Annika Sorenstam’s 3 easy keys for hitting extra fairways

Golf instruction is ever-evolving, however the very best recommendation stands the check of time. In Timeless Suggestions, we spotlight a few of the biggest recommendation lecturers and gamers have allotted within the pages of GOLF Journal. Right now we glance again at our June 2003 situation the place Annika Sorenstam shared her secrets and techniques for accuracy off the tee. For limitless entry to the total GOLF Journal digital archive, be part of InsideGOLF right this moment; you’ll take pleasure in $140 of worth for less than $39.99/yr.

Just a few years in the past once I interviewed Annika Sorenstam, she stated one thing that caught with me: “I by no means bought uninterested in hitting fairways.” Sensible logic.

Within the period of bomb-and-gouge, the artwork of accuracy off the tee has misplaced its luster. However that’s to not say hitting fairways is unimportant. Taking part in from the brief grass will all the time be simpler than hacking it out of the tough. That’s why it’s crucial that you simply discover ways to wield the driving force in a method that ensures you’re preserving your ball within the fairway.

Sorenstam was wonderful at this. Throughout her profession, she ranked inside the highest 20 in driving accuracy eight instances. Pair that along with her legendary shot-making skills and also you had the makings of one of many all-time greats. It’s no marvel she’s probably the most embellished LPGA star of the trendy period.

Within the midst of her heyday, again in 2003, Sorenstam sat down with GOLF Journal to share a few of her secrets and techniques. Amongst them have been a few of her keys for pinpoint accuracy off the tee. Verify ’em out beneath.

Annika’s driving accuracy keys

Everybody needs to understand how I plan to compete with the boys when my common drive goes solely 265 yards. My reply: by preserving the ball within the brief grass. Accuracy off the tee is one among my greatest strengths. Final yr, I hit greater than 80 % of fairways on the LPGA Tour (which might have ranked second on the PGA Tour). If I do this at Colonial, I feel I’ll do very properly.

Most amateurs ought to think about pondering this fashion. I wager they’d rating considerably decrease in the event that they made hitting fairways, as an alternative of maximizing distance, their high precedence. Even when your drive goes a great distance, you possibly can’t anticipate to hit many greens from the tough or from behind bushes. Discovering the green begins with placing the ball solidly, then having the ability to management the place it goes. That is my plan for the Colonial.

Beneath are my three keys to hitting strong, straight drives: one for the backswing, one for squaring the clubface, and a 3rd for tempo. Attempt them, together with a couple of bonus factors I’ve included on the way to rating your greatest constantly. 

1. Give attention to the path hip

One cause I’m in a position to hit so many fairways is that my hips keep centered on my backswing. I merely flip my higher physique over my proper leg, with my hips. A clean tempo permits this; once I swing too shortly, my proper hip tends to tug up on the backswing, dropping my left shoulder. This throws my complete prove of whack.

When my tempo will get fast, I take into consideration turning my shoulders again degree, like I’m steadying the wings of an airplane. This encourages my proper hip to rotate, fairly than carry. With my proper hip absolutely turned, I could make an enormous shoulder flip to the highest.

Do this: As you swing the membership again, consider turning your hips inside an imaginary cylinder the width of your stance; don’t let your proper hip slide previous your proper foot. To coach my hips to maneuver on this vogue, I typically observe with an umbrella caught within the floor simply outdoors my proper foot. The article is to show my proper hip with out bumping the umbrella. If my hip sways in any respect, it would hit the umbrella.

2. Comply with the ball

My head doesn’t keep down after affect; it follows the ball. That’s not simply an idiosyncrasy. As I swing by, I’m turning my head with my physique, releasing each to the goal concurrently.

This head swivel could look uncommon, however it’s been very efficient — some name it my signature transfer. For one, it helps me launch the clubhead extra with my arms and physique, so I don’t must rely a lot on the timing of my palms to sq. the clubface. Second, it adjustments my focus from the ball to the goal, so all of my swing’s power is directed to the place I need to hit the ball. After affect, it feels just like the membership, my physique, and even my head are chasing the ball.

Do this: I used to have a reverse-C end, so my swing coach, Henri Reis, instructed this drill. To encourage my weight to shift left on the downswing, he had me hit balls turning my head to the goal earlier than affect. It labored so properly eliminating my reverse C, I made it part of my regular swing. 

Attempt it your self, particularly in case your weight tends to fall again at affect and also you make inconsistent contact. Hit some wedges, letting your eyes monitor ahead as an alternative of making an attempt to maintain your head down. You’ll really feel a greater shift to your left facet and sq. the face for straighter photographs.

3. Groove your tempo

My caddie, Terry McNamara, tells me to “swing six” any time he sees my tempo quickening. Ona scale of 1 to 10, six is my velocity restrict for my driver. Any greater than that, and I begin to lose management.

Discover a swing tempo together with your driver that means that you can swing in management. Swing more durable than six should you like, so long as you’re in a position to preserve your stability. It is best to end together with your weight on the surface of  your entrance foot and your again foot on its toes. Don’t transcend your stability threshold; should you do, you’ll lose accuracy. To begin in stability, distribute your weight evenly on the balls of your ft. You need to really feel secure in each route — entrance, again, left, and proper. Then, as Terry jogs my memory, merely “swing six.”

Do this: When you end in stability, together with your physique in a comparatively straight line over your entrance foot, likelihood is you had good stability in the course of the swing. And a balanced swing provides you the very best probability to make sq. contact. The subsequent time you play, charge your end place from 1 to 10 on every drive — 1 for falling over and 10 for excellent stability. This drill will get you fascinated about your end and stability, which can finally preserve you within the fairway.