For anyone that has done some internet research on the golf swing, eventually they will run into MORAD. MORAD is an acronym that stands for Mankinds Objective Research and Development. I won’t go into who Mac O’Grady is and what MORAD is in this post. I may cover that in another post but I’m not sure I could accurately describe it. Usually when reading posts or forum threads about MORAD, people will run into a conversation where people are talking about P6 or P5 or something like that. What does that mean? It used to bug me until I learned what they meant.
To the left is a little sheet explaining what the P’s are. Basically, they describe positions in the golf swing that every golf swing has regardless of method or technique. P4 (club shaft parallel to ground) can also be considered the top of the back swing and P10 can be considered the finished position. You can see that they deal with the entire swing from address to the finish.
So, why did Mac come up with these 10 positions? It is simply the easiest way to compare images of golfers from any era regardless of style. Here’s an example of a P5 comparison:
What does this comparison show us? Clearly we can see 4 professionals bringing the club down on 4 different planes. This position process makes this comparison quick and easy to do. In a perfect world, matching camera angles provide the best comparison but it allows a teacher to compare all the greatest swings of all time and catalog those with similar looks at specific places.
They can also be used to show a student changes made during a lesson or over time. Here’s an example:
This P6 comparison from face on gives the student a chance to see changes made and a picture on the right of a P6 position they are working toward.
I hope this helps clear up any confusion about MORAD’s 10 P’s.
Please leave any comments or questions below.
JG




