Alex getting back into the swing of things

CADDIE'S ROLE:Changing your swing is a huge decision, but it worked wonders for Nick Faldo

THERE IS always a stage in professionals’ careers when they question their positions within the game and in particular their ascent up the ladder of progress. To the untrained eye all may seem well, the scores maybe a little erratic but really there is not much to worry about. It doesn’t matter what anyone else, qualified or otherwise, says. Unless the player is comfortable with his swing, there has to be some changes.

Possibly the most radical of swing changes was made by the six-time (three British Opens and three Masters) major winner Nick Faldo. He had enjoyed early success as a young professional and was the bright hope of English golf. In his own mind his swing was not letting him play golf in the perfect way he envisaged. He sought out the hottest swing guru of the late 80s, David Leadbetter, in order to construct a new, improved major-winning swing.

Leadbetter was the first of the modern era of swing coaches. He didn’t simply give lessons to golfers, he was an expert in where the club head should be every millimetre of its path back and forth.

Leadbetter changed the image of a teaching pro from the overweight ex-player who had some simple swing advice for a young aspiring professional to the the slim, well-groomed tutor.

Of course history has proved it was a wise decision by Faldo to radically change tack in the middle of a successful professional career. At that time it was even more daring to introduce a swing guru to your game. Today, if you don’t have a technically-minded swing coach or a short-game expert in your locker room you are in a minority.

The toughest thing for a young professional these days is to avoid mind-absorbing technique to the point of obsession. It is often overlooked that these young golfers are extremely talented, naturally.

Much like Faldo, they were born with an exceptional gift to play golf.

It was fortunate he could understand and assimilate the detailed technical side of the game introduced by Leadbetter, and become the golfer he was with the combination of talent and a honed technique.

Unfortunately for Faldo, the progress of the game through the advance of golf balls and clubs meant his straight-hitting method became arguably obsolete as the longer-hitting era began in earnest.

My player, Alex Noren, had been progressing nicely up the world rankings which was all sparked off by his maiden win on the European Tour in September last year in Switzerland.

Of course he played well to win and more importantly, sustained the pressure of leading going into the final round. It was a breakthrough for Alex and as a result he went on to enjoy a solid end to last season.

The most important lesson Alex admits taking from the Swiss success is that you do not have to enjoy a perfect ball-striking week to win.

Winning is so much more complex than the realisation of what is perceived as the perfect golf swing. You need to hole putts and get up and down when you miss greens. More importantly, you can’t worry about swinging well, but simply concentrate on scoring.

Of course with a win comes higher expectations, both your own and others’. So Alex started this year with a flattering pick for the eight-man European Royal Trophy team against Asia in Bangkok last January. He was given a taste of the big team atmosphere and the Ryder Cup was mentioned repeatedly on the humid fairways of the Thai event.

A few months on and a litany of poor finishes later, the swing questions came to the fore. Alex hadn’t lost his ability to scrape through the cut to the weekend; he is a battler, like all good players. But as soon as he made the cut the reality of where he was with his swing took over, which resulted in high weekend scores.

He made the decision to part company with his coach of four years, the respected Englishman Peter Cowen with whom he had built a close relationship and learnt so much about the golf swing. As vital a decision as it is to choose a coach, it is equally as difficult to decide to split. So it was a choice that Alex didn’t take lightly.

As a professional it is important to understand when you need to try something different. He felt he was not really getting his swing to where he thought it should be so a different approach and voice was needed in getting him where he wants to be.

It is also imperative to be decisive as a professional, so if something is hanging on your mind you need to take action.

Alex has chosen the Swedish swing coach Rikard Fors to guide him through this part of his golfing career. Rikard’s other notable students are Peter Hanson, Frederik Andersson-Hed and Johan Edfors. It is a delicate time for Alex as we are getting to the busy part of the golfing year. He took last week off from the US Open qualifier and the Madrid Masters in order to spend some quality time in Sweden with his new coach.

We are back in action this week in Wales with talent and a tinkered-with swing. Change worked well for Faldo. I hope it proves as successful for Alex Noren.