John Fischer, Brody Fischer’s father and coach, details some aspects of his son’s training in Arizona.
The bulk of the work took place during John Fischer’s week in Arizona from March 3-9 with a focus on the one or two drivers per round that were heading sometimes 50-75 yards off line were minimized to the right or left rough.
“By filming various angles from the front of his body and behind him down his target line, we found the club was swinging much too far out to the right of the target line at impact,” John Fischer said. “Brody, as most good players, can feel this in the downswing and make an adjustment by trying to save it with his hands, wrists and forearms by flipping the club over and trying to save the shot at impact with a lot of face rotation.”
John Fischer takes a different approach to correcting that issue.
“Most of the best young players in the world, in my opinion, play with very little face rotation at impact,” he said. “They are using what I call the ‘Hammer the Nail Square Method.’ I also relay the message for my players by thinking of hitting a 2x4 square with the clubface at impact. With ball speeds of 168-170 miles per hour, which Brody creates, it is hard to play with a lot of face rotation and time it perfectly at impact each time.”
The Fix
Coach Fischer spent several hours working with Brody on “getting the club around the corner” on the downswing and out in front of his body rather than coming in shallow from behind his right hip.
“This is called a trapped position,” John Fischer said. “Greg Norman talked a lot about this position when he lost the 1986 Masters to Jack Nicklaus.”
It was on the 18th hole at Augusta that Norman had a 4-iron into the green after hitting a perfect drive. Norman got “trapped” and didn’t save it with his hands, which led to the ball ballooning off the right and into the gallery. Norman bogeyed the hole and lost to Nicklaus by one shot in what many consider to be the greatest Masters in history. Nicklaus was 46 when he won his sixth green jacket.
“What I'm trying to express here is this is a common problem with good players,” John Fischer said. “With the higher handicap player, it is just the opposite where they come over the top or cast the club out too much on the downswing.”
Fischer used three drills to help Brody correct this issue.
Drill 1
“I put a box one inch outside of the ball and the target line. The goal is not to swing out and away from your target line”
Instant feedback is provided if Brody hits the box and doesn’t swing down his target line at impact.
“He needs to rotate the left hip back to the left and straighten the left knee at the same time,” Coach Fischer said. “This body rotation at impact is critical to get the club around the corner at impact for Brody. We work on the Lawn Mower Pull Drill.”
Drill 2
Another putting drill that includes setting up an alignment rod about ¼ inch to the right of the ball. This is designed to keep Brody from swinging out to the right of the target at impact and post-impact. Along with the Quarter Drill, this addresses two specific areas of Brody’s game: impact and path.
Drill 3
This chipping drill addressed Brody’s tendency to push the club up and away from the target at impact, both in chipping and pitching. Brody was asked to visualize the ‘Hammer the Nail’ or ‘2x4’ impact method. The club after impact has to lever to the left with the left hip turning gently just to the left of the target.
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