Master the power fade with Sergio Garcia

2010 NEW PRODUCTS

MASTER THE POWER FADE

It’s my ‘go to’ shot on tight holesandwiththeseswing keys it can be yours too.

BY SERGIO GA RCI A RY DER CUP STA R

WORDS BY PETER MASTERS PHOTOGRAPHY BY HOWARD BOYLAN

My ‘go to’ shot on a tight drive is the power fade. This will be a shot I’ll fall back on when I come to a hole that doesn’t leave much margin for error. If I’m standing on the tee and there isn’t much room on the fairway then I’ll feel more confident if I play what I would call my safe shot.

For me, that’s working the ball left to right. I like to see the ball start low and then climb and move gently to the right.

With the guys at TaylorMade, we talk about seeing a grid ahead of us so that we can describe the exact shape of shot we are looking for. That enables the guys to set the club up with the right shaft and clubhead to suit each players’ needs.

SIGN IVE RECE UP TO TION FROM MA AT INFOR LORMADE om/ Y b.c TA ersclu y a l p tmag register

CENTER LINE

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THE GRID On the grid, Sergio likes to see bottom centre, climbing to middle centre and dropping to the right – the power fade.

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WHY THE GRID SYSTEM AFFECTS SHAFT, FLIGHT AND SPIN “Weusetheimaginarygridasavisual aid to a player’s flight and trajectory needs,” says TaylorMade’s Tour Manager Sean Brady. “Every player, when they look up, likes to see the ball in one of the boxes and perhaps thenmovingintoanother.WithDarren Clarke for example, he’s middle right moving back into the centre. Ian Woosnam used to like bottom right curling to middle centre because everything with him was a draw. If it didn’t move 15 yards in the air, he

thought he’d cut it. Sergio is a fascinating case because he has a very negative angle of attack. He keeps the load on the shaft for a long time as he gets into that ‘late hit’ position. He’s always gravitated towardsaheavyshaftbecausewitha lightshafthegetsitstuckbehindhim.

The shaft in his driver is 103g, when thenormisabout65gto70g.Sergio’s is the heaviest shaft we do and we have to make it especially for him. He has a shorter-than-standard shaft,

theweightsintheclubheadbrought forward, a slight draw bias and the clubfacemarginallyopenataddress.

On the grid he likes to see bottom centre,climbingtomiddlecentreand dropping to the right – the power fade. Once a player has described whathewantstosee,wethentryand link that with the accepted laws of a greatflight–that’shighlaunchangles and low spin. The best box for amateurs is top right turning over slightly into the top centre.

Someplayersnegatehowfartheycan hit the ball because they don’t like to look up and see it too high in the air.

It’s interesting the American players are happy with the high ‘up and over’ flight, possibly because they tend not to play in high winds.

Europeans generally prefer a flatter flight. The irony is, though, that a high, low spinning ball, will bore through the wind just as well. The problem with low launch is that it’s generally associated to high spin.”

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2010 NEW PRODUCTS

TWO KEYS TO THE POWER FADE Grip down and move the ball slightly back in your stance.

1 I grip the club a little shorter. My clubs are already shorter than standard. I like my driver to be 43.25 inches, so when I grip down, I’m making the club much easier to control.

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Iusequiteapronounced waggle of the club as I address the ball and it’s something I’ve done all my life. For me there are two key reasons for doing this. The first is to loosenthetensioninmy forearms.Everyonegets tense when they are faced with a tough shot, especially when you need an accurate drive as we’ve discussed here.

The waggle should help you to relax so that you can turn and release properly. The other advantageistorehearse the feeling of taking the club away and cocking the wrists.

www.taylormadegolf.eu SERGIO’S DR I V ER

2 At address I move the ball slightly further back in the stance.Howmuchisreallyup to the individual. You should experiment a little until you find a ball position that helps you to start the shot on that nicelow,boringtrajectory.For me, it can be as much as two orthreeinches,soI’mgetting much closer to the centre of the stance.

R9 SUPERDEEP TheSuperdeepisapureplayer’sdriverwhichis descended from the 300 Tour and R510 TP. Despite the maximum head size of 460cc, the look is reasonably compact due to the depthoftheclubfacewhich,at2.55inches,isa fullcentimetrelargerthanitssistermodelthe SuperTri. Is it adjustable?Very. It has Movable WeightTechnology(MWT)andFlightControl Technology(FCT),meaningyoucanalterthe loftandlieangleoftheheadtosuityourswing.

The new Aldila RIP shaft, with its tip stiff design,helpspromoteamidlaunchanglefora penetrative flight. It boasts a lower MOI plus forward CG for increased workability and is engineered for strong players seeking mid launch angle and low spin.

Sergio switches between the SuperDeep and the SuperTri, a 460cc club with an exceptionally deep face, FCT and MWT.

IN THE BAG Driver: TaylorMade R9 SuperDeep 9.5º, Diamana Blue 73X shaft Fairway wood one: TaylorMade R9 15º, Diamana Blue 103X shaft Fairway wood two: TaylorMade R7 17.5º, Diamana Blue 103X shaft Irons:TaylorMade R9 TP, Project X 6.5 Wedges: TaylorMade xFT 54º and 58º Putter: TaylorMade Corza Ball: TaylorMade Penta TP Shoes: adidas 360 4.0

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STRIKE DOWN SLIGHTLY Inaturallytendtohitalittlebit down on the ball, which is helpfulforthisshot.Ofcourse, if I wanted height, I’d tee it up alittlehigherandplaytheball off the front foot, but I’ve alwaysbeenaplayerwhohits down and squeezes the ball.

The release at impact is also different to a normal shot. This isn’tafullright-handrelease,you do hold on for a little bit so that the clubface doesn’t turn over as much as you strike the ball. This ‘holding off’ also makes you shortenyourfinishslightly,which goes back to this whole shot being more compact than normal.It’sthefinishoftheswing that shows how you’ve released the club. I don’t think you’d be able to tell at impact, even with a super slow motion camera.

A COMPACT FINISH Look at these two finish positions, one for the power fade and the other a normal drive. With the fade I’m using a bit of an abbreviated shot.

That doesn’t mean I’m intentionallytryingtoshorten the backswing or anything, butbygrabbingtheclubdown the grip slightly, the whole swing will take on a more compact feel.

NORMAL FINISH

I AL W W IT AYS I rar ely h H CO SWI unle it th N NG s the m sit’sdo e ball a TROL w

t fu n a at 8 jority o wind.I’d ll pow e 5 fd kee -90 per rives I’m saythat r, p ev cen swin for e t r s y o g t con tro hing n that I ing hard l. You’re icely u can ,but hitti nder n n ever otgivin g it ythin git g.

I don’t think about changing my swing at all.

Grippingdowntheclubandmovingtheballback in the stance are the two key things for me. From that point I just play the shot, expecting to see the shape and flight that I described earlier.

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POWER FADE FINISH