Tommy Fleetwood is quickly establishing himself as one of golf’s elite players. The 28-year-old Englishman ranked 14th in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green last season — as good an indicator of ballstriking ability as any, both from long and short range. Speaking of the latter, feast your eyes on Tommy’s wedge techniques shown below. This, folks, is as good as a high-lofted shot gets.
Check out Tommy’s right shoulder — it’s moving down toward the ball. This all but assures crisp wedge or short-iron contact. Some players get their right shoulders trapped behind them on the downswing. Not good. Keep turning your torso and you’ll be money.
Great short-iron and wedge players control spin and trajectory by “holding off” the handle of the club near impact. Think of it as a reverse release—to the right—that helps keep the club face from excessively closing. Look at the logo on Tommy’s glove—it’s on top, slowing the roll of the hands and the face.
A shaft that’s overly tilted forward at impact will have too much of a downward attack angle, making it hard to control spin. Tommy does a great job of smoothing out his attack angle. His secret? Timing his swing so that the shaft, clubhead and his hands all line up just after impact.
Watching any golfer’s right foot provides clues as to what the rest of his lower body is doing. Here, you can see Tommy’s right knee and foot working toward the the target, evidence that his right hip is rotating internally (toward his body’s midline). Both moves help you square up for shots that never leave the pin.
