To pause or not to pause – that is the question.
Cameron Young’s idiosyncratic swing with its pause at the top has drawn its share of supporters and haters.
It started as a drill that he and his father and swing coach, David, would do on the driving range. The purpose? To eliminate any re-routing or sideways movement of the club in transition. Through the years, it has become more pronounced and noticeably longer than it was during his college years at Wake Forest University.
Jun 4, 2026; Dublin, Ohio, USA; Cameron Young takes a practice swing on the first tee during the first round of the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images
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“It’s not a pause,” wrote golf instructor Jim LaBuda on Facebook. “It’s control. What looks like a pause is actually perfect timing: The backswing fully completes, the lower body is already starting to shift, the upper body stays patient for a split second. That tiny separation is everything. It creates sequence. It creates space. It creates effortless speed. Most amateurs rush from the top and throw everything at the ball at once. Cameron Young does the opposite — he lets the swing transition before he fires.”
Cameron Young of the United States tees off on the 11th hole on day four of the The 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale on July 19, 2026 in Southport, England.
Young, 29, is enjoying a breakout season, including a win at the Players Championship in March, and has vaulted to third in the world.
His fundamentals are solid but not everyone agrees that his hesitation at the top of the swing is something to copy. He makes it work but in the history of the game, only a handful of players have been able to pull off that move – among them Cary Middlecoff, the winningest player on Tour in the 1950s, Nancy Lopez, who dominated the LPGA for much of the 1970s and ’80s, and more recently Hideki Matsuyama, the 2021 Masters champion.
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Legendary pro Tommy Armour devoted a chapter in his 1954 instruction book entitled “How to Play Your Best Golf All the Time,” to making a hesitation at the top of the backswing to stop from rushing, improve transition sequencing and gain control of the club before starting the downswing.
But some teachers advocate no transition. Golf’s most repeatable swings from Calvin Peete to Lee Trevino to Ben Hogan don’t have a top because the lower body is going forward first before the club gets to the top.
But there’s no arguing that Young is swinging his swing and he’s been able to make his distinctive pause work.
Adam Schupak is a senior writer for Golfweek, covering the PGA Tour.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Is Cameron Young’s swing pause a flaw or a secret to his success?
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