Welcome to Play Smarta regular GOLF.com game improvement column that will help you play smarter and better golf.
If you’ve ever seen Jon Rahm play golf, you’ll know he has a unique swing. With an extremely bent wrist and short backswing, his swing is hard to miss. But while his swing may seem unorthodox, it’s extremely effective – evidenced by an impressive resume that includes a US Open title and a Masters green jacket.
“Just swing your swing,” Rahm once said. “Do what you can. That’s the best thing.”
In 2021, Rahm revealed that the reason for his brief return is a birth defect that left him born with legs. Because of the disease, doctors “broke almost every bone in his ankle and (he) was cast from the knee down within 20 minutes of being born.” He continued to receive treatment throughout childhood, and it left him with limited movement in his right ankle.
This caused Rahm to lose stability in his right ankle, which meant that taking a long backswing would throw him off balance on the downswing.
“As a kid, I had a tight grip, I swung a lot and just tried to nail everything,” Rahm said. “(So) my swing coach in Spain, Eduardo (Celles), made me never go above shoulder height.”
Hence, the short return was born. Watch the video below for more information on Rahm’s short swing, and read on to learn how it can help you swing.
How to stop excessive swings
Turning the club to parallel can make it easier to generate more club speed, but often times, it can actually cause you to lose power and make poor contact. This is something I struggle with from time to time, and I can attest that doing a backwards parallel results in some disastrous hits.
If that’s something you struggle with, try the workout Rahm worked with as a kid.
“(Celles) liked to feel like I was running the club (in parallel),” Rahm said. “And then I swing as hard as I can.”
In doing so, Rahm forced him to use his big muscles to direct the swing. It also created a more compact drive, better face control and more consistent contact.
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