Who Is He?

It would be a great pub quiz question to ask ….. In 2007, two left handed golfers won two tournaments on the PGA tour, one was Phil Mickelson, name the other one? I'm not sure that many people would be able to name Steve Flesch. However, winning two tournaments in a five tournament stretch is no mean feat.

What He Does?

Steve Flesch is by no means a big guy. He knows that to compete in the modern game he needs to maximise every element of his golf swing to produce the longest shots that he can. Flesch is acutely aware that to generate maximum power, he needs to create torque between his upper and lower body and then release back torque with a fast snapping hip release in his downswing.

What Can You Learn?

For most golfers, one of the most under utilised areas of generating power within their swing is with their hip rotation. If you are not currently actively releasing your hips during the downswing, you will probably be losing distance on your shots and this may also result in some poor strikes.

Once you have loaded up correctly to the top of your backswing, you should feel that your shoulders are turned to 90 degrees, your hips are turned less than 45 degrees. This creates an element of torque within your body. Now as you release your torque into the downswing, your hips should quickly turn back towards the target. A nice sensation here is to feel that the belt buckle turns aggressively towards your target at the start of your downswing, and this in turn will pull your hands and arms down quicker towards the golf ball as your weight transfers from the back foot to the front foot.

What Should You Avoid?

Steve Flesch has often been aware that if he unwinds his lower body too quickly he runs the risk of letting his hands and arms get trapped behind his body, which in turn results in lots of pushed golf shots.

If you are keen to generate more power via unwinding your hips quickly, you should make sure that you are also trying hard to bring your hands and arms down in front of your body simultaneously, and avoid the feeling of your hands and arms dropping too far under the correct swing plane and getting trapped on the inside.