Pádraig’s Happy Gilmore could just swing it

WITH all the discussion about Pádraig Harrington changing his swing, it’ll unsettle some that the Open champion had consulted a golf comedy, as shown in the picture sequence above.

Thanks to (or because of) ‘Happy Gilmore’, Harrington discovered that running up to his tee shot added up to 30 yards to his drives and above pictures show that he has been perfecting the technique in practice.

Actor – a term used loosely but one which should be emphasised in this case – Adam Sandler drove his ball 400 yards with a run-up on the big screen and now the ‘Happy Harrington’ swing has even been filmed on TV. Fox Sports took him to a sports laboratory in California and discovered it increases distance by 10%.

“The trick is to start the back swing early,” explained Harrington, “so that when you plant your right foot in the correct position (as it would be for a normal swing), you’re already near the top and fully coiled. When your left foot hits the ground, the momentum means that you’re already starting down towards the ball. Practice your run up first that you can skip into position easily.”

“This forward momentum helps increase clubhead speed from his normal 107 up to 114mph,” said the scientists. “More importantly, his run-up allows him to make a huge shoulder turn and this is one key to extra distance. Pros call it the X factor.”

Harrington added: “I don’t believe I’d be as accurate and would the gain of 20, 30 yards be worth it? I’d like to do it on the golf course, but I’m too cautious for that.”

* Thanks to Golf World magazine. Log onto www.todaysgolfer.co.uk for more details.