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Driving With Power – Rickie Fowler Golf Swing Analysis

Rickie Fowler was born December 13th, 1988. Before turning pro he was ranked as the number one amateur golfer for 36 weeks in 2007 and 2008.

He won his first PGA Tour Tournament in 2012 defeating Rory McIlroy in a sudden-death playoff at the Wells Fargo Championship.

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Rickie is known for his very big shoulder turn and unconventional takeaway.

Let’s take a closer look.

Address Position and Takeaway

Rickie Fowler adressing the ball.
Rickie Fowler adressing the ball.
Rickie Fowler performing his takeaway.
Rickie Fowler performing his takeaway.

[clearboth] At setup you notice that he has some of his weight on the balls of his feet.

He changes that throughout his swing and keeps his balance. Otherwise his setup is pretty textbook.

In this video he’s hitting his driver and is standing fairly wide with the ball forward near the instep of his left foot.

He’s tilted slightly away from the ball to promote an upward launch angle.

Take a look at the shaft and how it’s leaning away from the ball.

His takeaway is quite unusual as he keeps the clubhead pointing at the ball for a long time, kind of like Jim Furyk.

He takes the golf instruction note to keep the clubhead in front of the hands to an extreme.

This leads to a very steep backswing as he’s going back.

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Backswing

Rickie Fowler at the top of his backswing position.
Rickie Fowler at the top of his backswing position.

[clearboth] On his backswing he really pushes his left shoulder around and uses almost no forearm rotation.

His right arm is way above his left.

The club gets into an almost vertical position.

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On the backswing he does a very quick left arm rotation which leads to the very laid off effect that’s kind of Ben Hoganesque.

Basically he’s swinging his arms deep around his body which forces him to whip the club around on his way down.

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Downswing and Impact

Rickie Fowler on his way towards impact.
Rickie Fowler on his way towards impact.

[clearboth] On the downswing he manages to get the club on plane and in a good position by pulling hard with his left side.

He also has a really hard release with his right arm to get the clubface square at impact.

If he wouldn’t do that he would hit a lot more blocked shots to the right because he’s coming so far from the inside.

At impact you can see how his front foot is moving. He’s one of the long hitters and is obviously trading some control for more power.

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Finish and Conclusion

Rickie Fowler at impact.
Rickie Fowler at impact.
Rickie Fowler in his finish position.
Rickie Fowler in his finish position.

[clearboth] On the way to his finish position he lets all his weight and power travel to his front foot and around his body finishing his swing in a balanced position despite all the forces pulling on his body.

His backfoot is almost completely in the air with no weight on it.

Here are some key points to take away from Rickie Fowlers swing:

  • It’s all about the impact. If you can get into a great impact position consistently you’ve found yourself a good swing even if it might be unconventional.
  • For maximum power you need a full shoulder turn and a strong release.
  • Get the club on plane on your way down no matter what. Think about finding the perfect slot for you.

Rickie Fowler has a very arms dominated golf swing but makes great moves into impact.

So he gets into very good positions at the point that it matters.

If you struggle with your tee shots and want to generate more power always try to get the club into a good square position like Rickie does.

Even if the rest of your swing is unconventional.

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