After his recent victory at the British Masters at Woburn Golf Club, Matt Fitzpatrick is beginning to show the talent that led him to victory in the US Amateur Championship. At 5ft 9 and only 65kg, most would assume that he would struggle for power and distance, however as he averages 287 yards from the tee, it would be hard to define him as short by any means.
SET UP
As we look at Matt’s address position we will see a generally textbook set up. The golf ball is forward in his stance, his spine is angled backwards away from the golf ball and his hands are positioned in line with the golf ball. One thing that does stand out however is his grip, and in particular his left hand. You will notice as you look at his left hand we can see a significant amount of the logo on the back of his glove. This would be known as a “strong grip” and is commonly associated with someone who would draw the golf ball.
THE FIRST MOVE
As with his address position everything in the take away looks relatively normal with the exception of the grip. Matt stretches his arms away from his body to create an exceptionally wide swing arc with the club head. His shoulders are the driving force behind the club moving away from the ball, however again if you take a look at his left hand it is in an unusual position, pointing skyward. Despite this Matt has actually managed to keep the club face in a relatively neutral position as you look at the club from a down the line position.
HALFWAY BACK
As Matt approaches the top of the backswing you will notice his lower body has remained quite stable, and his arms have maintained a wide arc with throughout. As you look at his left wrist it has reached quite a “cupped” position, yet if we take a look at the clubface it is actually in a closed position. This is a very unusual combination of factors as traditionally we would associate a “bowed wrist” position with a shut club face and a “cupped wrist” position with a more open club face.
TOP OF THE BACKSWING
Matts flexibility really comes to light at the top of the backswing. The club has passed parallel without any real lateral movement of the lower body. Allowing the upper body to coil without the lower body moving too much will allow Matt to create a significant amount of speed from his very slight frame. Yet again we see that unusual combination of a cupped left wrist with a shut clubface, alongside a very narrow angle created between his left arm and the club shaft.
THE DOWNSWING
Matt’s downswing sequence starts with an efficient “bump” of hips towards the target. As you will see from the image below his hips have moved towards the target, yet his upper body remains behind the ball. You will also notice that Matt creates an exceptional amount of lag in the downswing, as we can see from the narrow angle between his left arm and the club. This will help Matt hold the club face open and reduce his chances of missing to the left of target.
IMPACT
Matt’s impact with the driver is most certainly an unusual on compared to most players, particularly drawers of the golf ball. With most players you will see them release the club head, or allow it to catch up with the hands. In Matt’s case you will see he really holds the hands forward of the club head in an effort to not allow the clubface close too much. If he were to release it in the way someone like Rory McIlroy does, he may see the left side of the golf course quite often.
RELEASE
After the ball has left the club face you will see Matt is forced to release the golf club, pointing the face at the crowd behind him. One of the key aspects to Matt’s swing is not allowing this to happen too early as we mentioned before. Matt needs to keep the hands forward of the club head until after the golf ball has left the clubface.
THE FINISH
Simple, balanced and poised at the finish. For one of the smaller stature players on tour Matt does very well to create the distance that he does. Despite some unusual characteristics in his swing, he combines them well to produce and efficient and effective golf swing.
