Bryson Dechambeau Golf Swing Analysis & Lessons
Bryson Dechambeau has quickly moved from a curiosity to one of the best golfers in the world with 8 wins since turning pro and all before the age of 28. His unique approach to all aspects of the game culminated in a dominant 6 stroke win at the U.S. Open. Here’s how to incorporate his keys to success into your game so you can add straight distance and lower your scores in 2022.
The physics major and student of “The Golfing Machine” book, the much-maligned work by Homer Kelley, has put his own spin on the technique and built a reliable, repeating swing motion that translates mechanics into feel, producing laser-like golf shots. His power and precision are something to see.
That reliable Bryson Dechambeau golf swing, combined with his stilted putting set-up and motion, has vaulted him into the top 10 in the world golf rankings after 8 wins including Jack’s Memorial Tournament, The Northern Trust, the Dell Technologies Championship, and of course his major championship massacre at Winged Foot. Plus, his dominating play at the 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits showed that he can close out key matches in a team setting. Not to be outdone, he has recently shifted his focus to the long drive championship and has reached the finals in AZ both years. Is his play in Arizona hotter than Florida and the other golf destinations where he competes? Could be. Either way, it’s easy to understand how Bryson has gone from the butt of jokes by golf’s talking heads to one the hottest “young guns” in golf.
So, let’s take a look at Bryson’s unique swing action and see how you can adopt some of the traits that make him so consistent. Even if you don’t use single length irons like Bryson, you will still be able to benefit from this swing analysis and start hitting better shots from the driver to the wedges. Let’s get started!
Swing Like Bryson – Table of Contents – Click a Section Below To Learn!
Bryson Dechambeau Stance & Set-up
Looking at the set-up position, you will immediately notice that Bryson stands somewhat taller than most players on Tour. Part of that is due to his same length irons which are all about 6 iron length and bent slightly upright. By using a more upright stance and having high hands at address, he is also taking all the “slack” out before he starts the back swing. Smart, right?
In particular, look at his right (trail) forearm and how it is aligned with his golf club shaft:
In essence his forearm has become an extension of the golf club shaft! Why is that advantageous? Well, if you look at the best players in the world, you will notice that their right forearm (or left for left-handed golfers) is in line with the golf club shaft through impact. So why not set it there at address to enable a sneak preview of impact. Most guys don’t, but they may start too.
In fact, legends Ben Hogan and Moe Norman did the same thing and they were both renowned for their ball striking. It also bears mentioning that another young golfer having success on the big stage is Xander Schauffele who has won 4 times including the Sentry Tournament of Champions. He was also Rookie of the Year in 2017 and has a gold medal from the 2021 Olympics. Xander also exhibits high hands at address like Bryson. Hmmm, “something old is something new” as the saying goes.
Bryson Dechambeau Back Swing
Now let’s look at the back swing and top of the swing. If you want a swing thought that encapsulates Bryson Dechambeau’s back swing just visualize sweeping the club away while trying to maintain the distance from the hands to the chest. His move is a smooth sweep of the whole shaft right up the plane. No wristy, handsy, looping move here, just a broad swath right up into a stable top of the swing position. And his club is way short of parallel at the top, an old “must have” that is thankfully disappearing in golf.
In all, Bryson’s move from address to the top is smooth, precise and powerful, and sets the stage for his down swing and follow through. It’s a thing of beauty to watch and a big key to his success. He is indeed a true swing machine.
Now lots of guys on Tour get into decent positions at the top. But what is Bryson Dechambeau doing on the way down that makes his swing machine-like? For one thing there is virtually no manipulation, shaft rerouting, or hand action needed to square up the face. Much of that has to do with the right forearm positioning discussed above. If the right forearm is in a great position at address, odds are it will be in a great position 1/2 second later at impact. And the forearm is directing the shaft and club head where to go through impact.
Bryson Dechambeau Down Swing
The Bryson Dechambeau down swing is a “turn and burn move”. After a gentle move to his left side to initiate the down swing, he is turning the body through impact and dragging that whole shaft at the start of the downswing. Then, when the hands reach about naval height in the down swing, he can release the club shaft and club head by, in his words, “moving his right arm down the target line”. A very stable blow is created when the body pivot drives a connected right (trail) arm. No slack or flipping, rather a sledgehammer blow that marries the ball with the center of the club face. And at the moment, no one is centering it better on Tour than Bryson.
Here’s a quick summary of what I see as some of Bryson’s keys to success:
- Get a little taller at address and bring the trail forearm more in line with the shaft. It will help take some of the slack out of your swing and get you more aligned for impact.
- Sweep the club away while trying to maintain much of the space between your hands and chest but without adding tension. Even if your back swing shortens a bit, the club head will still have plenty of swing arc to gather speed on the way down without manipulation. You’ll deliver a more centered strike with reduced side spin (less slice or hook), higher ball speed and in most cases, more distance. Sounds good, right?
- Feel your right forearm working through impact guided by the rotation of the body. Making swings at 25%, 50% and 75% speed (effort) will allow you to tune in to how the body, arms and club work together to punish the ball like Bryson.
Bryson Dechambeau Swing Speed
In the 2021-2022 season, Bryson Dechambeau has a driver swing speed of 132 miles per hour (mph) and a ball speed of 200 mph! This is a jump from last year when he had an average swing speed of 118 mph with a ball speed of 175. This put him at about 40th (2019) out of 200 players on Tour.
His goal is to achieve a ball speed of 220 mph which would give him a distance advantage over the rest of the field. In order to do this, Bryson would been need a driver club head swing speed of about 135 unless his smash factor is well over 1.50.
Update: His switch to a 48″ driver has him smashing the ball with a swing speed of 144 mpg and a ball speed in excess of 220 mph.
His recent weight gain of 25 pounds (much of it muscle) has also helped him achieve his goal. In 2020, he is ranked #1 in driving distance at this writing. In fact, Bryson Dechambeau’s driving distance is 337 yards!
What Golf Ball does Bryson DeChambeau use?
Have you wondered about the make and model of Bryson Dechambeau’s Golf Ball?
Bryson plays the new Bridgestone Tour BX Golf Ball with the company’s innovative REACTIV cover technology. This 3-Piece golf ball is designed for golfers with swing speeds over 105 mph and Bryson certainly fits that category (as detailed above)!
The Bridgestone Tour BX Golf Ball has a compression rating of 85, which puts in in the class of slightly lower compression Tour golf balls. Note the Titleist Pro V1 is about 95 compression. The combination of a soft urethane cover with high initial ball speed gives Dechambeau plenty of pop off the tee, spin on the approach irons and wedges, and a soft feel off the putter for more eagles and birdies!
Bryson Dechambeau Driver Specs
Let’s take a look at Bryon’s unusual driver specs. Dechambeau uses a Cobra King Speedzone driver with 5.5 degrees of loft. Yes, Bryson Dechambeau’s driver has 5.5 degrees of loft! But remember, that is the nominal loft of the driver, not the actual loft or launch angle at impact. Due to his upward or positive attack angle on the golf ball (and some other factors), the effective loft of the driver becomes much higher. This gives him that high launch – low spin formula for distance that the top pros enjoy.
Bryson Dechambeau’s driver shaft length is 48 inches. You may recall he moved from 45.5″ to 48″ for the 2020 Masters. This gave him 4-5 more miles per hour of ball speed which increased his clubhead speed to about 144 mph. This translated into 20-25 more yards off the tee.
It’s easy to say his 48″ driver length experiment didn’t work with his 34th place finish at The Masters including a 7 on the par 5 13th hole on Thursday. However, he eagled that same hole on Sunday, narrowly missing a double eagle when the ball rolled back within inches of the cup. In the end, it just wasn’t the week for the 2020 U.S. Open champion to wear the green jacket. But he’ll have many more opportunities at the Masters for years to come.
Bryson Dechambeau is an interesting cat. As golf announcers mature (hopefully) they should start to see the genius of this guy and the way he sees the game, instead of their raised eyebrows and low brow comments. After all, single length golf clubs kind of make sense right?
As Bryson speeds up his pre-shot routine to address his slow play (to the pleasure of his playing partners), it will be exciting to watch how he progresses in his career in both stroke play and match play in 2022!