Fort Worth, Texas.
Jordan Spieth … The Golfer Everyone Wants To See Succeed. Special Report By Kiran Kanwar.
Double Major winning Jordan Spieth is undoubtedly the most popular golfer where the gallery is concerned.
Especially during any event being played on his home turf in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex area of Texas.
He is literally omnipresent during the ATT Byron Nelson, where AT&T has posted Jordan autograph zone stands everywhere and has volunteers handing out Jordan “paddles” to everyone. It is no wonder then that the young man is literally feeding off the adulation to play some magnificent golf.
His modus operandi this week is obviously – easy, safe, center-of-fairway tee shots, whether with driver or a lesser club. Then, somehow make some part of the green with each approach shot (16 and 17 greens made over the first two days). Finally, drain every putt from 50 feet in! In fact, his frustration when a 30 foot downhill, sidehill putt did not go in on the 13th hole of day 2 was palpable.
Is this the trend of the future? Relying on the long putts going in all the time?
What happens on days when a golfer is not able to make all the putts he expects to, especially what most people consider to be highly tricky putts?
The difference between a miss and a make can often literally be a single blade of grass, after all. Is there any way in which a leading professional golfer’s team can make the golfer’s job easier? Perhaps using the 21st Century’s leading tool – better science? Speith is known for having an entire team behind his many successes. A swing coach, a chiropractor, a fitness coach and a very smart caddie, and perhaps more.
Naturally the workings of this particular team is unknown. How a meeting of the think-tank of such a leading player could go if they did indeed use all the scientific inputs possible might go thus:
Chiropractor or physical therapist: The results from his assessment show that his left shoulder is slightly higher than his right, and the forearms pronated. His shoulder blades wing (stick out at the back) slightly and the right scapula is lower than the left.
Will any of this affect his swing? Is it important to take any corrective measures, if so which ones?
Swing expert: At address his trunk is rotated slightly open to the target line, so that his entire right shoulder is extremely rounded or stretched posteriorly, and given the anatomical issues, his backswing puts his shoulder into internal rotation (basically preventing the right shoulder from being able to relax and release the club into the ground at the right moment).
So, his shoulder position at address must change if the chiropractor and fitness expert between then cannot work out the shoulder problems.
Fitness coach: What exactly is the problem at impact with an internally rotated trail shoulder?
Swing expert: Well, the club must arrive from the inside and connect the ball on its inside right quadrant for good impact. If the shoulder is elevated or tight or internally rotated, the golfer’s body must make some downswing compensations to prevent an over the top hit.
Psychologist: even though we give him tips to stay calm and relaxed and in-the-moment, if he gets stressed and frustrated, say from missed greens or putts, his fight-or-flight hormones will be produced in higher quantities so that his muscles will contract faster and more forcefully. This will prevent the correct downswing sequencing he seems to rely on.
Fitness coach: should we be working on any specific body areas based on his swing problems?
Swing (and sports science) expert: This is what our action plan will be: Chiropractic adjustment to reposition any misalignment of spine and shoulder. Massage therapy to relax tight muscles which will pull the area back into its awkward subluxation. Then some exercises to strengthen the upper back muscles and stretch the tight chest muscles. I will work on the set-up to aid some more external shoulder rotation.
Also, we should really have him spend much more time on his biggest strength – putting. Some pre-game mental preparation will be useful.
Finally, the caddie will make sure our player verbalizes his thought process after every shot – what the pre-shot routine is, what the swing thoughts are. This helps with the tactical aspect of the game. Then our player will be able to hit the ball more consistently and be able to rely on shots ending up closer to the hole, and thus there will be less pressure on him to hole all those long putts.
Kiran Kanwar,
Developer of The Minimalist Golf Swing System -100% scientific, simple and specific
BS (physics, math); MS (sports science, nutrition); PhD (biomechanics – student)
Class A Member: the LPGA, The PGA (GB&I), The NGA of India, The PGA of India
