Rahm never gave much thought to how quick he takes the club back until he played in the BMW PGA Champion- ship a few years ago. The DP World Tour had set up a special camera on the 11th tee at Wentworth Club in England and captured footage of Rahm’s swing and the swing of Justin Rose, his playing partner. Then they replayed the swings side by side. “By the time Justin Rose made im- pact, my ball was already 150 yards off the tee,” Rahm says, laughing. “It’s funny; I never want to think about it, but my wife compares it to Andy Rod- dick’s serve in tennis – short and quick – and there’s a lot less that can go wrong because of it.” Kelley Rahm makes an important point, and it’s something you can learn a lot from if you’re looking to hit it further and straighter. Although you
might not possess Jon Rahm’s strength or his incredible hand-eye coordina- tion; although you might not practice six days a week for hours at a time, simply trying to copy how Rahm takes the club back can do wonders for your power and consistency. Here’s the simple take from Jon Rahm’s swing coach, Dave Phillips: “It’s true that the longer you swing the club, the more time you have to put en- ergy into it. But the longer the average golfer swings the club, the more issues can creep in. If you just want to strike
by this idea that the old golf-swing cliche, “low and slow,” might not be the way to take the club back. We’ve got some data that might surprise you – and some tips to help you really take advantage of it. Even though you can’t copy Rahm, here’s why you should try The reason Rahm’s backswing is short and quick goes back to how he compen- sated for a birth defect. He describes it as a “club foot,” and although it was corrected in childhood through a series of procedures, his right leg is shorter and his right foot is smaller than his left leg and left foot. When it came to swinging a club, his childhood coach, Eduardo Celles, fig- ured Rahm would have an easier time managing it with a shorter backswing.
the ball better, ramp up the time you take the club back, like Jon, and change di- rection quicker.” Read on if you’re intrigued
RAHM’S BACKSWING It takes Jon 0.41 seconds to get the shaft parallel to the ground and 0.70 to the top. Amateurs are about halfway back in 0.75, GEARS Golf says.
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 71
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026
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