Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game-improvement column that will help you play smarter, better golf.
Chris Gotterup had a better Fourth of July weekend than most. With a win at the John Deere Classic, the 27-year-old claimed his third PGA Tour title of the season (and fifth over the past 12 months), bumping him to seventh in the OWGR and earning him $1.58 million for his efforts. Not bad for a week of work.
The interesting thing about Gotterup is that when you first watch him swing, you wouldn’t peg him as a Tour pro. It’s a powerful move, but it’s not one that’ll be taught in teaching bays across the country. It’s the textbook definition of “homegrown.”
But while Gotterup’s swing may be unorthodox, that doesn’t mean he isn’t constantly working on improving and refining it. Since he was a teenager, the New Jersey native has worked with GOLF Top 100 Teacher Jason Birnbaum as the duo has carefully crafted a move that can compete with the best players in the world.
“We took what he did naturally well and just tried to add to it and complement those strengths,” Birnbaum says.
Earlier this year, we sat down with Birnbaum to chat about his star pupil’s swing — and find out what everyday golfers can learn from it. Check it out below.
When Gotterup first started seeing Birnbaum, he knew how to swing only one speed: fast. And that’s something all young golfers should strive for.
Too often, recreational players spend years trying to build a technically flawless swing before ever learning how to create speed. According to Birnbaum, that’s backwards. It’s much easier to learn to control speed than it is to add it after years of making careful, controlled swings.
“Too many amateurs are trying to be perfect, and then once they feel like they have control, they try to add speed,” Birnbaum says. “Speed really should be first.”
In an era in which distance is more important than ever, learning how to go fast is a must. Don’t be afraid to go all out and learn how to create that speed. There’s always time to refine it later on.
It’s a recipe that worked for Gotterup. It can work for you, too.
One of the most recognizable features of Gotterup’s swing is his exceptionally strong grip. Birnbaum says it’s something he’s had since childhood, and it’s been a major reason he’s been able to eliminate the big miss to the right while generating tremendous power.
But Birnbaum also cautions against judging his swing by a single position. Many golfers notice the amount of extension, or “cup,” in Gotterup’s lead wrist at the top of the backswing, along with a steep path into the ball. But according to Birnbaum, much of that appearance is simply a consequence of his grip.
“The stronger the grip, the more cupped the wrist,” Birnbaum says. “The amount of cup he has is probably a little deceiving because his grip is so strong.”
A strong grip can help generate power, so don’t shy away from it. If you do opt for a strong grip, though, remember that there are certain matchups you need to employ to make it work. Gotterup marries these matchups to perfection, and it’s one of the reasons he can play at such a high level with an unconventional-looking swing.
With so much technology available these days, it’s easy to assume that every swing checkpoint has to look textbook, but Birnbaum doesn’t see it that way.
While many swing pundits focus on Gotterup’s steep downswing, Birnbaum stresses that appearances can be misleading. What matters is whether the club is delivering a consistent strike at impact, not whether a frame from the backswing looks unconventional.
“Sometimes pictures lie,” Birnbaum says. “We could look at a video that looks super steep, and the TrackMan numbers are perfect perfect.”
For Birnbaum, launch monitor data and ball flight always outweigh aesthetics. If the swing is repeatable, producing the right numbers and creating the desired shot, there’s little reason to chase cosmetic changes just because a position looks different from another Tour player.
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