forced to reroute the club on the downswing to compensate in order to hit solid shots.

Listen to Travis Fulton

PGA TOUR Golf Academy's Travis Fulton breaks down the keys to Kenny Perry's win on the PGA TOUR Network (XM 146, SIRIUS 209). Click to listen

Working the club head up can happen as a function of two things. Some players will work the club head up as a function of cocking the left wrist where others will pick it up through the folding of the right elbow. Regardless, the club head needs to work up and stay in front of the body until the shaft reaches parallel.

Most golfers take the club head back too far to the inside so that the club head moves behind the hands. This is a common error and one that interrupts the recommended sequence above. Once the club head gets inside, you will more than likely begin to compensate by lifting the lead arm and/or standing up with your body losing your original spine angle from address.

At the TOUR Academies, many backswing faults and even downswing faults occur because the club head moves too far inside during the initial takeaway. If this is the case for you, focus on your lead wrist or trail elbow during the initial takeaway to achieve the necessary upward club head motion like Perry.

2.) Back
In addition to the upward motion of the club head, it also needs to begin to move back or to the inside. We certainly don't want to be just levering the club head up and down with no sense of rotation to the overall swing.

With the club head working upwards you can now begin to work the club back by blending in the shoulder turn. This allows the lead shoulder to begin to work across the chest's mid-line and towards the trail foot while the lead arms stays close to the chest. Blending these two components will allow the shaft to stay on the proper plane. A good checkpoint is when the shaft reaches horizontal, it should also be parallel to the target line and above your extended toe-line.

Generally, it is better to err with the club head slightly to the outside and above the hands at this point during the swing. If the club head gets too far to the inside during the first step, your next move will more than likely be upward which minimizes the shoulder turn to the top of the swing and robs power and consistency.

PGA TOUR players work hard on blending the up and down with the rotation around. Although Perry gets the shaft across the line at the top of the swing, he is still a good example of someone who starts the swing correctly with the proper sequence. Learning to work the club head up first and then back is something that we can all learn from Kenny Perry.

Just Because
We are rolling along with the PGA TOUR as we head into July. The big guns are all playing well and the storylines are many and diverse as we plow ahead through the summer Major months. The third major is upon us with the Open Championship across the pond and then shortly thereafter it will by the final major of the year at the PGA Championship in August. And then, oh yes, it will be football season.

I already have my tickets to the first game of the year in Seattle as we open up with our divisional rival, the St. Louis Rams. Not exactly sure you'd call a Seahawks/Rams game a "major" but hey, I'm trying to hedge my bets that I'll see a home-team victory, where over the last couple of years these have been difficult to come by. Nevertheless, with pre-season right around the corner I remain optimistic, confident and at times borderline ignorant that my Seahawks will be back to Super Bowl form this year.

Let's put it this way, if the Seahawks lose Week 1 to the Rams -- I will walk back to Florida.