The Loop

A few thoughts on Kendrick Lamar's golf swing from his new music video

March 31, 2017

Kendrick Lamar dropped his new music video "Humble" on Thursday, one that wowed audiences and critics. "Kendrick Lamar Just Made the Greatest Music Video in Years" reads an Esquire headline. "Lamar's on Fire" asserts EW, while Slate makes the case that "Lamar’s Surprise New Video Is Everything Everyone Wanted The Young Pope to Be." While I'm hardly a voice of authority on rap -- I got out of the game right around the release of 8 Mile -- one thing did catch our eye: Lamar's, um, unique golf swing.

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There's no uniform way to swing a golf club, as Jim Furyk, Bubba Watson and Tommy Gainey have proved. In that same breath, we have a few observations and comments:

-- Ooh, that takeaway. Pretty sure the Albert Pujols left-leg drop to third base isn't in Ben Hogan's Five Lessons.

-- On the bright side, he stops well short of parallel. According to Sean Foley, you can get more distance with an abbreviated backswing. And if you know anything about Kendrick Lamar, you know he's a disciple of Sean Foley.

-- Most golfers are aware that proper wrist hinge is imperative to generating power, but Lamar -- one of Time's 100 most influential people in the world -- is going with a more avant-garde approach, keeping the wrists locked on the downswing and follow-through. This goes against conventional instruction, but hey, the "world is flat" was once regarded as conventional, too.

-- Looks like Lamar is falling on his back foot instead of rotating the hips forward. But, like any good entertainer, he sells it, putting his hand towards his eyes as if trying to locate the ball's ascent into the skies.

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-- However, in another swing sequence, it appears Lamar has transferred his weight a little better, holding his finish. Arnold Palmer-esque, really.

-- Oh yeah, that location. Know the range can be crowded at times, but hitting off the roof of a rusted-out Chevy in the L.A. river seems a tad overbearing, especially given the name of the song is "Humble."

We're glad Lamar was able to fit the sport into his music video. Conversely, we recommend a few lessons before showcasing that swing in front of a camera again.