Without question Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood are two of the world’s best when it comes to hitting a golf ball. In this article I’ve put together a swing drill from each of them. Both swing drills give you a great insight into the modern golf swing.

Justin Rose’s swing drill

The following is a great video of Justin explaining how he works and thinks about his golf swing. Below we’ll take a deeper look into what is actually going on.

Swing drill and body rotation

A key component of the modern golf swing is using the big muscle for rotating through impact. Many discussions focus on how the modern swing is important for generating power, which is true, however there is a deeper and more useful component for us all to learn.

This modern approach produces a more consistent way to square up the club face and hit more accurate shots. Justin Rose talks about letting his arms fall down, and keeping his back to the target. This ‘saves’ his rotation, and allows him to unwind through the hitting area.

However, he also pre-sets the club in a great position a long time before impact. Check out his flat left wrist position as he pauses half-way down. This position ensures the club face is already square for impact. He also says he ‘allows the club to fall’, but in reality he is guiding the club onto a very neutral swing path.

If he gets the club into this position all he has to do is rotate his body hard in to impact and hey-presto! He has a perfectly square impact. The fiddly stuff (club face adjustments) are done long before impact.

What to take from this swing drill

There are two key take-aways from this swing drill. Firstly, aim to set your club face a long way before impact, and keep it stable through impact. A great golf grip and your left wrist position are key here.

Golf Insider geek: there is no perfect left wrist position. It depends on how strong or weak your golf grip is, and your desired ball flight (draw/fade/straight). The stronger your grip (left and right hands) and the more flexed (bowed) your left wrist position, the more closed the club face will become.

Many slicers try to flip their hands over through impact – this is an extremely tough way to play the game. Take note of how Justin pre-sets his club face (I know he doesn’t mention this point, he has probably implicitly done it all of his life).

Many hookers allow their club face to whip over through impact. Justin’s great body rotation is the key for you. If you do struggle with a hook, try feeling that your body does all the work and your hands and arms are along for the ride as you move through impact (we’ll discuss hands and arms in more detail when we get to Tommy’s swing drill below).

The second point to take away is the difference between feelings, drills and actual swings. Justin says that the first part of his swing is all about letting his arms fall. However, during this motion he has a great lower body squat and drive (watch the drill rehearsal and swing at the end. He has to feel that all he does is let his arms fall, but in reality he is getting the perfect blend of the two movements.

Having a swing drill that exaggerates the move that you commonly lack is a great way to embed the action into your actual golf swing.

Tommy Fleetwood’s swing drill

Below is Tommy Fleetwood’s golf swing, drill and comments on his golf swing. Swipe right for the golf swing drill. I’d like to give a quick shout out to Scotty Howarth who re-posted it. Check out his instagram for more.

Tommy Fleetwood’s golf swing drill and swing philosophy

Tommy’s golf swing drill

For elite players most of the variability in shot accuracy comes from their club face angle at impact. Squaring up the club face requires great timing, even for great players.

Tommy’s approach is very similar to Justin’s. You can see he too sets the club in a position pre-impact where he can consistently square up the club face. To do this he uses a different approach. His swing drill pre-sets this position using half-swings and a training aid. From here, he rotates through with his body and keeps his hands very passive.

What Tommy’s swing drill and comments give you is more of a focus on the hands, arms and what he is trying to do post-impact. His swing drill focuses on his forearms doing very little rotation through and post-impact.

Golf Insider tip – remember, this would be a terrible idea if you haven’t created a great pre-impact club face position.

He focuses on stopping his forearms rotating through impact to prevent the club face turning over and sending the ball left.

Similar to Justin’s downswing, this process minimises the timing needed to square up the club face and increases his chances of hitting great golf shots. If his club face is still pointing square to the target 6 inches after impact, it’s highly unlikely to ever be pointing left at impact.

What to take from this swing drill

Most amateurs try to control their club face through impact by actively manipulating what their club face does. Yet again, Tommy shows how elite pros focus on the opposite. Less hand and arm movement through impact reduces club face variability and will make you a far more consistent player.

The second video (click right) on the instagram post shows Tommy practicing his body rotation and club face control. Many golfers associate more active hands with hitting the ball harder. Great players achieve their club head speed by speeding up their upper body rotation during their downswing (roughly from when the left arm reaches parallel to the ground).

In the golf swing drill above, Tommy takes a 7-Iron and only tries to hit the ball 100 yards (60% of his full distance). He aims to generate all of the distance with his body rotation, and practices at a speed where he can minimise the use of his wrists and forearms through impact.

This is a great way to master the relationship between your body rotation and club face control. Start at 30 or 40% of your full shot distance, once you can make good swings 80% of the time at that distance, pick a target just slightly further away and repeat the process.

As you slowly work your way up to a full swing, try to maintain this same relationship between your body rotation and club face control through impact. You will find a distance where things start to break down. Take time to practice around this distance before you move on.

Swing drill summary

I would love to say that we can all learn to hit the ball like Mr Rose and Mr Fleetwood. Unfortunately, we’ve not quite put the same time in on the practice ground and in the gym. However, pre-setting the club face into a great impact position and creating a better body rotation through impact are points golfers of all levels can benefit from.

I hope you’ve found this an interesting read. If you have, leave a comment or please share using one of the social buttons. If you’d like to receive more articles like this one, sign up for the GolfInsider weekly post. Posts are sent out every Monday and it’s free.

Happy golfing – Will @ GolfInsider.

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