Yes, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, but there’s no time for all that.
The first Happy Gilmore 2 trailer just dropped, and in it was a good look at the return of Happy Gilmore’s iconic golf swing. It means we’re officially in a breaking news situation in golf swing nerd world, so let’s get into it.
First, the trailer.
🚨🎬⛳️ #MERRY CHRISTMAS Golf Fans! — The trailer for Happy Gilmore 2 has arrived pic.twitter.com/ceSrp0Sgzt
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) December 25, 2024
Next, the golf swing.
Happy Gilmore, 2024 (58 years-old) vs. 1996 (30 years-old) pic.twitter.com/dxzCj5CrK4
— LKD (@LukeKerrDineen) December 26, 2024
Now, some instant analysis. I’ll keep it brief so my family doesn’t realize I’m writing this instead of partaking in Christmas Day festivities.
The camera angles aren’t great, but they’re workable.
The new swing (on the left) appeared in the trailer in slow motion and at an angle, so I had to adjust it to match the old swing (on the right), which was recorded in full speed and at a pretty ideal angle.
Happy’s also hitting a driver at the Waterbury Open in the old video, and an iron in the new one. Not ideal, but we’ll work with what we have.
Happy Gilmore came out in 1996, when lead actor Adam Sandler was 30 years old. The sequel will come out next year, when he’s pushing 60. I’m expecting those years to show up in his golf swing technique.
That said, his shoulder turn looks pretty similar to what it was back when Happy first stormed the golf scene.
One notable change, though, is the distance between Happy’s arms and the rest of his body.
Notice how young Happy’s arms are stretched far away from his body on the right, whereas older Happy’s arms are closer to his head, and a little bent?
Young Happy is creating a big stretch across his body for extra power, while older Happy has let his arms collapse slightly—a sign of a fake backswing turn, which is common in older golfers or golfers with limited mobility.
Also interesting that older Happy’s signature step into the ball has shortened a lot compared to young Happy. It’s more of a one-step now, whereas younger Happy had a full-on skip into the ball. Whether that’s because he’s hitting an iron in this clip compared to a full-rip drive, or because he’s incorporated more finesse into his game is unclear. Either way, the signature Happy step move is smaller.
If we draw a line through the Bruins logo on both of Happy’s upper and lower body, you’ll notice how young Happy’s upper body is tilted more away from the target compared with older Happy.
This is because younger Happy’s lower body has shifted further ahead than his upper body. This separation causes a gap between the two, called sway gap, which you can learn more about right here.
Older Happy’s upper and lower body are more in line, and moving together, and therefore have a smaller sway gap. This can often cause many golfers to get steep, and swing over the top. Not sure if that’s something Happy has been struggling with these days.
Notice how young Happy’s left leg is straighter, and his left heel is off the ground compared to older Happy’s left heel, which is planted.
Basically, young Happy’s bigger, earlier lower body shift means now he can push up off the ground aggressively. He’s creating tons of vertical force—which is a major power move.
30 years later, Happy probably can’t move as explosively as that anymore, so now he relies on a bigger, longer, lateral slide for his power.
You can see the full effect of that when you compare his new and old finish positions.
Notice how older Happy’s back foot has slid all the way towards his right, and he’s fully posted onto his left side. That’s a sign of all the side-to-side movement that took place.
Younger Happy, meanwhile, has braced with his left leg, and rather than sliding his right foot along the ground, his right toes are still supporting some of his weight.
As for what conclusions we can draw from this?
Tough. It looks like Happy still has lots of power—but not as much as he used to. I also suspect he’s become a better iron player in the past. Overall, it’s still a very athletic move for a 60-year-old. Whether it’s good enough for another gold jacket remains to be seen.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
