Mickey Wright 1935-2020 (Videos)

Another legend is gone. Mickey Wright, whom Ben Hogan once said had the most perfect golf swing he had ever seen, died at the age of 85. She holds a huge number of records in the game and did a tremendous amount to grow the game, which you can read about elsewhere. I thought it might be nice to remember her by remembering her as a teacher. Here are a couple of Mickey Wright's thoughts on the game.



This little video lets us hear how Mickey described her own concept of her swing:



And Luke Kerr-Dineen posted an article at the golf.com site with what in 1964 Mickey told Gene Sarazen was the best advice she could give on how to get more yardage off the tee. It's in this clip, starting right around the 3:30 mark.



As Kerr-Dineen writes:

Asked by host Gene Sarazen how to groove a more powerful golf swing, Wright shared one of her favorite drills.

It’s pretty simple: She places a tee about 12 inches behind her golf ball down the “intended line of flight,” or the target line.

Her goal is to simply make sure she knocks the tee away on her takeaway. In Mickey’s own words:

Knock the tee down; it will ensure I am keeping the clubhead long, low, and wide away from the ball. With this wide start, you’re automatically ensured you’ll make the biggest arc possible to the golf swing.

That's elegant and accessible to all, just like Mickey Wright was. We'll miss her. My prayers go out to her family and friends.