Jason Dufner has always had my ideal golf swing. And here’s why: it’s simplistic and repeatable. Zero extra movements. No wasted motion. No flash.
Don’t let modern social media clips of long drive bombers and swing speed obsession make you think that defines good golf. It makes for great viral clips dont get me wrong. And I will admit I am part of the problem. It’s partly how I grew my Instagram account to 60,000 followers - by posting the most aesthetically pleasing swings lol. Guys launching it 350 with a club twirl? Sure, that’s fun to watch and it’ll get 100k views no problem. But is it good for your average amateur golfer looking for a swing online to model his own after? No probably not.
So in steps Jason Dufner. He doesn’t have the flashy social media shallowing move. Doesn’t carry it 300 with his 3 wood. However, what he does have should make your mouth water more: consistent swing mechanics that are easy to copy.
Most golfers are trying to copy whoever went viral last week from the Youtube Invitational (I think that’s a thing). They see the 6’4, jacked 22 year old with Sergio level lag, Bryson swing speed, and Adam Scott’s aesthetics. You can spend your entire life trying to perfect that swing. Trust me I’ve tried it. But if you want to actually get better. and by get better I mean score lower, then you need a swing that can produce the shots you want to hit at any given moment.
And that’s why I want to analyze Dufner’s swing. It’s short. It’s controlled. It’s boring as hell. And it has won 28 million in earnings on the PGA Tour.
Dufner Basically Pre-Sets Impact
Here’s what makes Dufner’s swing so genius for the rest of us: he essentially pre-sets impact with his wrist set early in the takeaway. Click the link below to watch it.
Click to view video of Dufner’s Swing
He creates these angles almost immediately in the first motion back. From there, he continues his rotation to the top (which isn’t very far) and then rotates back through the ball. Once the initial positions are set, he holds this all the way into impact.
He lets the right elbow fold, allowing for the club to set into its forward shaft-leaning impact position. You’ve all seen his pre-shot waggle. That’s not just some weird tick. He’s rehearsing the proper wrist set early in the swing. Every single time.
This is huge because so many golfers completely destroy their swing in this first CRUCIAL move. They take it back too flat, too inside, too steep, or they flip their wrists open immediately. And once you screw up the takeaway, you’re playing catch-up the entire rest of the swing. Compensations on top of compensations.
You see it constantly at the range. Guy sets up fine, decent posture, good alignment. He even looks cool too. Has on white FJs, a Titleist hat, a club polo, etc…Then the club goes back and everything falls apart. The club gets stuck behind him. Or it gets too steep and outside. Or the face fans wide open. And from there, the rest of the swing is just a desperate attempt to get back to square at impact.
That’s exhausting. And it’s inconsistent as hell. Because you’re relying on perfect timing to save a bad position. Sometimes it works. Most times it doesn’t.
Dufner eliminates all of that. He gets his wrists set correctly in the first 16 inches, and from there it’s just rotation. There’s no “fixing” that needs to happen in transition. No crazy slot move. No desperation flip at the bottom to square the face.
The club is already where it needs to be. He just has to turn through it.
The Takeaway & Wrist Set: The Faldo Drill
I’m sure you’ve all seen the Nick Faldo wrist hinge drill. If you haven’t, view it here
Essentially Faldo is practicing the same wrist hinge that Jason Dufner performs so well. And it’s one of the best drills you can do if you’re trying to build a repeatable takeaway.
But here’s the key: you’re not hinging the club in a way that points the toe of the club straight up. Most amateurs do this. They hinge their wrists and the clubface immediately fans open, toe pointing to the sky. That’s a recipe for blocks and slices all day.
Rather, the goal is to hinge the wrist back so that the clubface is still pointing square at the ball. That’s a huge difference. The face stays square to your body rotation. The toe isn’t vertical. It’s angled slightly forward.
This is a really great video to show you what I mean. This guy explains it better than anyone I’ve seen so far: Video link
If you’re doing this correctly, you should be able to stop at the halfway-back position and the angle of your club face should still be roughly matching the angle of your spine. Not pointing at the sky. Not laid flat. Somewhere in between, matching your body.
Once this position has been achieved, all you have to do is complete the backswing with some body rotation and proper folding of the right arm and voila. You’ve created pretty much the perfect backswing.
It’s not long. It’s not fancy. But it’s in position. And that’s all that matters.
This is also where most golf instruction gets it wrong, in my opinion. So many teachers will tell you to “hinge early” but they don’t explain how to hinge. So amateurs hinge the club straight up, open the face, and wonder why they’re slicing everything.
The direction of the hinge matters just as much as the hinge itself. Dufner and Faldo both hinge back, not up. Back toward the ball, keeping the face square. That’s the move.
Hogan + Dufner: Short, Deep, Repeatable
This is also very Hogan-like. Many say Hogan had the perfect golf swing. I find Dufner to be extremely similar.
Here is a good clip of Hogan’s Iron swing
They both have a great natural wrist set early in the takeaway. They fold the right arm against the body well. They get the arms deep in the backswing, so there’s no need for an excessive shallowing move in transition. And they have a short backswing which allows for control and repeatability.
And here’s the thing about a short backswing: it doesn’t mean you lose distance. Hogan hit it plenty far. Dufner averaged over 280 off the tee. You don’t need the club going past parallel to generate speed. You need good sequencing, good rotation, and solid contact.
In fact, I’d argue that most amateurs would gain distance with a shorter backswing because they’d start making better contact. You know how many yards you lose when you hit it off the toe or the heel? Way more than you’d lose by shortening your backswing by six inches.
The modern obsession with “getting long” and “creating speed” has convinced amateurs they need to swing like they’re trying out for the long drive championship. But your goal should be to swing with control and hit the center of the face over and over again.
And that’s why I love Dufner’s swing so much. It’s effortless and requires no extra motion to time. No crazy late move to save it. Just a quiet, compact motion that delivers the club to impact in the same spot every single time.
There’s a reason why the phrase “quiet hands” gets thrown around so much in golf instruction. Because quiet hands mean consistent hands. And Dufner’s hands are about as quiet as they come. He sets them early, holds the angles, and just rotates through.
Why This Actually Helps You: The 3/4 Swing
Have you ever tried hitting 3/4 shots at the range and had the realization that you have way more control over the clubface AND barely lose any distance?
I swear I will take half swings with my 6-iron and just focus on staying connected all the way through the swing only to find myself hitting the ball the exact same distance as my full swings. Maybe I lose 5 yards. Maybe 10. But the strike is so much cleaner, and I’m not losing what I thought I would.
That’s what Dufner’s swing does naturally. He’s not taking your John Daly backswing where the club is flying all over the place at the top. He’s taking a controlled, compact swing where everything stays connected. And I think that should be the goal for amateurs. And for the record, if you have a super long backswing naturally, thats fine. But I do think you’d benefit from tightening it up and hitting some half swings :)
Because here’s the dirty secret about golf: most of us aren’t losing distance because our backswing is too short. We’re losing distance because we’re making bad contact. Thin it? Lose 20 yards. Toe it? Lose 15 yards. Catch it a little heavy? Lose 50 yards.
But if you dial your swing back to 80%, make solid contact in the center of the face, you’re suddenly not losing any distance at all. In fact, you might even gain some because center-face contact is that much more efficient than off-center mishits.
So let me ask you this: if you could lose 25 yards but hit 30% more fairways, would you do it? The data would suggest that you should. Because strokes gained off the tee isn’t about distance. It’s about being in play. And if shortening your swing by 20% means you’re in the fairway instead of the trees, you just saved yourself a stroke. Do that three times a round and you’re shooting 3 shots lower without changing anything else.
That’s the Dufner effect. It’s not sexy. But it works.
The Takeaway (Literally)
If there’s one thing you take from this article, it should be this: focus on your takeaway and wrist set.
Dufner does it. Hogan did it. Faldo drilled it for years. And it’s the most underrated move in golf because it doesn’t look cool. There’s no flash. No one’s making highlight reels of guys hinging their wrists correctly in the first 12 inches of the backswing.
But if you get that part right, everything else gets easier. Your transition gets easier. Your downswing gets easier. Your contact gets better. Your dispersion tightens up.
Go to the range. Hit some Faldo drills. Focus on setting the club early with the face still square to the ball. Then just rotate and hold. That’s it. You’re not trying to create lag in transition. You’re not trying to shallow the club. You’re just setting it early and holding it all the way through.
Will it feel weird at first? Ya. Probably. Because you’re used to doing something else. But stick with it for a few range sessions and I promise you’ll start seeing more consistent contact and tighter dispersion.
Final Thought
Jason Dufner’s swing is the opposite of viral golf content: pre-set, compact, repeatable. If you want to actually shoot lower scores, you’re better off chasing Dufner’s early wrist set and short backswing than chasing 190 ball speed.
You don’t need a longer swing. You need a Dufner swing.
And look, I get it. The long, powerful, sexy swing is fun. I’ve spent years chasing it myself. But at some point you have to ask yourself: do I want to look good or do I want to score well?
Because in golf, those two things don’t always go together. In fact, they rarely do.
The guys who consistently shoot in the 70s? They’re not out here trying to impress anyone. They’re playing boring, controlled, Dufner-style golf that quietly stacks up pars and the occasional birdie.
So next time you’re scrolling reels and see some 22-year-old crushing bombs with a backswing that goes to his ankles, remember: that’s entertainment, not instruction.
If you want to actually get better, study Dufner. Copy Dufner. Be Dufner.
Your scorecard will thank you.
Wow. Super simple. Sort of a Corey Conners vibe here