How Joaquin Niemann’s unicorn golf swing makes him an elite ball-striker

No move activates the army of armchair golf instructors on Instagram like Joaquin Niemann’s swing. And it’s almost always the same thing that gets called out: In the milliseconds around impact, the 26-year-old Chilean drops his right shoulder and torso dramatically as he turns through (seventh photo below). It gives his swing an extraordinary amount of side bend, which many pundits speculate is not a move that will hold up in the long term.

“I don’t really care what they say about it, to be honest,” says Niemann, who ranked behind only Bryson DeChambeau in driving distance (322.5 yards) on the LIV Golf tour in 2024. “It always has felt natural to me. That’s just how my body works.”

You might think that the way Niemann’s spine is torqued in these photos, future injuries are inevitable. Not necessarily so, says Golf Digest 50 Best Teacher Jon Sinclair. His through-swing move might be a red flag for some, but others who have a similar movement pattern might be just fine.

“Some golfers are acutely strong, flexible or resilient in one or more areas of their body,” says Sinclair, an expert in 3-D motion capture and biomechanics.

“What’s true for some is not true for all.” Niemann, who behind his distance advantage also ranked second on the LIV Tour a year ago in greens in regulation (72.8 percent) and first in birdies, becoming one of the best ball-strikers in pro golf. It was on display yet again this past weekend in Singapore, where Niemann cruised to a five-shot victory, his second LIV win in three starts and the fourth of his career.

The downswing move certainly helps, but other parts of his swing should get some credit, too.

The longtime coach of Niemann, fellow Chilean Eduardo Miquel, says average golfers can copy this part of Joaquin’s swing, making a wide turn off the ball and shifting into their trail side. That will boost your power. But rather than trying Niemann’s downswing, all you likely need to do to improve your ball-striking is to focus on weight shift. Your weight needs to start moving toward the target as the club is finishing the backswing.

“This [shift] will help you rotate through correctly,” Miquel says.

Niemann adds that it’s also important to keep your chest down when you swing through. If your chest lifts up too soon, your body stops turning and your hands take over, making it a lot harder to control the clubface without perfect timing.

“Ever since I was young, I was trying to turn my body,” Niemann says. “Staying down is the way you can naturally turn the most.”