Stop & Go

Hit It Like Hideki.

- Ron Kaspriske

BUBBA WATSON lets both feet shift toward the target as he smashes the ball, and Jim Furyk loops his club from a nearly upright orientation at the top of the swing to one of the best impact positions in golf. Jordan Spieth’s left elbow juts toward the target through impact, and Dustin Johnson bows his left wrist as he takes the club back. If you’re learning how to swing or just taking a lesson to improve, the idiosyncracies of many of the game’s best players probably wouldn’t be things an instructor would try to get you to copy. They’re too individualistic. But that’s not the case when it comes to the signature feature of Hideki Matsuyama’s swing—it just might be the thing you need to hit better shots.

“There’s a distinct pause between his backswing and downswing. Everything stops for a split second,” says Jim McLean, one of Golf Digest’s 50 Best Teachers. “It allows him to get in the same great position at the top and sync up his downswing beautifully. The pause makes it special.” 

HOW THE PAUSE CAME TO BE