Top golf coach of the month reveals the secret behind Tommy Fleetwood’s swing
Tommy Fleetwood sits well within the top 10 players in the world for his close game.
In recent months he has won a tour championship, starred in the Ryder Cup victory in Bethepage and now he is all over the world.
For all its qualities his throwing and bowling is perhaps one thing many pros would like to be able to emulate.
PGA Professional Barney Putick belts out what draws the Englishman to his peers.
Background
Over the years when Tommy fought his game, he produced many hook shots and held them behind him, and returned to his old coach Alan Thompson. And they hit a certain shot, they call it windmill driving, where they just go in the middle of the swing and reinvent the plane.
Swiping
It’s a fun golf swing. It looks like you just got off one of those spinning wheels. It’s a simple thing that looks for movement. Usually it looks like he’s just hitting a 50-foot pitch because it’s just a shoulder thing on the top of the high swing and he’s straight and he just hit a 7-footer that’s 180 feet.
So there is very little because it is not going well and now it is very slow on the plane. Obviously, it should be a little deeper because when you stand behind it, there is a moment of drawing.
If there is a PIN cut on the right then it may not be in his top-10 things to do but, if you hit it like a radar, who needs to shape it?
Why does it work?
Because you decide the sequence, it is very easy to see the path to the goal and everything looks very simple. The sound it makes is also amazing and that’s just coming from a strong Boy.
By throwing the club down you are making the club closer to you and therefore increasing your control. Any time you make a change it also increases your awareness. I often recommend to players to practice swing-hand-hand swing for those reasons, to give them a different experience.
How can we try this?
If you’re going to try to pull the club down, start with shorter irons. Starting with a small stroke will help you get a feel for the improved stroke. Don’t go too far down, I’ve seen players have visible club butt and that will affect the weight of the club.
So grip the club by an inch and get used to the feel of that swing. As golfers we hit so many shots from the same position and, as soon as you change it, your brain comes back differently and it lifts your senses.
You can imagine that Tommy was hitting these guns and he actually chose the feel and it’s something you can definitely test at the range.
You should never be afraid to try things out to start with those half-hits and get a better feel for hitting the ball.
About Barney Puttick
Barney turned professional in 1979 and worked under Ian Connelly who was widely regarded as Sir Nick Faldo’s original trainer.
He was once tied for third with Greg Norman in the 36-hole race at Cannes, behind Corey Pavin. He has been based at Mid Herts GC since 2000 and is the leading golf coach of the month.
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