Instructor to Instructor: Meredith Gets Quick Swing Tip

LPGA Instructor Meredith Kirk gets a quick swing tip from the PGA Director of Instruction at the Grande Dunes Golf Performance Center, Dale Ketola (Behind the scenes look)

Show Transcription

Dale: All right. So here's the swing that we just looked at with you. The ball flight is pretty good. We saw that your path was really neutral, which means you did a lot of straight shots. So just for comparison, we'll look at something real simple, like balance. Okay? So this line goes up from the ball of the foot, straight up. You look at this student here, their knee is just to the left of that line, elbow is just to the right. And that line hits them kind of right at the top of their back right there. Now if we look at yours, your knee goes just to the right of that. Your elbow is further off the line and the line hits you in the middle of that.

All that means is you're a little bit on your toes, and that's all it means. All right? And then in the swing, we'll see a little bit of just being a little bit... I call it kind of on the front of your skis or on front of your shoes there. So once we start the swing itself, you have a really good spot here. And then when you come down, because you're a little forward, you'll kind of have to stand up just a little bit. That's your compensation. It's actually a good compensation, because it gets the club right on the back of the ball and you're hitting straight shots. I mean, where the club is really good. You can see you're a little bit taller there at the ball than you were when you set up.

Meredith :So you don't think that necessarily is a bad thing? Or is that something that you would correct at the time?

Dale:I like better balance. That's easier. It's not that you can't hit good shots this way. You'll just have... It takes a little bit more practice. A little bit more compensations. So if you're athletic and you can make that little compensation and hit the club down there, you're off and running, but you might have a bad day tomorrow and a good day the next day.

Meredith :So I think that came into play. I call that my thrust. I think it came into play when I was six, seven, eight, nine years old playing with boys, and I would always try to kill it. And so I've done that move. And even when I played a little bit in college, my coaches would tell me the same thing. Better balance, to try to get rid of that move. So what do you suggest? Do I feel the weight a little... Do I step back a little bit...

Dale: You're going to feel like you're more on your heels. You can still do that thing to get your power, because that's how you get power, but you've got to do it from the middle of your shoes instead of the front of your shoes. So even a guy like Justin Thomas, he's in good balance on the middle of his shoes. He's going to do what you're talking about and get up on his toes. That's what you do, but he's not quite as tall at impact as you were there.

Meredith: No, he's not.

Dale:Right.

Meredith: So do you think just staying, not coming up. Just trying to hold out a second longer through extension?

Dale: I would say just at the set up, instead of being over here like this, you just got to be more this way.

Meredith: Okay. Will it change my lie angle?

Dale: It shouldn't. It's just balance, that's all. Instead of being, I call it top-heavy, where everything looks like you might fall down this way, you're going to feel like you're more upright.