How Patrick Reed's Swing Hushes His Critics

Golf Digest has put up a swing sequence of Patrick Reed, complete with swing analysis by his teacher Kevin Kirk. You'll enjoy it -- it shows the complete swing from face-on, and down-the-line both from behind him and from in front.



I want to call your attention to two things in particular from the sequence.

One, in slide 1 Kirk mentions some one-minute "patterning" exercises that Patrick does indoors in front of a mirror. He specifically does one exercise that checks his setup -- head position and posture. This is something you can do as well, just to get used to the feel of a proper setup.

And the other concerns this photo (slide 6). Please note that, as hard as he swings, Patrick does NOT slide his lead hip dramatically forward during his downswing. In fact, this position is remarkably similar to his setup position in slide 2! Kirk specifically says in the analysis accompanying slide 7 that "If golfers would get into a good setup, turn back and return to that position at impact, they'd almost certainly improve" and (in slide 8's analysis) that they want Patrick's swing to last a long time, without causing injury, so they endeavor to avoid extra angles in his back.

I don't know if these tips will make you one of the Top5 golfers in the world, but I'm sure they won't hurt your chances of getting there.