– Today we're with 2017 US
Masters Champion, Sergio Garcia and he's gonna go through
his secrets with the driver, which is gonna help you. – So welcome to Me And My Golf. Now, if you are new to the channel and you wanna improve your game, make sure you hit that subscribe and hit that bell
(ding) to never miss a video. – Yes and if you wanna be more consistent and hit longer, straighter drives then you need Total Driving
our amazing coaching plan.
Now you can start that for
free by downloading the app, click the link in the description. – Sergio. – Hello boys.
– Great to see you again. – Good to see you.
– How's things? – Yeah, beautiful, thank you.
– Good. Well thanks for having us. – Pleasure. – We're looking forward
to picking your brain on probably one of the best
ever ball strikers of the game. – Thank you. – And thanks for dressing, obviously you got the memo today. – You know I'm just doing my best. (all laughing) – Let's talk about, maybe
when you get to the range. The viewers at home would love to know what you would do maybe to calibrate the things that you would do to sort of keep your swing in check. You guys are working all
the time and things change. But what are the things
that you do consistently, to keep things in check
with the big stick? – Well I mean for me,
there's three or four things that I kind of have in my
mind when I get to the range and it's not only for
driver, but for swing itself.
So obviously, as everyone knows, I'm a lot of a feel player. So I like to go with my sensations a lot. But there's obviously a couple
of little swing thoughts that I wanna have when I'm warming up. One of them is making sure I set up right. Sometimes I get a little too open and then that kind of
messes up with my rotation and kind of getting
everything compact, you know, sometimes my hips can
get a little too quick and then the club gets
a little stuck behind. So if my hips are square
and my shoulders are square then it usually is good. Then a couple of things
just kind of try to keep it nice and smooth on the way back, kind of tucked in a little
bit with the right elbow and then just as I get through the ball kind of keep my head up.
Make sure that I don't dig down and just kind of get through the ball and finish nice and
strong on my left side. And actually I have it written
down in my alarm clock. (laughing) So when (indistinct) times I'm like, oh, remember those things? (Sergio laughs) – Let's hit a shot then if we can. I think the key thing with this is that a lot of amateurs Piers,
we see here all the time they're very open at the setup as well. – A hundred percent yeah.
– So I think, this is something that they can check
certainly on themselves to do this as well. So we're on the 6th hole at the Floridian. It's a drivable par four. – Last time we had a driver on here, it was Jon Rahm. – It was, yeah it was. he absolutely punished us
at a long driving test. – Let's see what he's got. (pop) Right side of the green, beautiful. – Fell a little thin and there this back right on
the ground, but yeah.(laughs) – [Andy] I'm just noticing here Serg, last time we saw you at Wentworth you were teeing the golf ball
down a lot lower than that.
Is there anything I mean, that's a lot higher than it used to be. Just talk us through the
reasons you've done that really. – Yeah that's good. That's a good thing that you noticed. Obviously in the last couple of years I've set up the ball a lot higher and kind of hit up a lot
more than than I used to. You know, the way I grew
up playing with Tour Balata and professional balls
and stuff like that. You had to kind of hit down on the ball and keep the ball down
as much as you could. Because of the wind and the spin. The amount of spin that you
generate with that equipment. Now the game has kind
of changed a little bit. It's a lot lower spin,
the balls are firmer, the equipment, unless you
hit with a lot less spin. So if you do that you don't get everything out of the equipment yourself. So through COVID, I actually
kinda started thinking about it and I got myself to kind of
loosen up and start thinking well, I'm really not getting
everything out of it.
So I started teeing it up a bit higher, hitting up a little bit
more with the driver. And because of that I probably gained at least 12 or 15 yards on that period through COVID. – That's a big deal. That is 12 To 15 yards is huge for you over a season, isn't it? – It's massive. It definitely made a
big difference for me. I was able to lose that fear of feeling like I had to squeeze the ball every time to keep it under control and kind of just, obviously tried to swing the right way but the equipment also
help me a little bit. – Certainly something you guys can learn. I mean that is really high compared to what you're used to isn't it? – Yes. – So it's a big change and it's amazing how that influences how you move which is really what it's all about. – Can we go through some draws.
How you would play a draw. By the way that was two
degrees off that one. – [Sergio] Yeah I used to hit probably at least two or three degrees now. – Yeah that's a huge
difference between five degrees and that's just really
tee height and intention, which is good. So let's go through some
draws because I think majority of you watching this would love to know how to play a draw. So you can definitely do that. – When it comes on to a draw. Very important, and obviously we're talking to draw we're not talking to hook. So, very important to
get set up the right way. Like we were saying earlier make sure that you're not open, make sure if anything,
a little bit closed, a little bit aiming right at the target with the setup. And then what you're gonna try to do is kind of swing from inside out
and just release the hands. But this doesn't mean that
you have to get stuck here.
You still have to get through the ball because if you get stuck, there either two things gonna happen. One, if you're afraid hooking it, you're gonna get here and you're gonna block it straight, right? The other one, if you release the hands because you a little
bit too far behind it, they're gonna take over and you're probably
gonna turn it too much. So it's important to have
that feel of swinging from inside to out, releasing
but at the same time, making sure that the
body keeps going through.
– I think just watching
Sergio is just amazing again for the viewers at home here. Just interesting how he
moves his right hand. His right hand is sort of
staying down towards the ground down and over almost like this forehand tennis shot.
– Correct shortly. – Where a lot of amateurs
who slice the golf ball it is much more sort of this motion. So just doing this is a great way to feel exactly what you're demonstrating there. Just that right-hand key.
– Yes, that's right. And I love my tennis. (everyone laughs) So let's try to do that. – Who've got a decent friend
who plays as well I can say. – (laughs) Couple of them Yeah. Let's try doing a nice draw. – The good news is the sun is now gone in a little bit, so we can see a lot better. – Perfect. (pop) – Yeah started on the right. He's gonna get a piece that
will definitely get the back of that green's coming back. – I lost that one. – Okay we're gonna go to some questions from our membership community then Sergio. First question was from Mike Fitzgerald.
A lot of people ask
this question actually. How do you maintain focus when
things aren't going your way? – Well it's probably the
toughest thing to do. So it is a good question Mike. You just gotta realize two things. In golf more than anything else, the perfect round doesn't exist. Even the great rounds that I played, you always come back and say, "Ah, you know that
driver that I hit there, I could have hit it better." That shot that I hit there
could have been better.
So I think it's important to realize that and realize that you're
gonna miss some shots but it happens to everybody. So just kind of deal with
it, try to forget about it and be as confident as
possible for the next shot. Not missing a shot in 18
holes, it just doesn't happen. So you just got to realize
that that's the way it is and deal with it the best way possible. The think that just
controlling your breathing and not getting too nervous
about it or something like that and be confident with your
next shot it's important. – It's chaos, golf, isn't it really? It is chaos and I think the more you accept the chaos out there, the easier it is to deal when
it comes along, isn't it? We always talk about expectations and having the right expectations. But most golfers watching
this will just expect you to just hit great shots all the time.
– Yeah, but you don't. And sometimes you hit a great
shot that gets a bad break and that's also a tough moment, you gotta learn to overcome it because it is the way it is. – Okay then we got one
from Mark Wizniawski, I hope I've got that right.
– Good name. (Piers laughs) – You've described in the past your swing like pulling a bell from
the top of the backswing. Can you explain a little
bit more what this means? – Yes I think that is something that I always my dad and I we've
always talked about it, and it's like I was saying, there is a sensation that I have. Obviously, like you were saying earlier a lot of amateurs from
here they go this way.
So what I always tried to tell them is, feel like you're pulling
a chain or a bell down. So when you get here, your first move, instead of shoulders and kind
of everything going forward should be down. So you pull down and then from here you can get in that motion that we were talking earlier. So if you do this, it's very difficult to come and do that. If from here you pull down
then you get in the situation and you get the right spot here, and from here, you can
come in and around the ball and cover the ball nicely. Instead of as soon as you do this then you're fighting to try
to get back behind the ball. – That's a transition definitely. – And I think that even this really helps us get into a position on the way down there as well. – It's a great feeling for you as well because you are so active
with that low body as well. You get your arms in the right slot. Its a key move for you, isn't it? Right okay so we kind of
thought that you've thrown us a little bit by having
that tee so high obviously but I want to talk about fairway finders.
You may adjust the tee height I know you've done that in the past but what if you've got this, this is a 20 yard fairway. It's 480 yards so you've still
got to get decent distance. What do you do to guarantee the fairway? – [Andy] Guarantee the fairway please. – Yeah there's no guarantees. (all laughing) Funny enough through the years I was always more of a
draw the ball than a fader. But through the years,
I've kind of started to, my swing got a little more
compact, my lag still there but it's a little bit
smaller than it used to be.
So I'm able to hit
fades more consistently. So for a fairway finder, definitely go most likely for a fade. So it feels like it's a
little bit easier to control. There's no as much rotation
so you can kind of control that release a little bit easier. For me it's just a matter of making sure that I started down the left
and let it cut a little bit. I mean, I don't really tee up too low. – [Piers] You want the
distance now, don't you? – Yes and also I feel
like the lower I tee it up the more I cut it usually. So, I still want to be able to get that good distance if I can. – Okay let's get one out there then. So when you guys at home, you need to hit a fairway on the 18th to break 90 or break 100 maybe a little bit of
a fade fairway finder. (indistinct) Again, Sergio, one the
best players in the world, aiming down the left allowing
for that little bit of shape.
(pop) Here it is.
– Oh, that was a beauty. – Definitely a bit of
height in the Sergio. – That's gone real close to that flag now. That was definitely a
lower flight as well. – Yeah, even with a lot of
light but that was good. – Yeah, that was a fairway finder. Obviously if I'm trying to hit a fade but a little bit more of a… If the fairway is a little bit bigger then I will hit it a little bit higher. For the most part when I hit a fade, I usually hit it little bit lower than then a draw because I'm kind of hitting a tiny bit more down I guess. (pop) – Here we go. – At different heights on that one.
– Yeah Tremendous. It's gonna get the green again. – I think you missed the green. – Yes, green on the right side. – It's par three you know Sergio. (laughing) – My foursomes partner. (laughing) Okay let's go through one
more shot then Sergio. So let's say that you need to, there's some bunkers at three and ten. You need to step on one,
you need a high bum. What are the things that you do? I presume the tee height
is gonna stay the same. – Yes. – What do you do from
thought, intention, swing? Anything any different? – No the thought is not,
doesn't really change that much. I'm obviously gonna try
to hit a big high draw. Just try to get a little
bit more speed on it.
– What percentage effort level are you normally when you hit your drive? – I think for the most part probably 95%. – Okay and then for this one for a longer one, you'll
just put a bit more into it. A hundred percent, yeah? – Yeah.
– Okay, I like it. – I think it's an
interesting concept as well because most amateurs golfers
try and slow their swing down. We don't necessarily like that. Let's speed it up. Let's
create that speed, okay. – High bum, low draw. (pop) – Yeah that was high. – I lost it in the sun. – Yeah, just (indistinct) – So that has now gone over the green. – Is it good?
– It has gone further. Yeah, it's good.
(Andy laughs) Sergio fantastic work. And don't forget if you want
to improve your driving, Total Driving is
definitely gonna help you.
Click the link down in the description and download the app today. – So, Sergio.
– Thank you. – The Legend. (Sergio laughs) – Glad as always.
– Thank you..