Find Out How Bradley and Dufner Can Help Your Golf Swing
Published: March 2, 2026
Sunday's 2011 PGA Championship offered a rare chance to see two golfers with highly contrasting styles go toe-to-toe at a high level. Jason Dufner and Keegan Bradley offer completely different swing patterns from which we can learn valuable lessons about golf swing mechanics.
Among other concepts, you're going to find out what you have to do on the downswing based on the "depth" of your backswing. Understanding this connection is essential for any golfer looking to improve their ball-striking consistency.
We keep hammering this point home because it's a vitally important concept — one that separates good ball-strikers from truly elite players. Modern tools like an AI swing analyzer can help you quickly identify whether your backswing depth is setting you up for success or failure on the way down.
Dufner, while sporting his unkempt haircut and everyman look, is having a highly successful season. His setup position is worth study by the RST student, as small details at address can cascade into major swing faults.
In his takeaway move, Dufner rotates his hips too early, which sets off a string of backswing issues that many RST students encounter. This early trail-hip rotation creates a shallow shoulder turn that forces compensations throughout the entire motion.
The free swing analysis video below walks you through those issues so you can quickly identify them in your own swing and understand exactly how hip rotation sequencing affects everything that follows.
Dufner's downswing is a combination of disparate elements and is highly, highly dependent on precise timing.
Like all swings that are highly dependent on many timing elements, things tend to go awry at the most critical times. It's no surprise that his crucial misses went right, as tension in the trail arm prevented his complicated downswing from synchronizing. This is a cautionary tale: the more timing moves you rely on, the harder it becomes to repeat your swing under pressure.
Keegan Bradley is a young man with sharp and precise angles and lines in his setup. His extraordinary amount of spine angle at address leads to some unique elements in his swing that reward careful study.
However, Bradley beautifully demonstrates the concept of shallow backswing and "hips then shoulders" into the downswing — the exact downswing sequencing that produces effortless power without overcomplicating the motion.
He is a big-hitter, being 16th on Tour in driving distance. His remarkable lag and arm swing into the ball account for terrific clubhead speed that most amateurs struggle to replicate without proper sequencing.
Bradley also beautifully models our latest drill, "Squeeze the Cheeks", as his hips and pelvis are solid at and past impact — a key trait of every elite ball-striker. You can train this same lead-side stabilization pattern systematically using the GOAT Drill system, which builds proper sequencing one rep at a time.
There is much to learn in studying these two swings. Although neither perfectly models the RST swing, there are RST fundamentals and biomechanical principles on display in both — making this comparison an excellent study in how backswing mechanics drive downswing decisions.
Dufner (left) exhibits a relatively deep backswing. Bradley, with his hands more in front of his chest, keeps his backswing shallow, a la RST. Learn more in the video below!
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Dufner (left) exhibits a relatively deep backswing. Bradley, with his hands more in front of his chest, keeps his backswing shallow, a la RST. Learn more in the video below!
