Swing sequence: Justin Thomas, 2018 Honda Classic

At 5-foot-10, 145 pounds, Justin Thomas can lay claim to being the longest hitter, pound-for-pound, on the PGA Tour. In capturing his eighth PGA Tour title at the Honda Classic, Thomas led the field in driving distance (320.7 yards) and strokes gained -tee to green. Just how does Thomas generate so much power from such a slight frame? There are several factors, including: 1) how he uses the ground and 2) how he launches the ball high off the clubface; and 3) how frequently he finds the center of the face. Here is a frame-by-frame analysis of his driver swing by GCA lead coach Mike Malizia.

Great angles! Justin is bending from his hips, not his waist, which allows his back and spine to be flat. His weight is perfectly balanced in the arches of his feet, not on the toes or heels.

Notice how much lower the bill of his cap is than in the previous frame. He’s already starting to lower himself and apply pressure against the ground with his trail leg. This is a common theme throughout his backswing and is what allows him to jump and explode up off the ground at impact.

Justin continues to lower himself while creating tremendous width with his arms. The longer you keep your arms, the more rotation you’ll get from your spine and the deeper you’ll turn your shoulders on the backswing.

He’s already fully loaded into his trail side here, which he’s done by lowering himself to the ground through the knees and hips. For amateurs at home, you want to feel like you’re sitting into your right glute and quadricep.

BEST MOVE: From address to the top of the backswing, Justin has lowered himself 6 to 7 inches. Most amateurs go up, not down, on the backswing, which is why they can’t push up off the ground. The harder you push against the ground, the faster your body moves (i.e., rotates) and the more clubhead speed you generate.

Whereas on the backswing he’s pushing hard into the ground with his trail leg, here he’s pushing even harder with his lead leg. About 80 percent of his weight is on his left leg and he’s getting ready to spring up off the ground.

As Justin’s pelvis is moving forward and up, his lead shoulder is traveling up and back, which is what allows him to hit up on the ball and launch it high with low spin - the magic formula to hitting 300-yard plus drives.

What I like most here is that his head is rotating with his body and following the flight of the ball; it’s NOT staying down. This helps him rotate through faster and really accelerate the club into the finish.

Justin has fully released his body and yet is so balanced at the finish that he almost looks like a statue. You can see all of the spikes on his trail shoe, which alleviates a lot of torque and strain on the lower back.

Mike Malizia is the owner of the Mike Malizia Golf Academy and director of instruction at Harbour Ridge Yacht & Country Club in Palm City, Fla. For more information about his Academy, and to book a lesson, please click here

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Swing sequence: Justin Thomas

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