2010 NEW PRODUCTS

MASTER THE POWER FADEIt’s my ‘go to’ shot on tight holes and with these swing keys it can be yours too.

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BY SERGIO GARCIARYDER CUP STAR

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.

WORDS BY PETER MASTERS

PHOTOGRAPHY BY HOWARD BOYLAN

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“We use the imaginary grid as a visual 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 then moving into another. With Darren 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 towards a heavy shaft because with a light shaft he gets it stuck behind him. The shaft in his driver is 103g, when the norm is about 65g to 70g. Sergio’s is the heaviest shaft we do and we have to make it especially for him. He has a shorter-than-standard shaft,

the weights in the clubhead brought forward, a slight draw bias and the clubface marginally open at address. On the grid he likes to see bottom centre, climbing to middle centre and dropping to the right – the power fade. Once a player has described what he wants to see, we then try and link that with the accepted laws of a great flight – that’s high launch angles and low spin. The best box for amateurs is top right turning over slightly into the top centre.

Some players negate how far they can 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.”

WHY THE GRID SYSTEM AFFECTS SHAFT, FLIGHT AND SPIN

THE GRIDOn the grid, Sergio likes to see

bottom centre, climbing to middle centre and dropping to

the right – the power fade.

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CEN

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TROUBLE

2010 NEW PRODUCTS

TWO KEYS TO THE POWER FADE

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.

I use quite a pronounced 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 loosen the tension in my forearms. Everyone gets 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 advantage is to rehearse the feeling of taking the club away and cocking the wrists.

Grip down and move the ball slightly back in your stance.

1

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At address I move the ball slightly further back in the

stance. How much is really up to the individual. You should experiment a little until you find a ball position that helps you to start the shot on that nice low, boring trajectory. For me, it can be as much as two or three inches, so I’m getting much closer to the centre of

the stance.

2

SERGIO’S DRIVER

The Superdeep is a pure player’s driver which is descended from the 300 Tour and R510 TP.

Despite the maximum head size of 460cc, the look is reasonably compact due to the depth of the clubface which, at 2.55 inches, is a full centimetre larger than its sister model the SuperTri. Is it adjustable? Very. It has Movable Weight Technology (MWT) and Flight Control Technology (FCT), meaning you can alter the loft and lie angle of the head to suit your swing.

The new Aldila RIP shaft, with its tip stiff design, helps promote a mid launch angle for a 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.

R9 SUPERDEEP

Driver: TaylorMade R9 SuperDeep 9.5º, Diamana Blue 73X shaftFairway wood one: TaylorMade R9 15º, Diamana Blue 103X shaftFairway wood two: TaylorMade R7 17.5º, Diamana Blue 103X shaftIrons:TaylorMade R9 TP, Project X 6.5Wedges: TaylorMade xFT 54º and 58ºPutter: TaylorMade CorzaBall: TaylorMade Penta TPShoes: adidas 360 4.0

IN THE BAG

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I naturally tend to hit a little bit down on the ball, which is helpful for this shot. Of course, if I wanted height, I’d tee it up a little higher and play the ball off the front foot, but I’ve always been a player who hits down and squeezes the ball.

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 intentionally trying to shorten the backswing or anything, but by grabbing the club down the grip slightly, the whole swing will take on a more compact feel.

The release at impact is also different to a normal shot. This isn’t a full right-hand release, 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 shorten your finish slightly, which goes back to this whole shot being more compact than normal. It’s the finish of the swing 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.

I don’t think about changing my swing at all. Gripping down the club and moving the ball back 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.

STRIKE DOWN SLIGHTLY A COMPACT FINISH

I rarely hit the ball at full power,

unless it’s downwind. I’d say that for

the majority of drives I’m swinging

at 85-90 per cent so that I can

keep everything nicely under

control. You’re hitting it

hard, but not giving it everything.

I ALWAYS SWING

WITH CONTROL

NORMAL FINISH

POWER FADE FINISH

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