Two golf legends both trusted this same unusual swing move

My ears always perk up when I hear legends of the game talk about their golf swing—especially when one of the legends won more majors than anybody else in history, and the other is considered one of the best ball strikers ever.

The players we're talking about are Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino, and what's interesting is how both of these players gravitated towards an unusual swing tip. They worked on it with their own swings. And they recommended it to others, too.

Here's what it is, and why each of them liked it.

You've no doubt heard about the importance of avoiding an inside takeaway, but Nicklaus and Trevino went a step further. They didn't just want you to avoid an inside takeaway: They wanted you to try to take the club away more on the outside on the takeaway.

Nicklaus said exactly that in this 1963 edition of Golf Digest:

"I try to take the club back along the initial line of flight for as long as the turning of my hips and shoulders will allow...in fact, I normally would prefer to take the club back outside the initial line of flight."

Trevino said something similar throughout his career, including in this 1992 edition of Golf Digest.

But they both had slightly different reasons for recommending it.

Leonard Kamsler/Popperfoto

Nicklaus' theory was that extending the club back down the target line—and slightly outside—helps create a longer swing arc. It builds a big stretch in your upper body, which helps golfers create more power.

"I do not try to take the club back inside the [target] line because I feel that this restricts a long swing arc which is so vital in producing clubhead speed...I want to delay breaking, or cocking, my wrists as long as possible. Sometimes the clubhead is 4 to 5 feet away from the ball before there is any noticeable movement."

Trevino's theory was that taking the clubhead away on the outside on the backswing encourages you to loop the club back to the inside on the downswing. He called this a figure eight golf swing; when you don't take the club away on the outside on the way back, it'll go inside—then come outside on the downswing. That's the opposite of what golfers want.

"The best mental image to produce a draw is thinking of the swing as a figure 8, I've used this image throughout my career. The swing of most slicers resembles a figure 8, but they run the race backward."