Jake Knapp joins Subpar to talk about the challenges that come with having elite swing speed. While his power off the tee has been a huge advantage, Knapp opens up about the struggle to find iron consistency when swinging that fast — and why he’s determined not to let his speed become a weakness.
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Going into next year, what parts of your game do you want to improve the most? Uh, iron play for sure. I think uh I started to drive it really well the second half of the year and wedge it really well. I puted well all year. I think iron play was the one that was like some weeks it was unconscious and then some weeks it was non-existent. So just trying to make that more consistent. How hard is it with your speed for like the short the tween or when you’re taking something off or think? cuz I watch you swing and it’s like you have one of the swings that everyone looks at like I want that swing but it’s got so much speed when you have the little tweeners. What do you do to that? Is that something that you like struggle with or have something that you do to when you need to hit those? Not really. I think if anything where I struggle the most is I try to hit too many different shots if anything rather than just having like here’s my stock number, stock swing, stock shape. I try to manipulate and move the ball too much and be too perfect all the time rather than it’s like hey if it fits my pattern, it fits what I’m doing great. like that’s when I can be aggressive and with it when it doesn’t let’s hit it in the middle of the green and I’m a good putter so like maybe we roll in a 30-footer and if not go on to the next hole. So I think just being a little bit more you know trying not to be so perfect being a little bit more mature and just being able to yeah recognize when the course is setting up well for me when it’s not and then just taking advantage when I get my my opportunities. So it kind of the way you describe your game, it reminds me a lot. And obviously your swing looks much different, but the way you just shape the ball and the way you see things, it reminds me of Bubba Watson. Yeah. Yeah. A lot. Do like is that someone you watched growing up or anything? Or was there someone you idolized growing up that you wanted to play golf the way they do? I mean, Tiger obviously. And like he Charlie thinks your swing’s better. Yeah. Yeah. I appreciate that. Maybe. Seriously. Um I don’t I mean, I think watching him, watching how much he shaped the ball, obviously that just, you know, in in my head growing up, I was like, I need to be able to hit every single golf shot. I need to be able to hit all nine windows at all times. And then like, you know, I get into tournaments, I start to hit a lot of kind of like choppy cuts just cuz I know it like fits into a window a little bit better than when I hit big draws and that sort of thing. But, um, yeah, I never I don’t really try to like move it a ton like Bubba does or do something like that. But, you know, if the pin was on the left, I’d try to start at the middle and draw it. And if it was on the right, I’d try to start in the middle and cut it. And so, um, you know, I started to go away from that with driver. D driver, I started to pretty much just hit kind of little push fades most of the time. And every once in a while, if it sets up for everything perfect, hit a draw. But, um, you know, same reason why with mini driver, I just kind of hit that little like bullet cut, it’s like just gets in play. So, kind of treat my iron play the same way. That one you hit, um, I can’t remember what day it was, but 18 at 3 a.m., you just hit a missile down there off that. Yeah, that’s a scary T- shot, too. For sure. Especially with like wind hard off the left Sunday. I think it was like 36 feet was its apex. It was so sick. That’s That’s been a good That’s been a good shot to have. Especially cuz I mean, like there’s a few times a year where like, all right, I need to actually hit the thing high and have it land soft. But for the most part, it’s like, okay, this can land in between 230 and 300. It just needs to end up in that 290 to 300 range. And so, you know, the low shot just to me has always felt way more controlled. And I feel like, you know, watching Tiger when I was younger, it was just like, yeah, I mean, he wasn’t an amazing driver, the golf ball his entire career, but you hit that stinger certain places and you’re like, it’s kind of nice. Just kind of lands 250, rolls forever, goes down the middle. I’ll take that. Yeah. Yeah. Good to have. Have to do that with driver, but whatever. But when you swing, what do you swing at? 124, I think, is like your average club has. How much more do you like what percent is that? Or I guess just how much more do you got in the tank if you wanted to actually let one go? Cuz it watching you, it looks like I’m like, dude, he’s trying to go slow and then it pops It’s like 123 and I’m like god damn. I mean usually like on the range if I’m sitting stock drivers it’s like 126 127 and then like 1331 is probably the fastest I’ll ever really get to on course. I saw a video of of one I don’t know if it was at Tory maybe or something somebody video let one go. It was at Ohio State during uh Okay. Cornferryy. Yeah. Oh that was on Cornferry. Yeah like 131 or something like that. Yeah exactly. Yeah. So, that’s usually like the fastest I’ll get on course, but that takes like all the right things. I know you’re fitness freak. You work out in the gym a lot. It’s well documented. But the speed stuff, are you in the gym doing stuff based around speed, or is this just like big fella upstairs gave me something? Yeah, I um I think it’s definitely more. It’s just something I was kind of gifted with, fortunately. Um I I always hit it far for my size and then I grew a bunch like my junior in high school. So, then I just started hitting it far in general. Um, and then now it’s been a matter of like how do I how do I let speed not be my weakness basically and not kind of work against me. So knowing when to use it, knowing when I can kind of let one go cuz I mean there’s, you know, it’s funny when you listen to some of the commentary or something, they’re like, “Oh, I wish you would just let it go more this and that.” It’s like, well, it’s not for no reason, you know? I mean, like distance is still kind of or you know, sorry, like speed and everything, dispersion is a cone. So, I mean, the farther I hit it, the farther it can go offline. And, you know, there’s weeks where I’m timing it up and swinging fast and it goes forever. But, um, yeah, I mean, for the most part in the gym and all that stuff, I kind of do like pretty basic strength training and and just make sure that I’m strong throughout and just make sure I don’t get slower basically. Who would let that happen? Be miserable. I watched this video with you recently and I don’t it sound like you do a lot of your stuff maybe in your room or at the hotel gym. Are you in the tour trailer quite a bit as well? Yeah, I mean to warm up before rounds, I’m always in the trailer. Like I’m usually there three hours before a tournament round. Give me a guy on the PJ tour that like I think most of the listeners will be surprised is in the fitness trailer quite a bit. Sunj? Yes. Twice a day. Every day. Love Sunj. Really? Yeah. Godamn. Playing every week, too. That boy works. No Yep. He’s He’s my I mean I see him every time. and we always say what’s up and kind of chitchat a little bit, but he’s Yeah, he’s in there literally twice a day pretty much every day. Doesn’t matter what event he’s All right. Now, give us the guy that’s never in there. Quite a few. Who is everyone? Who is everyone? No. It’s funny though, like you I think it’s gotten nicer though, too. Hasn’t gotten like bigger and stuff. I mean, it’s like first class. I mean, it’s tough. I will say the one thing about elevated events or some of you know the playoff event for example like when you go in those weeks and there’s only 50 guys or 70 guys in the field like that trailer is empty when you have two sims spread out through a long time like you have two or three guys in there at any given time if you have especially uh AMX and or Tori is the worst one. I mean you have 40 guys teeing off within like a 30-minute window. So you have, you know, 12 guys trying to warm up in this little trailer. I mean, it’s impossible. You wouldn’t believe. I mean, this was just your second year out there. Yeah. I mean, so since I quit 5 years ago, how crazy it is now. I mean, those trailers are twice as wide now. Yeah. So much more space. Now they got this whole recovery thing. This recovery tent’s pretty awesome. Coal plunges and saunas set up every Monday. Doesn’t Justin Rose travel with Doesn’t he have his own his RV? RV. History RV. It’s the whole the right? like infrared. Mhm. Steam cold plunge. He’s got the bike with the the mask and everything on it. I need to be friend Justin Rose and just skip the line with all these other That’s when you know you’re rich. You got your just RV just around. I fly and then it follows behind me 100%.
