SWING ANALYSIS
Go Long and Go Fast! Jake Knapp’s backswing delivers effortless power BY LUKE KERR-DINEEN
IF THERE’S SUCH A THING as a modern throwback swing, Jake Knapp’s is it. His long,
swing. Only with the encouragement of his longtime swing coach, Golf Digest Best in State teacher John Ortega, did Knapp learn to love his own old-school move. “When he was younger, people would be like, ‘How can you let him do that?’” says Ortega, director of instruction at Costa Mesa (California) Country Club. “I was like, ‘What do you mean? That’s what he does.’ I never had the notion that a parallel backswing was all that. Guys like John Daly and Fred Couples that were long hitters back in the day, they all went past parallel. To me, it just made sense: If you can get your body
syrupy backswing is of a bygone era but with the ball speed-boosting elements of today’s high-powered swings. The new-old combination helped the 31-year-old California native capture his first PGA Tour win – the 2024 Mexi- co Open at Vidanta – in just his ninth career start and has had him ranked in the top 25 on tour in clubhead speed (123.1 miles per hour), ball speed (182.5 mph) and driving distance (309.5 yards). Yet there was a time when Knapp didn’t particularly like his
PHOTOGRAPHS BY DOM FURORE
42 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
JUNE 2025
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