Golf

How a strange and subtle tweak transformed Matt Fitzpatrick’s driving

After experimenting with totally different weight settings, here is how one grip change transformed Matt Fitzpatrick’s driver for the higher.

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If you ever wished to attract an uncommon parallel to the extent of discernible really feel skilled golfers have and how small modifications could make a large distinction, consider the traditional story of “The Princess and the Pea.” As the story goes, solely a actual princess can really feel a tiny pea beneath a large layer of mattresses, and due to this, she has a horrible night time’s sleep (don’t fear, I’m going someplace with this, I promise).

So simply how the princess didn’t sleep effectively due to the pea, Matt Fitzpatrick was in a comparable state of affairs together with his driver. Not way back he had a left miss he couldn’t fairly work out. Turns out a large cause for that miss was one thing fairly small, within the type of a counterbalanced weight positioned beneath the grip within the butt finish of his driver, and the one cause it was found was as a result of Fitzpatrick wanted a new grip.

“We did some testing in February last year, and never took it out,” Fitzpatrick stated on Thursday, after he opened the Players with a 66. “I put weight in the grip of my irons, and it was successful for three, four weeks, and we thought, OK, well, let’s match it up with the driver because I felt there was a bit of an indifference there. … So we did, and then for whatever reason just forgot that it was ever in there. We took it out the week of Phoenix, and yeah, the driver has felt completely different.”

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All as a result of he wanted a new grip.

“I got it regripped at home and the guy that did it, he put a little bit too much tape on, so I took it to Titleist,” he stated. “They regripped it for me and they’re like, ‘Oh, you know there’s a weight in there,’ and I almost had a heart attack.”

The weight in query was solely 4 grams. From a technical standpoint, 4 grams isn’t a lot, however sufficient to change the steadiness level of a membership the place some gamers — particularly elite golfers — may change their launch sample, which is what Fitzpatrick was experiencing.

Fitzpatrick stated he was getting “more face rotation, more kick from the shift,” which made left the frequent miss.

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And simply how shortly did he see an imporvement?

“As soon as I came out and hit the next day, it felt night and day,” he stated. “I could hit it as hard as I want and it wouldn’t go left. Previously, I felt like I hit it hard and it would just go straight left.”

And in order for you proof of Fitzpatrick’s enchancment up to now this week at TPC Sawgrass, after the primary spherical of the Players he ranked first in Strokes Gained: Off the tee, fifth in driving distance and hit 11 of 14 fairways.

It all simply goes to indicate how delicate some golfers will be to how mass is distributed in sure golf equipment, and for Fitzpatrick, this small change might repay come Sunday.

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Ryan Barath

Golf.com Editor

Ryan Barath is GOLF Magazine and GOLF.com’s senior editor for equipment. He has an extensive club-fitting and -building background with more than 20 years of experience working with golfers of all skill levels, including PGA Tour players. Before joining the staff, he was the lead content strategist for Tour Experience Golf, in Toronto, Canada.


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