David Puig: When Swing Mechanics Don’t Match the Screen

David Puig: When Swing Mechanics Don’t Match the Screen In modern golf performance, there’s a growing reliance on physical screening to guide training and rehabilitation. While this is valuable, it can also lead to false conclusions when we don’t properly connect the screen to the player’s swing.
A great example is David Puig, who, with the help of a golf fitness trainer, has refined his strength training and mobility exercises. By integrating a virtual personal trainer and a customized fitness program, Puig ensures his performance stays balanced, supporting his long-term success.

The Swing Match-Up

Puig pairs a strong grip with a noticeable right-side spine bend at address. On a basic physical screen, that amount of side bend might raise red flags suggesting stiffness, posture problems, or even a potential back issue, especially when assessed without proper golf physiotherapy context.
But in reality, this movement is functional and intentional, often supported by targeted mobility exercises.
The strong grip tends to close the clubface. To counter this, Puig uses right-side bend to:

• Keep the clubface from shutting too early
• Maintain space through impact

It’s a match-up, not a fault.

Where Screening Can Mislead

If you assessed Puig purely on a physical screen, you might conclude:

• Limited thoracic mobility
• Over-reliance on lumbar extension/side bend
• Increased injury risk

And you might be tempted to “correct” it.
But this is where context matters.
That side bend isn’t necessarily a problem—it’s part of a coordinated strategy that allows him to perform at a high level.

The Key Lesson for Coaches and Clinicians

Physical assessments should never exist in isolation.
Instead, we need to ask

• I How does this body move within the player’s swing?
• Is this a limitation—or a solution?
• If I change this physically, what happens to performance?

Without this connection, we risk:

• Creating new performance problems
• Removing effective compensations
• Misdiagnosing normal adaptations as dysfunction

Bridging the Gap

The goal isn’t just to screen—it’s to integrate. When physical profiling is aligned with swing mechanics:

• Interventions become more precise
• Training supports, rather than disrupts, performance
• Players maintain their natural match-ups while reducing injury risk

Final Thought

David Puig’s swing is a reminder that not all “red flags” are problems.
Sometimes, they’re exactly what allows the athlete to perform.
And unless we understand the relationship between body and technique, we risk solving the wrong problem altogether.