Rickie Fowler's Swing...

[RC]

I like his take-away very much... he maintains the club position very well. No drop under and trapped postition to correct to start the downswing. His hands do not move poorly at all. He can just fire away and is in position to use all his power. With this type of swing, the harder he goes for it the better.

[golfro]

I like his take-away very much... he maintains the club position very well. No drop under and trapped postition to correct to start the downswing. His hands do not move poorly at all. He can just fire away and is in position to use all his power. With this type of swing, the harder he goes for it the better.

his backswing is definitely not conventional by any means. his club is way outside his hands so he has to loop it back in on the downswing which for most amateurs could mean disaster. Fortunately for Fowler, works very well for him :)

[motteler621]

I like his take-away very much... he maintains the club position very well. No drop under and trapped postition to correct to start the downswing. His hands do not move poorly at all. He can just fire away and is in position to use all his power. With this type of swing, the harder he goes for it the better.

he doesnt maintain the club position at all. He cocks the clubhead way above plane on the backswing.

[Borf]

Rickie Fowler's Swing = Pure Perfection.

[golfro]

maybe some of you guys are seeing a complete different swing than i am...

[wrx_junki]

I'm amazed at how he can swing and time everything so well but I guess that's why he's a pro. I haven't watched that much of him and was wondering how he does on the day when he's a bit "off". Can't imagine that being a good sight.

Until what age do you think he can continue to swing like that? His mid back area at the top of the swing is just nuts!

[RC]

He starts with his hands below his head to clubhead plane, keeps his club in that position on the way back, which gives him lots of room to turn back to the ball. He creates amazing extension. It is not the old style low and inside plane circle takeaway, but it is a modern swing style seen more often today because it allows tremendous shoulder turn and additional lag (because of the extension, then loading to start the downswing) without overly crossing the line at the top or going way past parallel. He just lets the club drop as his right hand cocks backward. The club stays in front of his upper body pretty well. It requires a very strong move left and powerful lower body driven downswing, but almost no timing issues with his upper body, just swing hard and the club will be in a good position at impact. It is a power swing for sure. Not everyone can do it, but a lot of the bombers today use variations of this swing. Fowler is not the first to swing this way -- it has been around for a few years.

[motteler621]

He starts with his hands below his head to clubhead plane, keeps his club in that position on the way back, which gives him lots of room to turn back to the ball. He creates amazing extension. It is not the old style low and inside plane circle takeaway, but it is a modern swing style seen more often today because it allows tremendous shoulder turn and additional lag (because of the extension, then loading to start the downswing) without overly crossing the line at the top or going way past parallel. He just lets the club drop as his right hand cocks backward. The club stays in front of his upper body pretty well. It requires a very strong move left and powerful lower body driven downswing, but almost no timing issues with his upper body, just swing hard and the club will be in a good position at impact. It is a power swing for sure. Not everyone can do it, but a lot of the bombers today use variations of this swing. Fowler is not the first to swing this way -- it has been around for a few years.

so uhh, do you stil think he keeps it on plane on the way back? I think you are doing your analysis with the naked eye, hence why video is so important.

[RC]

You did not read my words carefully... I said "head to clubhead plane," not shaft plane and how simple his hands remain -- in the same relative position to this line. Notice, his hands have moved inside and actually so has the club (the angle is not the best to see this.) However the major move is linear extension combined with a shoulder turn that is already pretty good before the club gets waist high. This is a relatively recent concept the way some are doing it. Nicklaus used a different way to get his loading at the top, a low club, straighter arms and hands (i.e. the low takeaway approach, but it still looked more "outside.") Tiger was a bit like Fowler early on, and was miss understood for it. But Tiger went on up to the top in a higher, more classical position, which seems like extra moving around to me. Then he changed his planes with Haney. Fowler's hands stay in the same relationship to his chest and club for a long time, so his turn is overwhelmingly in the shoulders. The plane you drew is the hands to clubhead, and that one changes a lot in Fowler's swing, as it does in most swings, occasionally mapping onto a parallel plane to the address plane. But that plane is not the strongest plane in a golf swing. I have no qualms about the misunderstanding -- no harm, no foul. We are talking about different things for different swings. Few will agree with what I think is a very efficient and solid swing. But I fully agree there are more than one way to swing well.

p.s. I've seen and analyzed more video than I care to remember by the way.

[motteler621]

You did not read my words carefully... I said "head to clubhead plane," not shaft plane and how simple his hands remain. This is a relatively recent concept the way some are doing it. Nicklaus used a different way to get his loading at the top, a low club, straighter arms and hands (i.e. the low takeaway approach, but it still looked more "outside.") Tiger was a bit like Fowler early on, and was miss understood for it. But Tiger went on up to the top in a higher, more classical position, which seems like extra moving around to me. Then he changed his planes with Haney. Fowler's hands stay in the same relationship to his chest and club for a long time, so his turn is overwhelmingly in the shoulders. The plane you drew is the hands to clubhead, and that one changes a lot in Fowler's swing, as it does in most swings, but that plane is not the strongest plane in a golf swing. I have no qualms about the misunderstanding -- no harm, no foul. Few will agree with what I think is a very efficient and solid swing. But I fully agree there are more than one ways to swing well.

yea I think I know what you are talking about. Are you saying his hands dont bend from side to side but only up (like a henge), on the takeaway. If so, yea I agree he does that pretty well; causes you to only use shoulder turn. Thats part of the stack n tilt swing model from what Ive learned, Charlie wi does it really well too.

[Stretch]

With the driver, at least, Graeme McDowell seems kinda like the schlubbier dude's Ricky Fowler.

[jamo]

so uhh, do you stil think he keeps it on plane on the way back? I think you are doing your analysis with the naked eye, hence why video is so important.

His clubhead is above plane but his hands are pretty much dead on it.

[motteler621]

His clubhead is above plan but his hands are pretty much dead on it.

yea thats true. Cocking the club up that much would feel soo uncomfortable for me tho, i just dont see the point of it. I would probably hook the ball so bad on the downswing

[LongballGer]

Swing is full of compensations.

Doesn´t mean he won´t have a good career though. Nicklause´s swing was also full of compensations and he did alright...

[RC]

Motteler621 -- you got it as I meant it. Yes, compared to the first mostly rotational swing, lower club pattern emerging out of the 80s into the 90s, the swing started looking much less classical. Today, Fowler and others who do the swing in the Fowler's video look "different" yet again. You sort of have to do a double take when you see a swing like that, but it works for (some of) those who use it. It does not hurt to be young and flexible, and very fit. I tried to swing and play that way myself for a few years, but as age keeps moving forward, I am no longer able to do it and the yards of distance I have lost are proof. Now I just try to get the weight shift and turn going in balance. Please remember, I make no special claim of golf swing knowledge, but have been around a long time observing fine golf swings. So much has evolved. The way I was first taught to hit a golf ball would make all of you laugh today.

Just as a side bar, one of the reasons I like SnT is most everything is very well defined and expressed, where many other ways to hit the golf ball are not nearly as easily discussed (at least for me.) The inside hands Fowler uses are in harmony with SnT, even it other things are different. It is as if many very good elements of the golf swing are compacted into a single method by Plummer and Bennett. So while I might see three or four very different swings that hit good shots, there are some key things you can find in common regardless of the swing type. I was going to say, this is not rocket science, but upon reflection, the golf swing might be just as complex.

[alo1984]

There are players irons and then there are players swings. Fowler has a "players swing" meaning it is not for everybody. There are certain things that he does incredibly well and anyone would do well to repeat them. Then there are things he does that I don't think anyone should try. A swing like that will surely be difficult to maintain as he gets past 35 or so. I really like watching the guy and hope he has a long and prosperous career but I have my concerns about the way he swings the club. Freddie Couples has a much more relaxed and easy swing, yet he has been plagued by back injuries his entire career. I firmly believe Freddie would be near the top of the all time greats list if not for his back problems. I hope it doesn't turn out that way for Rickie.

[jamo]

Freddie Couples has a much more relaxed and easy swing, yet he has been plagued by back injuries his entire career. I firmly believe Freddie would be near the top of the all time greats list if not for his back problems. I hope it doesn't turn out that way for Rickie.

If you look at Freddie's swing in slo-mo it's actually not all that pretty.

[alo1984]

If you look at Freddie's swing in slo-mo it's actually not all that pretty.

Do you have any interest in rescinding that last comment?