Worldwide Golf

By Jonathan Craddock, PGA Professional, Pete Cowen Academy

Scottie Scheffler’s rise to top was a quick one, however, he always seemed destined for greatness given his profilic youth success where he won 75 titles on the PGA Junior League. The 26-year-old won individual state titles three years in a row (2012-2014), won the 2013 U.S. Junior Amateur and was the top-ranked junior golfer in the country in 2014. In September 2022, the American was named 2022 PGA Tour Player of the Year after winning four titles, including the Masters. Having recently defended the Phoenix Open the question is will he do the same next month at Augusta National?

Once posture is understood a main fundamental here at the Peter Cowen Academy is to create arm structure with arm hang. This is nicely demonstrated here from Scheffler’s classic athletic setup. Upper tricep over the knees and balls of the feet.
This allows for Scheffler’s dynamic movement to begin. He moves the larger sections of the body well starting his spiral. This allows the arms and hands to remain rather passive and in front of the body.
Scheffler holds the ground nicely maintaining the flex in the right knee as he sets the club on plane with his hand and arm action. Notice the gap between the elbows has not changed too much during this process.
Continuing to hold the ground and with his body nicely positioned he is able to maintain his arm structure.

Scheffler continues to spiral, stretching to the top of the backswing into a powerful position.
During transition Scheffler drives into the ground moving his pressure down to create power.
With the lower half moving down and around nicely, Scheffler has been able to maintain his arm structure and club position. Note how the club head is next to his right pocket, yet his hands are in front of his body.
The American’s lower half and abs now spiral around and up on the left side, whilst the shoulders, arms and club are in the perfect spot for impact. His left arm and shoulder is still very visible.

It’s easy to see how Scheffler is able to post such consistency with his maintained arm structure which creates a stable face position even following the strike.
Scheffler’s arm structure is still under control as his shoulders match the club movement, spiralling around and up. Look at his feet, many golfers try to keep their feet planted. It’s useful to understand that moving the feet can increase the bodies ability to move better.
Knees almost touching created by the angular motion of the body and club working together. Scheffler’s fully spiralled into his follow through with his hips left of target and shoulders further left.
With an average driving distance of 321.4 yards last season just ahead of Rory McIlroy, Scheffler knows how to move the ball out there.

Scottie Scheffler swing sequence