Jake Knapp on Tempo, Power, Training & Trusting Your Swing
Mark Immelman
14,364 views
We are joined by PGA TOUR winner Jake Knapp for a candid and insightful conversation about golf swing development, tempo, power, trust, training, resilience, and learning how to compete at the highest level.
Jake is known for one of the most admired golf swings in the game, but he shares that he has not always seen it that way. He talks openly about being too critical of his own motion, learning to give himself more credit, and understanding how small changes can make a major difference in performance over time.
Mark and Jake discuss what it really takes to make a swing change that holds up under pressure. Jake explains how his work has been driven by statistics, consistency, repeatability, and finding feels that transfer from the range to the golf course. He also shares why golfers need to trust the work, get uncomfortable in practice, and recognize that improvement often comes through small, incremental gains rather than instant transformation.
The conversation also covers Jake’s use of training aids, his left thumb injury and surgery, his approach to fitness, how he creates power without looking rushed, why his tempo appears so smooth, how he uses a mini driver as a fairway finder, and why golfers should embrace their own natural patterns instead of chasing every swing trend.
______________________
Chapters
00:00 Welcome Jake Knapp
00:30 Mark Immelman on Jake’s admired golf swing
01:00 Being critical of your own swing
02:00 Why golfers struggle to give themselves credit
03:00 Making meaningful swing changes
04:00 Working with a coach and avoiding cosmetic changes
05:00 Statistic-driven improvement
06:00 Finding the right feel and making it repeatable
07:00 Taking range work to the golf course
08:00 Trusting swing changes under pressure
09:00 Incremental improvement and building belief
10:00 Jake’s ball-striking progress
11:00 Training aids, practice structure, and swing work
12:00 The viral training-aid video
13:00 How training aids helped Jake understand patterns
14:00 Setup, backswing, and getting out of your own way
15:00 Finding simple feels that transfer
16:00 Less forced positions and more awareness
17:00 Self-awareness and turning thoughts into feels
18:00 Using visual checkpoints in practice
19:00 Working through different feels with a coach
20:00 Jake’s left thumb injury
21:00 Playing with a splint and thumb instability
22:00 Surgery and discovering the ligament was fully ruptured
23:00 Managing the injury in competition
24:00 Training, fitness, and athletic development
25:00 Training athletes first, then golfers
26:00 Strength, speed, power, and difficult lies
27:00 Physical presence and Tiger Woods’ influence
28:00 Jake’s tempo and effortless-looking speed
29:00 Creating wind-up without unnecessary tension
30:00 Big muscles, body rotation, and acceleration
31:00 Soft arms and athletic motion
32:00 Releasing energy through the ball
33:00 Medicine ball and sledgehammer comparisons
34:00 Heavy clubs and feeling the clubhead
35:00 Why amateurs should be careful copying Jake’s motion
36:00 Chest rotation, arm structure, and clubface control
37:00 Avoiding the handle pull
38:00 Working backward from the finish
39:00 The mini driver and fairway finder
40:00 Tiger-inspired stingers and position golf
41:00 Using less club to reduce stress
42:00 Keeping distance as an advantage
43:00 Embracing your natural golf DNA
44:00 Playing with spin, launch, and different shots
45:00 The advantage of power on the right golf course
46:00 Resilience, UCLA, and the road to the PGA TOUR
47:00 Winning in Mexico when the driver disappeared
48:00 Staying present when things go wrong
49:00 Preparing for pressure and chipping before the final round
50:00 W.I.N. — What’s Important Now
51:00 Where to follow Jake Knapp
52:00 Closing thoughts
______________________
STREAMING: On the Mark is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts and wherever else you listen to podcasts.
ABOUT ON THE MARK: Mark’s knowledge, insight and experience have made him a sought-after mind on the PGA and European tours. Through his career, he has taught and/or consulted to various Major Champions, PGA Tour winners and global Tour professionals such as: Larry Mize, Loren Roberts, Louis Oosthuizen, Patton Kizzire, Trevor Immelman, Charl Schwartzel, Scott Brown, Andrew Georgiou and Rourke can der Spuy. His golf teaching experience and anecdotal storytelling broadcasting style makes him a popular host for golf outings.
SOCIAL MEDIA
👉 Follow Mark
Twitter: mark_immelman
Instagram: mark_immelman
-Facebook: markimmelmangolf
👉 Follow Guest
WEBSITE: Read top-notch golf content from Mark at https://markimmelman.com
______________________
#golf #MarkImmelman #PGA #PGATour #golfpro #golftip #golfcoach
20 Comments
I have a quick swing question: how can I learn to shallow the club without getting stuck behind? I’ve played around with the feel of “losing the arm wrestle” with my right arm at the top of the downswing, but I tend to get stuck behind when I do that. I feel that I am too steep into the ball, so my miss is often a high flaring right shot.
Jake Knapp on Tempo, Power, Training & Trusting Your Swing
Mark Immelman
14,364 views
We are joined by PGA TOUR winner Jake Knapp for a candid and insightful conversation about golf swing development, tempo, power, trust, training, resilience, and learning how to compete at the highest level.
Jake is known for one of the most admired golf swings in the game, but he shares that he has not always seen it that way. He talks openly about being too critical of his own motion, learning to give himself more credit, and understanding how small changes can make a major difference in performance over time.
Mark and Jake discuss what it really takes to make a swing change that holds up under pressure. Jake explains how his work has been driven by statistics, consistency, repeatability, and finding feels that transfer from the range to the golf course. He also shares why golfers need to trust the work, get uncomfortable in practice, and recognize that improvement often comes through small, incremental gains rather than instant transformation.
The conversation also covers Jake’s use of training aids, his left thumb injury and surgery, his approach to fitness, how he creates power without looking rushed, why his tempo appears so smooth, how he uses a mini driver as a fairway finder, and why golfers should embrace their own natural patterns instead of chasing every swing trend.
______________________
Chapters
00:00 Welcome Jake Knapp
00:30 Mark Immelman on Jake’s admired golf swing
01:00 Being critical of your own swing
02:00 Why golfers struggle to give themselves credit
03:00 Making meaningful swing changes
04:00 Working with a coach and avoiding cosmetic changes
05:00 Statistic-driven improvement
06:00 Finding the right feel and making it repeatable
07:00 Taking range work to the golf course
08:00 Trusting swing changes under pressure
09:00 Incremental improvement and building belief
10:00 Jake’s ball-striking progress
11:00 Training aids, practice structure, and swing work
12:00 The viral training-aid video
13:00 How training aids helped Jake understand patterns
14:00 Setup, backswing, and getting out of your own way
15:00 Finding simple feels that transfer
16:00 Less forced positions and more awareness
17:00 Self-awareness and turning thoughts into feels
18:00 Using visual checkpoints in practice
19:00 Working through different feels with a coach
20:00 Jake’s left thumb injury
21:00 Playing with a splint and thumb instability
22:00 Surgery and discovering the ligament was fully ruptured
23:00 Managing the injury in competition
24:00 Training, fitness, and athletic development
25:00 Training athletes first, then golfers
26:00 Strength, speed, power, and difficult lies
27:00 Physical presence and Tiger Woods’ influence
28:00 Jake’s tempo and effortless-looking speed
29:00 Creating wind-up without unnecessary tension
30:00 Big muscles, body rotation, and acceleration
31:00 Soft arms and athletic motion
32:00 Releasing energy through the ball
33:00 Medicine ball and sledgehammer comparisons
34:00 Heavy clubs and feeling the clubhead
35:00 Why amateurs should be careful copying Jake’s motion
36:00 Chest rotation, arm structure, and clubface control
37:00 Avoiding the handle pull
38:00 Working backward from the finish
39:00 The mini driver and fairway finder
40:00 Tiger-inspired stingers and position golf
41:00 Using less club to reduce stress
42:00 Keeping distance as an advantage
43:00 Embracing your natural golf DNA
44:00 Playing with spin, launch, and different shots
45:00 The advantage of power on the right golf course
46:00 Resilience, UCLA, and the road to the PGA TOUR
47:00 Winning in Mexico when the driver disappeared
48:00 Staying present when things go wrong
49:00 Preparing for pressure and chipping before the final round
50:00 W.I.N. — What’s Important Now
51:00 Where to follow Jake Knapp
52:00 Closing thoughts
______________________
STREAMING: On the Mark is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts and wherever else you listen to podcasts.
ABOUT ON THE MARK: Mark’s knowledge, insight and experience have made him a sought-after mind on the PGA and European tours. Through his career, he has taught and/or consulted to various Major Champions, PGA Tour winners and global Tour professionals such as: Larry Mize, Loren Roberts, Louis Oosthuizen, Patton Kizzire, Trevor Immelman, Charl Schwartzel, Scott Brown, Andrew Georgiou and Rourke can der Spuy. His golf teaching experience and anecdotal storytelling broadcasting style makes him a popular host for golf outings.
SOCIAL MEDIA
👉 Follow Mark
Twitter: mark_immelman
Instagram: mark_immelman
-Facebook: markimmelmangolf
👉 Follow Guest
WEBSITE: Read top-notch golf content from Mark at https://markimmelman.com
______________________
#golf #MarkImmelman #PGA #PGATour #golfpro #golftip #golfcoach