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Lydia Ko takes ownership of her swing

Editor’s note: This story appeared in the Oct. 24, 2014 issue of Golfweek, before Lydia Ko won the CME Group Tour Championship on Nov. 23.

Lydia Ko received a fair amount of criticism last winter for leaving the only coach she’d ever known, just weeks after turning professional. But Ko, 17, of New Zealand, wanted to set up a new life at sunny ChampionsGate near Orlando, Fla., where Sean Hogan and David Leadbetter now look after her swing and help pace what could be a Hall of Fame career.

“The great ones that we’ve found in the past – whether it’s Nick Price or Ernie Els – they all take ownership of their golf game,” Hogan said. “They help you understand them even better. I think Lydia does a good job of that.”

Hogan, an Irishman who played college golf at South Florida, began working as a Leadbetter trainee in 1994. The two tag-team Ko’s instruction, with Leadbetter keeping an eye on her at tournaments while watching fellow students Michelle Wie and Suzann Pettersen.

One of Hogan’s goals is to take Ko’s shotmaking capabilities to another level. While the “low, squeezy fade” has been this feel player’s insurance shot, Hogan wants to expand Ko’s ability to work the ball (up and down, side to side).

“That will really allow her to dismantle any course out there,” he said.

• • •

The student: Lydia Ko

Age: 17

Height: 5 feet, 5 inches

What’s in the bag: Callaway X2 Hot Pro driver (8.5 degrees, with Graphite Design Tour AD DI 5 R1 shaft), Callaway X2 Hot 3-wood (15 degrees, with Graphite Design Tour AD DI 5 R1), Callaway Big Bertha 5-wood (18 degrees, with Graphite Design Tour AD DI 5 R1 shaft), Callaway X2 Hot Pro hybrids (20 and 23 degrees, with Graphite Design Tour AD DI 6 R shafts), Callaway X2 Hot 5 hybrid (25 degrees, with Graphite Design Tour AD DI 6 R shaft), Callaway Apex Pro Forged irons (6-PW, with UST Recoil 670 F3 shafts), Callaway Mack Daddy 2 Tour Grind wedges (54 and 60 degrees, with UST Recoil 670 F3 shafts) and a Odyssey Tank Cruiser No. 1 putter. She plays a Titleist Pro V1 ball.

Credentials: 2014 LPGA rookie has won twice this season (Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic and Marathon Classic). She won four pro titles as an amateur, including the 2012 and ’13 CN Canadian Women’s Opens. At 15 years, 4 months and 2 days, she became the youngest winner in LPGA history. Ko was the 2012 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion.

• • •

The teacher: Sean Hogan

Age: 45

Title: Leadbetter Golf Academy, master instructor, ChampionsGate, Fla.

Credentials: Member of the Irish National Junior team alongside Darren Clarke and Padraig Harrington. Played college golf at South Florida. Joined Leadbetter in 1994 and has worked at academy locations in Austria, Spain and Portugal. He also serves as the director of instruction at New Jersey’s Crystal Springs Resort.

Notable students: Fredrik Jacobson, Ben Curtis and Suzann Pettersen

• • •

Hit the draw: The step drill

To help learn to hit a draw, Hogan has Ko complete a drill in which she pulls her left foot back toward her right on the backswing, then steps forward and toward the ball on the downswing.

“The step drill really promotes a draw because it drops the club to the inside on the way down,” Hogan said.

As the club drops when Ko steps, she swings toward the right of the target, which in correlation with her square clubface helps put draw spin on the ball.

• • •

Warm-up: Palm-push drill

Ko uses a warm-up drill that doesn’t involve a club, but it helps her loosen up while promoting the desired feel of her swing. It also provides a nice stretch for her upper body.

She crosses her hands with the left above the right, then simply turns back and through, simulating a swing. Her hand positions provide a little extra resistance, helping Ko feel her body turn back and release forward.

“It promotes a nice windup, nice transition, then she just has to unwind,” Hogan said. “It allows her to feel everything in her swing and gives her an active warm-up.”

• • •

Swing focus: Flow drill

With a focus on enhancing her natural rhythm, Ko often warms up and practices full shots by starting her backswing with the clubhead positioned well in front of the ball. She then takes the club back over the ball, completes her full backswing, then swings to impact.

“She’s more feel-oriented than technical, so we use her feel to incorporate the technical thing,” Hogan said. “Her rhythm is a secret source that just moves her around the course. She works on rhythm drills just to enhance what is already there.”

By starting the club in front of the ball, the move helps Ko focus on the swing as a motion instead of paying too much attention to any one position within the swing.

“Whenever you work on any position in your swing, it can get too static,” Hogan said. “By starting with the club forward, it helps keep her hands, arms and body in synchronicity.”

Ko has gone so far as to incorporate the move into her pre-shot routine, starting practice swings this way.

“It just feels good,” she said. “It keeps everything loose.”

• • •

Building consistency: Stability drill

One key to improvement, Hogan said, will be keeping Ko’s lower body more still during the swing, which should lead to better consistency. Ko has a tendency for her legs to be overactive in the swing, which puts stress on her timing and rhythm.

Ko places a shaft into the ground behind her right leg, and the butt of the shaft presses against her right thigh. She then makes regular swings. The drill prevents her weight from swaying too far to the right.

“It just keeps everything tight, helps her feel where her weight needs to be,” Hogan said.

• • •

Short game: Practice stirs creativity

Ko doesn’t fall back on any one short game drill. Hogan said the key to short game scoring is being able to hit any of the thousands of shots that a professional might face. Thus, Hogan and Ko practice with a handful of balls scattered around the practice green. Hogan said that promotes creativity and responsiveness, rather than one repetitive shot from one position when practicing with a shag bag.

• • •

Putting: Shorten the backswing

Ko said she sometimes struggles with her putting because she takes the putter too far away from the ball on her backswing.

In practice, she places a tee in the line behind her ball to restrict her backswing, which forces her to accelerate through impact with a more aggressive cross-handed stroke. That encourages a better strike and helps keep the ball on line.

– Drills compiled by Jason Lusk

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