Swing like Lowery...

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Last week’s edition of Finding the Tips was a little different and so is this one.

Tips and tunes are on the docket today. Sit back and enjoy!

In this issue

• Shane Lowry’s swing

• A big old goofy man playing golf

Shane Lowery’s swing

Sky Sports Golf, Europe’s answer to The Golf Channel, brings a special video this week. It analyzes the Shane Lowry golf swing. As of August 11, Lowry is ranked 30th on the Official World Golf Rankings. A member of both the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour, Lowry has won on both circuits.

Most notably, he was the 2019 winner of The Open Championship, played at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.

He has also played in the last two Ryder Cup competitions as part of the European team.

With an open smile and charming manner, Lowry is a fan favourite wherever he plays.

Stuart Cartwright, a well-respected UK golf coach, is full of praise for Lowry’s golf swing. “I love Shane Lowry’s golf swing. I think there's so much to be learned from it,” he says. “It's very poetic. It's a beautiful, soft, moving swing but it generates a heck of a lot of power.”

He points first to the strong lead-hand grip that Lowry uses, and the wrist angle it creates at address.

Cartwright also highlights a slight bend in Lowry’s lead arm at the top of his backswing. The soft left arm, combined with his strong grip, helps Lowry generate lag in the downswing. It also lets him swing the club freely and generate great clubhead speed through impact.

All that is done with less wear on his wrists, elbows and shoulders.

Additionally, the speed through impact helps him move to a complete finish.

Cartwright also points out that Lowry employs very light grip pressure. Players who grip too tightly are far more likely to slice the ball.

So let your hands be free and loose on the golf club, and you’ll hit it straighter and longer, like Shane Lowery.

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A big old goofy man playing golf

Before I became a golf newsletter publisher, I worked as a journalist, corporate communicator and instructional designer for more than 40 years. Writing was the engine that drove my entire career.

I’ve never considered myself a great writer, but my skills became serviceable after years of honing by great (and patient) editors and teachers.

One of those influencers gave me this tongue-in-cheek advice: “Avoid cliches like the plague.”

A good number of the subscribers to this newsletter know how much I enjoy music, guitars and singer-songwriters, like James Taylor, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Cat Stevens and Gordon Lightfoot.

At this point, I’m sure at least some of you are asking: “What does any of this have to do with golf?

Not a damn thing.

But I want to introduce you to a song that mentions golf and a golfer. The singer-songwriter is the late John Prine. He died April 7, 2020 at the age of 73, due to complications from COVID-19.

Bob Dylan is a Prine fan and said this about him in an article appearing in the Huffington Post in 2009:

“Prine’s stuff is pure Proustian existentialism. Midwestern mind-trips to the Nth degree. And he writes beautiful songs.”

In one of those beautiful songs, Prine introduces us to a fella who is a golfer. As we all get older, the lyrics describing the golfer probably apply more and more to all of us!

The song also features appearances by Elvis and his wife, as well as Prine himself who describes the rigors of songwriting.

“Big old goofy world” is a song Prine wrote with help from his mother. The story goes that she was ill at the time and John asked her to help him compose a list of cliches.

Every one of those cliches is found in this song.

But the genius who was John Prine proved that he could create great lyrics and poetry from anything.

I hope you enjoy it and that you search for more John Prine songs. You won’t regret it. It might not improve your golf game, but it will make you smile.

Here’s a link to a Rolling Stone article that highlights 25 John Prine songs.