Patrick Reed’s swing is more of a throwback to a different era as he has more hand action through the ball than a lot of his peers. He generally has quite an idiosyncratic move with his feet with the driver but that is less apparent here with the iron and he is quite stable with his leg action.
What is noticeable is that he has his hands high in the backswing and he creates a lot of down cock so he gets a lot of angle between his left arm and the shaft, this is a great way to change the trajectory around. The body might not be working as actively as he uses the hands more to square the club up and that can cause more misses with the long game.
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Reed is quite rhythm based work but he can shape the ball and very his trajectory with ease and, when he’s on, he’s spectacularly good. When he won The Masters he looked most impressive when he played the three-quarter hold-off shot and his control of the flight and distance was incredible.
What to practise: Reed was 163rd for Greens In Regulation last year on the PGA Tour and he’s never actually finished inside the top 100 for this category. But we haven’t seen him change his swing too much and there’s a great lesson to be had here – he does what works for him. He’s not a bomber or a great iron player but he has a great short game and he putts great. So swing changes aren’t always the way forward, playing to your strengths can be a fantastic asset.
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Dan Whittaker is an elite golf swing and performance coach based at High Legh. For more information, visit his website
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