No. 1 ball-striker on KLPGA Tour shows ropes

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

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No. 1 ball-striker on KLPGA Tour shows ropes

Posted : 2019-12-23 16:52

Updated : 2019-12-23 18:43

Choi Hye-jin celebrates her victory at the SK Networks Seokyung Ladies Classic held on Jeju Island in November. /Korea Times file

By Kim Jeong-kyoo

The New Year is drawing closer. Korean golf fans are eager to know if the feat similar to what happened this season would follow in 2020. Five talented KLPGA Tour rookies combined for eight victories, emerging as future stars and heralding South Korea to remain as a golf powerhouse.

Leaving Korean golf addicts equally curious is if Choi Hye-jin is able to repeat the same accomplishment in 2020. She captured five victories on the KLPGA Tour in the 2019 season, securing nearly every award including the Best Female Golfer Award. Incidentally, she ended her first season in 2018 gloriously, winning the Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year awards, plus many plaudits.

Experts agree the 20-year-old pulled off the stunning feat thanks to her dependable golf swing and ball-striking mettle rather than by fluke.

Choi, 167 centimeters in height, has a powerful, consistent golf swing. Equipped with a graceful and fluid swing, she averaged 252 yards off the tee, hitting the fairways more than 80 percent.

Here are some tips for those constantly dreaming of longer, more accurate shots. Copy the two key ingredients of Choi's vibrant golf swing that made her the KLPGA Tour's No. 1 player.

First, she keeps her head still throughout each swing until well after she completes her strike. This allows her to swing the club on an identical path, producing solid, center face contact every time she hits the ball. This, in turn, boosts her confidence, enabling her to carry out a vigorous, free-flowing swing without the slightest hesitation.

More importantly, that ensures she hits down or up properly depending on the club she uses and the ball position.

To ensure she catches the ball on the upswing, Choi plays the ball in line with her left ear when she hits a driver. With an iron she places the ball between her nose and left cheek to promote a downward blow.

Indeed, a key to pinpoint accuracy is keeping your head steady with your mind's eye fixed on the intended target. Set your mind on this when you are struggling with less-accurate shots, and you will enjoy hitting your target precisely.

Second and more importantly Choi keeps her left wrist bowed at the top of the backswing or at the start of the downswing. In every great golf swing, completing the backswing coincides with the beginning of the downswing.

Bowing her left wrist during the transition allows her to reroute her club automatically to the inside. In other words, that helps her flatten her downswing plane, slot her club into the proper downswing path and hit ideally from inside her backswing path. This allows her to keep her clubface square or a touch closed through the ball.

Similarly, bowing her left wrist allows her to lag the clubhead behind her hands and body through the ball, delaying the unhinging of her wrists. That helps her achieve maximum club speed, giving her a greater chance at long shots.

Also, her bowed left wrist lets her ball fly on a slightly lower trajectory, giving her the competitive edge in the wind.

Critically, as the club works on the correct path and plane, she can keep her head still without complicating her swing. Typically, she curves her ball a touch left or hits straight shots.

To bow your left wrist with less effort, you first need to grip your club correctly with your left hand. Hold the club lightly with the last three fingers of your left hand with the heel of the left hand pressing the handle down. You need to feel more pressure on the tips of the last three fingers.

Granted, you need to feel more pressure there as you go back, reach the top and come down. That will help you bow your left wrist easily and correctly.

Equally important is retracting your club from the ball correctly. Make sure you take your club back the same way you would for a long putt.

Bowing your left wrist during the transition is a gateway leading into a pleasant, new world of your golf life. Done properly, it will transform you instantly.

Incidentally, many top-class PGA Tour players including Brooks Koepka, Justin Johnson and Jon Rahm bow their left wrist as they set up their downswing.

skim@koreatimes.co.kr