Ben Crane Golf Swing Analysis

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In this video, I’ll show you how to create a near-perfect takeaway like Ben Crane. You’ll find out: 1) How lateral movement in the takeaway affects your timing, 2) Why you should keep your arms and hands passive in the takeaway, and 3) How to build power in your swing early on. Check out this video now to get a perfect takeaway that’ll set you up for power!

  • Initiate Golf Swing with the Right Side
  • Minimal Hip Rotation
  • Head Stays Steady
  • Use Rotation and Passive Arms and Hands


Hello everyone, Rotary Swing Instructor Craig Morrow here, taking a look at this past week's winner Ben Crane, and how you can learn a couple of good RST principle's from his take away.

                First off, congratulations to Ben for his wire to wire win in this past week's Fed Ex St. Jude Classic. Now we all now Ben's not the swiftest player on tour, but it might be because he's thinking about getting some really good RST principles at the start of his golf swing and his take away. And the first thing that Ben does really well in his take away, is he keeps his head nice and steady. And what I want you to do is, I want you to watch that red line and Ben's head, as I wind him through his take away.

                And you'll notice that Ben's head doesn't shift laterally to the right, and break that red line in his take away. Which is meaning that he's using the right side of his body, or the pulling side of his body, to take the club back. Which is allowing him to make a nice center rotation and keep that head from moving too far laterally to the right.  Because if he allowed that head to move too far laterally to the right, it would build some inconsistencies at the top of his backswing, but also create a major downswing issue, where he'd really have to time finding the ball.

                So the first thing that Ben does really well in his takeaway is he keeps that head nice and steady by using the right side to take the club back in his take away.

                The next thing that Ben does really well in his take away, is that his arms and hands are nice and passive. And you'll notice that by the time his hands reach his right thigh, that the club is only a third of the way through his take away. Which is meaning that he's allowing for the rotation of his body to transport the club off the ball. He's not initiating the swing, or the momentum of the club, by setting his left wrist, rotating his left arm, folding his right arm, he's allowing the rotation to take the club back off the ball. And if you want to get nice and wide at the completion of your take away, it all starts by making sure that you're rotating to transport the club off the ball. And you'll notice that by the time Ben gets to the completion of his take away, that his hands are nice and wide away from his right thigh. But it's all started by making sure that he rotated off the ball, versus initiating too much of his arms and hands to get the club back moving.

                The last thing that Ben does really well in his take away is he keeps his hips nice and steady. You'll notice that at the completion of his take away, that his belt buckle is pointed just at, or just behind the ball, which is allowing him to start to store up some energy and get some good separation between his shoulders and his hips. If you want to start to build up some torque on your backswing, we have to make sure to limit the hip rotation in the take away. We don't want the hips rotating until after the take away, or you'll torso will start to pull them open to roughly about 40 to 45 degrees. And what Ben does is he allows these hips to stay nice and steady and not rotate, or actively rotate too soon off the ball, which would zap up his energy going back, where the ability for him to build up some good torque on his backswing, which would be getting separation between his shoulders and his hips.

                So if you want to hit these three key positions in your gold swing, where your head stays nice and steady, where the arms and hands are nice and passive, and you can get nice and wide on the take away, which will help you get to a nice wide position at the top of your backswing, but also keep those hips nice and still to where you can start to build up some good torque on your backswing, by getting some good separation between the shoulders and your hips, I want you to take a look at the Five Minutes of Mastering Rotation. And in this video, Chuck will explain to you all the principles of using the right shoulder blade and using the obliques to get the momentum of the club swinging off the ball. To where the hips won't actively rotate too soon, so you can build up some good torque. To where the head will stay nice and steady, so you won't be pushing off the left side, or shifting too far laterally to the right. And to where the arms and hands will be nice and passive at the start of the takeaway, so you can build up some nice width, which will help you get nice and wide at the top.

                So take a look at the Five Minutes To Mastering Rotation, get looking like Ben off the ball. Keep the head steady, keep the hips quiet, keep the arms and hands passive, build up some nice width, and you'll be on your way to a great take away, and a good position at the top of your backswing.

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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
My understanding was always that in shifting our weight, with out feet being 2 inches outside NJA, that we would shift our weight back 1" to the right in the takeaway, and three inches back to be left on the downswing to NJA. This video is clearly recommending no movement back on the takeaway. Can you clarify this. His weight must be shifting to the right onto the inside of he right foot. If the head stays still, he would lose the slight axis till desired, no?
February 16, 2015
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hey Chris. Yes, there is a shift 1 inch into the trail glute and 3 inches back into the lead glute. Ben isn't a perfect RST Swing prototype. But, he does have some good characteristics. The majority of amateurs playing have a problem with the head swaying too much in the backswing. I was mainly trying to show how rotation helps steady lateral movement. You will have the tendency to lose axis tilt without shifting. But, you can still keep axis tilt and not shift laterally. Albeit would be a very short and weak move. Highly recommend shifting the weight.
February 16, 2015
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robert
This video provided an ah-ha moment! Keeping the head still is also a side effect of having a really stable base. In addition, I’ve been trying very hard in my take away to keep the club on plane not get the head behind my body. I’ve focused on it so much that I had developed a little hitch in my backswing that occurred once the club was parallel to the ground and before my right elbow bends. This hitch destroyed my rhythm and efficiency. This video helped me realize that once I’ve pulled my right shoulder back and extended the club down the line as far as it will go, the right elbow will naturally begin to bend making one fluid motion. The trick is to maintain a firm base. The point about keeping your belt buckle pointing toward the ball in the backswing was invaluable. It just makes you feel powerful and in good position to hit a solid shot. I definitely get the feeling of loading up. I like to take a couple of full practice swings to ensure the motion is fluid. You can kind of feel when it’s right. For some reason on this video I also keyed in Ben’s right elbow and as a follow-up watched Clay’s video on the right elbow in the down swing. Clay’s tip on trying to put the right elbow over your bellybutton was awesome. Combining the two tips referenced here, I literally hit every club in my bag 10-20 yards longer. Keeping that right elbow tucked in makes it darn near impossible to come over the top and the lag it creates and delivers as stored up speed made my balls go further than they’ve ever gone before. Now I’m going back and re-watching the left arm only drills so that I can better direct and maximize all this power!
June 11, 2014
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Awesome Robert. Now get that left arm trained to direct all that power!
June 11, 2014
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lee
I found the video useful, i had to pull up my swing to see the ck points emphasized in my take a way and back swing for comparison .i liked how the video repeated his full swing in slo-mo for 3-4 reps. i was going to follow his downswing motion but once i focused on it, i decided this is not who i need to be emulating. Now for the Mastering Rotation video!!
June 10, 2014
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Lee. I'm glad you liked the review. Ben does a great job getting the club back, but things fall apart on the downswing. A reason for his up and down play on tour.
June 11, 2014
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Stevie
Very very useful. Especially the discussion on head movement
June 10, 2014
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Thanks Stevie. Many players struggle with the head movement off the ball. Easy fix when we know how to use the correct side to pull the club back.
June 10, 2014
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charles
Guys, you've asked for questions or comments. Don't know why it is imperative to watch the driver analysis of each tournament's winner. Who in their right mind would want to drive the ball like Ben Crane? Isn't he generally regarded as one of the poorer drivers on tour? I know his ranking isn't reflective of a good "driver" of the ball. Granted, he might have some fundamentals that coincidentally match up with the RST "principles." But the proof is in the pudding...no? If you are using Ben Crane in a driving analysis, I would have preferred (my own opinion) to hear what you guys can spot that he is doing "wrong" to end up near the bottom of the driving statistics. And it's generally well known that all the work he's put into his short game with Jim Seikman has given his career new life. He made some beautiful short pitch shots from around the greens to save par in the final round. Why not focus on those shots that he does well? Can't get past the reality that the guy is a poor driver and why would I want to incorporate ANY of his movements. Maybe keeping his head steady and taking the club back the way he does is contributing to his poor driving rating. My dream videos would be Chris Kirk driving the ball, or Jonathan Vega....that I'd like to see. That I'd pay to see. Usually pleased to view the videos. But not this time. Thanks for listening.
June 10, 2014
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Charles. I understand where you are coming from. Being how Ben just won it would've been in bad taste to talk about everything he does wrong. You are correct that there are many flaws in his swing. The takeaway is just one piece of the puzzle. We don't suggest copying any of his other moves, but the incorporation of his solid principles off the ball wouldn't hurt your progress. His poor driving is due more to adding too much secondary axis tilt on the downswing which is inhibiting a proper and more consistent release. I am sorry that you were displeased with the review and will take into suggestion about players you would like to see reviews on. We want to make sure you are fully satisfied with the website experience.
June 10, 2014
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Paul
What tape do I hit to watch my saved favorites??? Can not seem to find it? Thanks, Pkmorgan
June 10, 2014
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hi Paul. Click Member Tools (top right of the page)--> My Program Home Page--->Practice Plan-->Favorites (On the left)
June 10, 2014

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