I remember one discussion in which [renowned golf instructor] John [Jacobs] was talking
about how, contrary to conventional wisdom, so many of the most consistent and
enduring ball strikers had a slight “over the top” move, rather than the more
classic “inside-out” path, in which the shaft flattens out on the downswing.
John clicked off the names of Bobby Locke, Sam Snead, Arnold
Palmer, and Bruce Lietzke as just a few examples of players who started down
with their arms a bit farther from their body, the club taking something close
to the “outside-in” path that slicers are always warned against. John said that way of hitting the ball held
less danger for good players than dropping the club down and hitting from
inside out.
“Hitting too late from the inside with an open face not only
misses the fairway, it can miss the golf course,” he said. “A little over the top never misses by too
much. In competitive golf, it’s not so
much where the good ones go. It’s where the
bad ones go. You’ve got to build a swing
that will eliminate the big miss.”
Excerpt from, The Big Miss, by Hank Haney, p. 17
