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When Tony Finau and GOLF Top 100 Teacher Boyd Summerhays first crossed paths, they were headed in different directions.

Summerhays was an aspiring but struggling Tour player, doubting his ability and questioning what to do about it. Finau was just beginning his journey in professional golf and hitting the ball incredible distances, but his lack of control was holding him back.

In each, the other saw promise. The pair joined forces as coach and student, launching one of the most successful partnerships on Tour today.

For the debut episode of “Swing Whisperers” — a new video series available exclusively to InsideGOLF members — we sat down with Summerhays and Finau to illuminate the evolution of Finau’s swing and how their teacher-pupil relationship has resulted in huge performance gains for one of the world’s best players.

You can watch the video above, or keep reading for some of the highlights:

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1:21 — Early days

Summerhays says he never planned on getting into coaching. His aspirations were playing at the pro level, and for good reason.

“You were a stud,” Finau says.

But once Summerhays got to the PGA Tour, his downfall became chasing the mythical “perfect” golf swing.

“I made a lot of mistakes as a player,” he says. “But looking back, that helped me become a well-rounded coach.”

When Finau was deciding to start working with Summerhays, he only had one question: Are you done playing? He wanted a full-time coach, someone who he could work with for the long term. Summerhays said he was, and off the went.

“He saw something in me, something I hadn’t heard in a long time,” Finau says. “I was ready to take that journey with him.

2:45 — From hooks to slices

Finau said he grew up hitting swinging hard and trying to hit something between a draw and a hook. Once he turned professional, he had enough power, so he started chasing more accuracy and switched to a fade. Each created issues in his swing that needed to be addressed, but it was a tradeoff worth making.

“I do think it’s important to grow up learning to hit it far,” Finau says. “That’s what I did.”

4:34 — Setup changes

As the pair began working to “neutralize” Finau’s ball flight to give him more consistency, Summerhays explains that the first step was tackling his setup. Finau strengthened his grip by moving his right hand more under the club, and aligning his forearms so his right arm was slightly below his left. Both of those adjustments had the effect of shifting his swing direction less across the ball.

“I don’t think anybody should start working on in-swing stuff until the setup is fixed,” Finau says.

7:31 — A scary injury

What was supposed to be an unbridled moment of joy at the 2018 Masters Par-3 Contest turned into a one of horror when, while celebrating a hole-in-one, Finau dislocated his ankle while running backward. More so than he led on at the time, Finau was in much pain, and in short order he and Summerhays had to make some adjustments so that Finau could play.

“We were playing with some 85 percent of your weight on your back foot at setup,” Summerhays says.

“It was still hurting with each swing” Finau says.

14:37 — Why the partnership works

The real secret to Finau and Summerhays’ success isn’t so much in swing changes — it’s in their relationship. Their bond is built on trust and honesty, which is essential to any good coach-player partnership, Summerhays says.

“I was looking for a swing coach, but what I got was a great mentor and a great friend,” Finau says. “I got a lot more than I bargained for.”

The post How Tony Finau and his coach built one of the game’s strongest swings | Swing Whisperers appeared first on Golf.

The post How Tony Finau and his coach built one of the game’s strongest swings | Swing Whisperers appeared first on Golf.

The post How Tony Finau and his coach built one of the game’s strongest swings | Swing Whisperers appeared first on Golf.

In the debut episode of “Swing Whisperers,” GOLF Top 100 Teacher Boyd Summerhays and his student Tony Finau break down the changes and improvements to Finau’s swing over the years. This video series is available exclusively to InsideGOLF members.

The post How Tony Finau and his coach built one of the game’s strongest swings | Swing Whisperers appeared first on Golf.

The post How the quest for the perfect golf swing can go wrong appeared first on Golf.

The post How the quest for the perfect golf swing can go wrong appeared first on Golf.

Boyd Summerhays knows a thing or two about what it takes to achieve success at the highest level of competitive golf. Not only does he come from a famously talented family (both Boyd and his brother, Daniel, played professionally, and his uncle, Bruce, won three times on the Champions Tour), he’s also coaching Tony Finau, and his own children, including son Preston, who won the 2019 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship and is currently playing collegiately at Arizona State.

That’s why, when Summerhays gives advice, you know it’s coming from a place of deep knowledge and experience. And on this week’s episode of Off Course with Claude Harmon, Summerhays talked about one issue that he believes can negatively affect good players all too often: the quest for perfection in the golf swing.

“I was playing really good for a couple of years before I got my [PGA Tour] card,” Summerhays said. “I’d look at my swing on film once in a while. I wasn’t obsessed with it. I knew I was playing good, I knew I was hitting the sort of shots I wanted. After I got injured, I started bouncing around, instructor to instructor. And it got to the point where I was doing something for the first time in my career: I was trying to be perfect, instead of trying to play golf shots.

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“It got to the point where I was on the range all the time,” Summerhays continued. “But not on the range hitting shots or trying to learn shots, I was trying to get in all these positions. Pretty soon, it was really hard for me to score the golf ball. I was over the ball, my routine was longer. It wasn’t the same. You had so much more thought going through your head.”

Summerhays said he likes to use his experience as a cautionary tale for his students. His “rookie mistakes” of changing equipment manufacturers, caddies and coaches after suffering an injury ultimately pushed him out of professional competitive golf and into his current life as a top-tier coach.

“I always tell my kids, you train on the range as if it’s all technique,” Summerhays said. “And on the course, you play blank, you play free.”

For more from Summerhays, including the best way to prepare your kids for a future in competitive golf, and why Tony Finau’s long-awaited second win only made him hungrier, check out the full interview below.

The post How the quest for the perfect golf swing can go wrong appeared first on Golf.

The post Off Course with Claude Harmon: How the quest for the perfect golf swing can go wrong appeared first on Golf.

The post Off Course with Claude Harmon: How the quest for the perfect golf swing can go wrong appeared first on Golf.

On this week’s episode of Off Course with Claude Harmon, Top 100 Teacher Boyd Summerhays describes the pitfalls of chasing perfection when it comes to the swing.

The post Off Course with Claude Harmon: How the quest for the perfect golf swing can go wrong appeared first on Golf.

The post Off Course with Claude Harmon: The best way to prepare your kids for a future in competitive golf appeared first on Golf.

The post Off Course with Claude Harmon: The best way to prepare your kids for a future in competitive golf appeared first on Golf.

On this week’s episode of Off Course with Claude Harmon, GOLF Top 100 Teacher Boyd Summerhays explains how he honed his kids’ competitive golf skills from an early age.

The post Off Course with Claude Harmon: The best way to prepare your kids for a future in competitive golf appeared first on Golf.

The post Off Course with Claude Harmon: Why Tony Finau’s long-awaited second win only made him hungrier appeared first on Golf.

The post Off Course with Claude Harmon: Why Tony Finau’s long-awaited second win only made him hungrier appeared first on Golf.

GOLF Top 100 Teacher Boyd Summerhays describes the lofty goals his star student has in his sights on this week’s episode of Off Course with Claude Harmon.

The post Off Course with Claude Harmon: Why Tony Finau’s long-awaited second win only made him hungrier appeared first on Golf.

The post How a common-sense training routine increased an elite amateur’s speed by 20 mph appeared first on Golf.

The post How a common-sense training routine increased an elite amateur’s speed by 20 mph appeared first on Golf.

OAKMONT, Pa. — Preston Summerhays has the look of an elite golfer. Tall, athletic, and decked out in a congruent Nike outfit, the 19-year-old could walk onto the range at a PGA Tour event, and no one would look twice.

He swings like a he belongs in the pros, too.

Summerhays is wide and balanced as he takes the club back, getting slightly taller in his posture as he approaches the top of the swing. Once there, he pauses ever so slightly — if you blink, you’ll miss it. But it’s what happens next that’s the difference maker.

As he begins the transition, he squats slightly and his knees widen, gathering energy for the final act, preparing to send the clubhead exploding through the back of the ball. Summerhays then pushes off the ground with all the strength his legs can muster, jumping in the air as he smashes the ball over 300 yards into the distance.

“My body found out that to get that power, I dip a little bit and then use the ground really well,” Summerhays said after his second-round 76 at the U.S. Amateur. “It just naturally happened when trying to swing fast.”

Golf nerds call it “ground reaction forces,” and it’s a surefire way to generate clubhead speed.

But Summerhays’ swing wasn’t always oozing with power. Just three years ago, his clubhead speed sat at a lethargic 103 mph. Now, he lashes the club at 122 mph — pro-level speed. The secret to this massive jump? Simple speed training advice from his father (and GOLF Top 100 Teacher) Boyd Summerhays.

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“Go swing as hard as you freaking can,” Boyd told him. “It’s as simple as that.”

After a disappointing and premature exit from the 2018 U.S. Amateur, Summerhays searched for answers on how to take his game to the next level. Qualifying for the U.S. Amateur as a 16-year-old is quite the feat, but in a family that lives and breathes golf, his aspirations sit higher than participation trophies.

“He missed match play by maybe three shots, and he was so bummed,” Boyd said. “I told him he didn’t play terrible, he just didn’t have enough ball speed and clubhead speed to get out of the rough and spin it.”

The following winter, Summerhays made it his mission to gain as much speed as he could. His training regimen was simple: for three 30-minute sessions per week, he went to the range and swung as hard as he could.

The work paid off. In the championship match of the 2019 U.S. Junior Amateur, he needed every bit of that extra speed to close out his championship run.

With his ball buried deep in the rough on the 35th hole and Summerhays clinging to a tenuous 1-up lead, he grabbed a pitching wedge from 174 yards and took a mighty lash. The ball ducked under one tree and elevated over another, eventually settling eight feet from the cup on the distant green. The shot clinched the prestigious crown.

“He couldn’t have hit that shot the year before,” Boyd said. “He had to swing so hard, but he finally had the clubhead speed to do it.”

The success didn’t stop there. Summerhays competed in the Korn Ferry Tour’s Utah Championship last summer, and later teed it up at Winged Foot for the U.S. Open. He made history as the youngest winner of the Sunnehanna Amateur and also advanced to the quarterfinals of this year’s U.S. Amateur Four-Ball.

After a two-round total of 142 at Oakmont Country Club and Longue Vue Club this week, he will advance to match play at the U.S. Amateur for the first time.

None of it would be possible without the massive jump in clubhead speed.

“It’s way easier power,” Boyd said. “Now he can control it.”

Ready to get your game dialed in? Find a fitting location near you at GOLF’s affiliate company True Spec Golf.

The post How a common-sense training routine increased an elite amateur’s speed by 20 mph appeared first on Golf.

The post GOLF’s Subpar: Boyd Summerhays talks his son Preston’s inevitable journey to the PGA Tour appeared first on Golf.

The post GOLF’s Subpar: Boyd Summerhays talks his son Preston’s inevitable journey to the PGA Tour appeared first on Golf.

Subpar’s Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz are joined by one of GOLF’s Top 100 Teachers in America, Boyd Summerhays, who explains what it’s like to watch his son Preston’s inevitable journey to the PGA Tour.

This episode of Subpar is brought to you by Rokform. Go to Rokform.com and enter code SUBPAR for 25% off.

The post GOLF’s Subpar: Boyd Summerhays talks his son Preston’s inevitable journey to the PGA Tour appeared first on Golf.

The post Tony Finau played the ultimate Presidents Cup prank on his swing coach appeared first on Golf.

The post Tony Finau played the ultimate Presidents Cup prank on his swing coach appeared first on Golf.

Boyd Summerhays isn’t just a world-renowned golf coach, he’s also a world-renowned prankster. The GOLF Top 100 Teacher is more than simply a swing coach for the stars, he’s also their chief cage-rattler — beloved and, at the same time, despised by his students for his prank antics.

But even the best pranksters aren’t immune to landing on the receiving end of a good joke, as Summerhays explained to hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz on this week’s episode of GOLF’s Subpar.

“Oh gosh, you talked to Tony, didn’t you?” Summerhays said with a laugh, as he began to share a true student-becoming-the-master story about his own student, Tony Finau.

“Okay, so, Tony plays some great golf, Tiger Woods is Tony’s childhood idol,” Summerhays said. “He’s playing great, he’s going through the playoffs, his world ranking’s high. It makes all the sense in the world that he’s going to get picked [for the Presidents Cup].”

But, Summerhays remembers, around the time that Finau was supposed to hear about earning a spot on the Presidents Cup team, the 31-year-old pro went dark.

“We’d been facetiming and doing our normal thing during tournament week,” he said. “All of the sudden, he gets done and he didn’t play good that last event. So, he didn’t text much that night, and I thought, ‘okay, that’s a little weird.'”

Slowly word began to trickle back to Summerhays that Finau had missed the Presidents Cup team, despite having a very worthy resume for the spot.

“Then he had his caddie and his agent start to text me saying, ‘hey, have you talked to Tony yet?'” Summerhays said. “I don’t even know why the heck I started to buy it. So, at the time, his caddie was like, ‘man, have you heard the news?’

“So I text Tony, and I’m like, man, you played good enough, it’s just a decision. My condolences.’ He’s like ‘Hey bro, I get it, but we’ll chat when I land. I’m gutted. Thanks.'”

After their conversation, Finau went dark again, leaving his coach heartbroken over the supposed missed-selection for another 48 hours.

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“So for like, two days, I’m just feeling it for him, because I feel like he really deserved to be on, and I know he’s gutted hearing it from Tiger,” he said. “He facetimes me and I answer the call and we’re talking and he’s playing it great and he’s sad and his face is sunk a little bit.”

Finally, Finau couldn’t take it anymore. He had to spill the beans to his coach.

“The conversation keeps going on but I’m still not catching on, and all of the sudden he’s like, ‘c’mon Boyd, you know Tiger’s a smart guy, he picked me,” Summerhays said. “His wife’s recording it, and he says, ‘he picked me’ and I’m like three or four seconds where I’m just quiet recording it because for two days I knew he didn’t make the team. So he got me good. And he still laughs about it. That’s the only time he’s ever gotten me.”

Finau proved a strong selection for that Presidents Cup team. The Puerto Rico Open winner played well all week, at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia, and even though he didn’t pick up any outright wins, his three tied matches played a key role in the U.S. Team’s dramatic comeback to retain the Cup.

To hear the rest of Summerhays’ Subpar interview, including why he thinks Finau doesn’t get enough credit for his competitive chops, check out the video below.

The post Tony Finau played the ultimate Presidents Cup prank on his swing coach appeared first on Golf.

The post GOLF’s Subpar: Boyd Summerhays answers the Emergency 9 appeared first on Golf.

The post GOLF’s Subpar: Boyd Summerhays answers the Emergency 9 appeared first on Golf.

In the weekly Emergency 9 segment, Subpar hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz ask Boyd Summerhays 9 burning questions that go beyond the game of golf.

This episode of Subpar is brought to you by Rokform. Go to Rokform.com and enter code SUBPAR for 25% off.

The post GOLF’s Subpar: Boyd Summerhays answers the Emergency 9 appeared first on Golf.