I met J.J. when he was a freshman at Texas Christian University in 1993, and my first impression was he had a great sense of his golf swing and tons of natural speed. J.J. became one of the longest hitters in college golf during his time at TCU -- and he rarely hit a driver. He could knock his 3-wood out there 300 yards, so that's all he ever needed. Now that he has a driver he likes, J.J. is hitting it miles off the tee, and the swing changes he's made are keeping him in the fairway, too.
J.J. always had a pretty tight, firm swing, without many loose parts, but we've tightened it up even more. We've worked hardest on his sequence of motion, getting his arm swing to match his body turn, so he can go at it hard and not worry about having to flip the club through impact. He used to swing more to the inside on the backswing and then slide his legs forward on the downswing. This sometimes led to misses to the right because the club would lag behind his body.
Now J.J. takes it back straighter, with his body staying quiet. He starts back with his arms and then turns his shoulders to complete the backswing. When he's swinging his best, his arms and body get to the top at the same time. Then he's in position to swing down without the club falling behind in the sequence. Notice how his right heel stays close to the ground through impact: That's because he's turning through with less leg slide. The club stays in sync better with his body, and he still has all that clubhead speed he had back in his college days.
When J.J. arrived at TCU, Coach Bill Montigel and I knew we had a very special young man, and we're reminded of that every time he wears his TCU purple on Sunday. His golf swing has improved, and better yet he's as level-headed as he was before he became a world-class player. It's still hard to say how far he can go.
