When you think of Sir Nick Faldo, you think of one of the greatest British golfers of all-time and with six majors to his name, who can argue that statement?
Faldo won the Masters three times and the Open the same amount of times as he went through a golden spell in his career from the late 80s to the mid 90s.
In the end, Faldo came up just short in the other two majors, finishing T2 at the PGA Championship in 1992 and outright 2nd at the US Open in 1988.
Nevertheless, Faldo was a genius with the golf club really and according to two-time major winner Johnny Miller, a lot of it came down to a ‘unique’ move Faldo had in his swing.
Johnny Miller says why Sir Nick Faldo managed to win so many majors
They always say hit it long and straight and you won’t be too far away and that’s what Sir Nick Faldo did for much of his career.
He was a brilliantly accurate player in his day and it was little wonder he had the success he did in the end.
Indeed, revealing just what Faldo did in his golf swing to keep the ball straight, Johnny Miller has explained previously just what the Englishman did in his golf swing that set him apart.
“When I think of Nick Faldo, I think of a control player and a guy that knew his limitations,” Miller said.
“A guy who played percentage golf, not much spin on the ball and he had a unique move coming down that put him in ‘the slot’. So he got to the top and then he dropped it inside to about three inches and on the money so to speak but that was Nick Faldo in a nutshell and he never varied from it.
“What Faldo would do is he would come back on plane but what he would do is, he would drop it inside.
“So instead of just going back and through, his elbow would drop in and that was his move. He did every shot with that platform so to speak, hit it straight and didn’t hook it often and was really geared towards winning major championships.”
Sir Nick Faldo’s tip for amateur golfers to hit their irons better
If you want to get better at golf, then Faldo is a good ex-pro to listen to.
He often shares his knowledge on tip videos or when he’s on analyst duty and most of the time, he offers unique insight and help to the amateur golfer.
Looking back at what he has said about his iron play in the past, Faldo explained to Matt Fryer about using his body to maximum effect.
“Basically, the body is doing a really good rotation, turn, turn. I used to do this all the time, it was my drill,” Faldo explained.
“Jack did this [with his feet]. But again because I’m a tall guy, I did this. If the body is moving well then you can put yourself in different places.
“So my shoulders really work for me so if the shoulders go down, I’ll hit a certain shot, so a low one. You can then play with the shoulders, work up, puts the club in a slightly different position which then lets you hit a slightly different shot or release.”
With a couple of tips from Faldo and Miller here, it does seem that Sir Nick was very much a player who liked to keep things simple.
And for the amateur golfer, keeping it simple can often be the best course of action.
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