76 PETE COWEN

Full-time tour coach shaping the swings andz careers of some of the game’s top players, including Rory Mcilroy, Tommy Fleetwood and Lee Westwood.

The sheer depth, breadth and success of his pupils make Cowen a legendary name in coaching circles. Nine of his students are Major winners, while many more have gone on to forge successful tour careers, racking up more than 250 PGA Tour wins in the process. Cowen commands the respect of the best through the clarity of his approach, his understanding of the tour pro psyche and his own, not-inconsiderable skills with a golf club.

Don’t swing to stay in balance, swing in balance.

If you watch someone who hits it down the middle all the time, they swing within themselves, finish in balance and can hold that position for 20 seconds. Most golfers can’t do that because their mechanics aren’t good enough.

One of the biggest faults I see is people standing too far away from the ball and having little control of the butt end of the club.

If the butt travels too far back or forward when chipping and pitching, it causes the bottom of the arc to change which causes inconsistencies. The more you minimise the movement, the better your consistency will be.

There’s a lot of confusion about hinging and cocking, especially when it concerns shorter shots.

You cock the wrist up and down, and hinge the wrist back and forward. You need to hinge when you chip, and then use a combination of the two when you’re pitching. If you try and cock the wrists like a hammer when you chip, that’s what throws the club miles out of plane and adds unwanted height. If you keep the shaft more vertical and have a slight hinge, the action almost resembles a brushing motion which gets the ball running on the ground a lot quicker.