ANALYZING DJ'S SWING

A lot of turn helps lift his body at impact

It's no secret Dustin Johnson hits the ball a long way, but how exactly does he generate so much power? Let's take a look at what separates DJ from the rest of the pack.

AT THE TOP:

Of the many things DJ does in his swings, one of the most notable has to be the amount he turns in his backswing. During his backswing, he turns his shoulders and hips an impressive amount and this allows him to generate power from his entire body. 

AT IMPACT:

Another element of DJ's swing that helps him bomb drives is how he approaches impact. On the downswing, he bends his knees forward and his upper body down. This allows him to raise his entire body up through impact, which helps generate a ton of power. 

ANALYZING DJ'S BALL FLIGHT

A lower spin and higher loft is his winning combination

Part of the reason that Dustin Johnson is the No. 1 golfer in the world is his driving skill and ability to hit the ball far. This can be a huge advantage at courses like Augusta National where many par 5s are reachable in two. Let’s take a look at Dustin’s Trackman numbers to understand how he hits it so far. He had an average driver speed of 120 mph in 2020- ranking him 25th on Tour. Couple this with a launch of 10.8 and backspin of 2330 rpm, it’s easy to see how he averaged 302 yards carry distance in 2020, ranking him 6th on Tour.

This combination of speed, launch, and spin has also allowed Dustin to be inside the top six for the past five years in percent of distance covered on tee shots. This is computed by taking the total distance of the tee shot and then dividing it by the total distance of the holes. This is a huge advantage on any hole, but means that Dustin has more opportunities to go for par 5s in two, which allowed him to lead the tour in 2020 in holes per eagle- there was more than a full round of golf between him and the guy behind him.