Images from a swing sequence breakdown for Lydia Ko.
FAVORITE MOVE No. 1: Lydia’s lines are excellent – her back is straight, shoulders are over her toes, and hands are underneath her shoulders. More importantly, she looks super-relaxed. (Analysis: GCA lead coach Jason Birnbaum; photo: Fred Vuich; click here to watch a video breakdown of Ko’s swing.)
The clubhead is outside of her hands and there’s a bit of toe down, both characteristics of the A-Swing. The closed club face helps her pick up a few more yards. (Analysis: GCA lead coach Jason Birnbaum; photo: Fred Vuich; click here to watch a video breakdown of Ko’s swing.)
FAVORITE MOVE No. 2: In terms of power moves, this is it. She gets the club standing up very quickly on the backswing, setting the stage to drop it underneath with speed on the downswing. (Analysis: GCA lead coach Jason Birnbaum; photo: Fred Vuich; click here to watch a video breakdown of Ko’s swing.)
One advantage to setting the club more upright on the backswing is that it feels much lighter in the hands, resulting in more clubhead speed. (Analysis: GCA lead coach Jason Birnbaum; photo: Fred Vuich; click here to watch a video breakdown of Ko’s swing.)
For as short of parallel the club is, it still points to the right of the target (i.e., across the line); just another thing to help her swing more in to out. (Analysis: GCA lead coach Jason Birnbaum; photo: Fred Vuich; click here to watch a video breakdown of Ko’s swing.)
At this point the club is just beginning to drop to the inside. Note how quiet her lower body is – her feet barely make an indent in the ground! (Analysis: GCA lead coach Jason Birnbaum; photo: Fred Vuich; click here to watch a video breakdown of Ko’s swing.)
FAVORITE MOVE No. 3: Contrast this move with the takeaway earlier (frame No. 2) and you can see just how much more the clubhead is swinging from the inside. (Analysis: GCA lead coach Jason Birnbaum; photo: Fred Vuich; click here to watch a video breakdown of Ko’s swing.)
The amount of separation she gets between her hips and shoulders in the previous frame really lets her snap the clubhead through impact and launch the ball high in the air. (Analysis: GCA lead coach Jason Birnbaum; photo: Fred Vuich; click here to watch a video breakdown of Ko’s swing.)
The shaft angle matches that of her shoulders, meaning she’s done a good job of keeping the club on-plane. The club face has also turned over nicely, promoting a distance-increasing draw. (Analysis: GCA lead coach Jason Birnbaum; photo: Fred Vuich; click here to watch a video breakdown of Ko’s swing.)
Lydia’s finish is textbook. She’s relaxed, balanced. It’s as if she could stand there long enough for her playing partners to hit their tee shots. (Analysis: GCA lead coach Jason Birnbaum; photo: Fred Vuich; click here to watch a video breakdown of Ko’s swing.)
Lydia Ko, the world’s top-ranked female player, recently announced she’ll be parting ways with swing coach David Leadbetter. While not the longest hitter in the women’s game, she did get just about everything she could from her diminutive frame. A model for Leadbetter’s A-Swing approach, Ko lifts the club virtually straight up on the backswing and then drops it to the inside on the downswing to create extra speed and distance. That, combined with the incredible amount of separation she gets between her hips and shoulders at impact, is why she hits it closer to 250 than 230. Check out the photo gallery and GCA lead coach Jason Birnbaum’s analysis to learn more.