Posts Tagged ‘Rickie Fowler PGA Tour’

During the Christmas period I watched a documentary about the future of golf, which I found quite thought provoking.  The programme made some interesting points about the transition period golf is currently in.

As a professional golfer and coach I have naturally followed golf and enjoyed the golf game since I was a young boy, however in that relatively short time I have seen golf morph into something very different to what it once was.

My original drive to get into golf was stirred by an encounter with the fantastic Spaniard Seve Ballesteros, dark and brooding he had an electricity around him that made everyone stop and stare.  As a young man I looked at him in awe, ‘please may I have your autograph Mr Ballesteros’ I muttered as he strode towards the practice ground. He snatched my pen and paper, signed and thrust them back at me!  I’m not sure I made much of an impression on Seve but he certainly left his mark on me.

Seve’s great friend Bill Elliot sums it up perfectly in his article in the Guardian in 2009

He played golf like we all did, spraying the ball hither and thither, but, unlike us, he then recovered brilliantly. We loved him for his vulnerability. He brought a passion to golf that it never had before and has not enjoyed since. He made this stuffy old game seem sexy and exciting, so that men yearned to be him and women simply wanted to be with him.

Seve’s passion and magnetism certainly increased my involvement within the game, however it was still a game that was elusive and impenetrable to certain groups and individuals.  Golf found it hard to shift its stuffy, elitist reputation.

Golf really came into its own and shifted people’s perceptions as we launched headfirst into the eighties with its yuppie boom and capitalism.  People who had previously dismissed golf as an “old man’s game,” a time-wasting, anaerobic, non-athletic activity suddenly invaded the courses and ranges.

Suddenly golf clothing became de rigour, Ralph Lauren and other designers made a fortune capitalizing on the increased interest in golfing attire.  Golf became a status symbol. Golf started to provide a relaxing alternative to the stressful city jobs and money making schemes of the week.  It also began to take over as the place to make your business deals.

Women executives would routinely treat clients to golf outings, and several petitioned the courts when they were denied equal status and favorable tee times by male-dominated country clubs.

Golf was dominated at this time by Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Seve Ballesteros to name but a few, all the fabulous legends of the seventies and eighties who brought a finesse and gentlemanly elegance to the game. Only for the game to be completely turned on its head by one young man….

Then came the 1990’s the Tiger era, another huge influence on my golf career and probably every other golfer in the country!  Tiger became an overnight sensation, the youngest golfer to ever win a Masters championship leading to him reaching world number one in 1997 .  He became globally recognised and he became the face of many well-known brands such as Nike, Titleist, Amex, and Tag Heuer to name a few. Woods held the title of world’s number one for the best part of ten years, he also dominated the world of golf till around 2009 when personal issues and injury began to effect his ranking.

Now we come to a time were Tigers future in golf is uncertain, after many surgeries on his back there is no timescale for his return to golf.  However with golf going hand in hand with Tiger for so long and owing a lot to the athlete in terms of exposure to the wider public, many have doubted the future of the game.

I think that golf has pushed its way through and risen triumphantly into a new period where young, passionate, driven men like Speith, McIlroy, Fowler, and Day inspire and lead the new generation of golf. These players are all in their twenties and provide a new thrill to the game. No longer is there a predictability like in the Tiger era, where if Tiger entered a tournament the mind set was that all other competitors where playing for second place.  The game has just taken interesting to another level for me.  I also love to see such fabulous, goal focused young men who are great role models not only to the young hopefuls trying to make it in the game, but also young boys like my son who will grow up aspiring to be just like them.  

If you want more easy to understand and informative tips especially on hitting the ball further then “How to crush the ball 20 yards further” is available NOW in the kindle store to download.

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What you can learn from Rickie Fowler – The Swing that won the 2016 Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship

Rickie sets up to the ball in perfect posture, bent forward from the hips keeping his spine nice and straight and flexed at the knees. His arms are hanging freely down from his shoulders and away from his legs. Rickie’s set up is very athletic and dynamic and the other thing I really like here is how the clubhead is hovering just above the ground, this helps to reduce the tension in the hands, arms and shoulders which is key for longer distance. His body alignment is perfectly square with the feet, knees, hips, arms and shoulders all parallel to the target line.

As Rickie moves the club into the take away, notice how he does this in a one piece fashion, this is where the shoulders, arms, hands and club move away from the ball together. Hovering the club at the address promotes this and this really glues the rest of Rickie’s golf swing together. This is one thing that Rickie and his coach, Butch Harmon, have worked hard on. Rickie used to take the club away from the ball very closed and outside the target line and this forced Rickie to re route the club in the downswing which forced him to attack the ball too much from the inside causing a lot of inconsistency in his golf.

This is a perfect check point of the backswing – When the club reaches parallel to the ground it should also be parallel to the target line. Notice how the toe of the club points up towards the sky – this is a square clubface. Rickie’s old position when reaching this point would see the clubface in a very closed position with the clubface pointing more down towards the ground and the shaft of the club would be pointing left of target line.

Rickie shows a great example of an on plane golf swing. This is when on reaching the midway point of the backswing, the shaft of the club is pointing directly down at the target line.

At the top of the backswimg Rickie has fully turned his upper body over a very balanced and stable lower body. Notice how Rickie has let his right leg straighten a little which is perfectly fine as this allows the hips to rotate in the backswing which is so important as this works hand in hand with the upper body rotation. If you try to keep the right knee to flexed it will block your rotation in the backswing causing all kinds of inconsistencies.  Another thing I like about the top of Rickie’s backswing is how the clubface matches up to the left arm, this shows that the clubface is once again square to the arc of the swing.

Rickie starts his downswing perfectly with the weight transferring across from his right side to his left. This is achieved by the knees and hips moving across towards the target. Notice how Rickie keeps his back facing the target for as long as possible as this keeps the club moving down on plane.

Rickie is still unwinding from the ground up and is delaying the upper body from opening up to early. The swing is on plane, the shaft of the club once again points at the target line. This leads to a great swing path through the hitting zone and a lot of power.

The club is arcing in towards the golf ball really well, the body is still unwinding via the hips and legs and this chain reaction creates a lot of speed in the upper body which produces a ton of clubhead speed and therefore explosive distance.

Through impact Rickie’s arms are fully extended which releases the club in a free wheeling motion through the ball, this is something that should naturally happen. A lot of golfers I see collapse there arms through impact which robs them of clubhead speed and therefore distance.

Perfectly balanced in his finish position, this is a good trait among all the good players on tour these days and something that many amateurs could learn from.

If you want more easy to understand and informative tips especially on hitting the ball further then “How to crush the ball 20 yards further” is available NOW in the kindle store to download.

You can read the book on kindle by clicking >>>>HERE<<<<

You can also check out my Youtube Channel and subscribe for FREE by clicking >>>>HERE<<<<