Is Lydia Ko's pattern through impact similar to Hogan's? iteach care to weigh in?

[tylerdurden]

"What sets Ko apart from the giants of the game is an unmatched level of consistency. Ko's drives follow an invisible string that keeps her nearly immune to hazards and gnarly rough. A wild shot for Ko is a pace or two off the fairway.

She attacks greens as if they are pin cushions, taking stabs at one flag after another until it seems impossible for her to miss. Ko considers putting to be the weakest part of her game, which is probably a fair assessment. It''s not that onlookers expect every putt she hits to fall. It's that she hits so many approach shots so close, that four or five birde putts are bound to find the bottom of the cup. And just like that, Ko posted a tidy 68, as she did in the final round in Christchurch" -Golfweek Feb 15 2013.

 

Sound familiar?!?!?!?!?!?!? I need to see her play in person, I'd honestly rather watch her than anyone on the PGA tour at this point.

 

[media=]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kTPmb_17Mw&list=PL0GU3-KVLb8-Y6zibL8giCFIkGqdfodVi&index=1[/media]

 

I personally think her pattern is as close to Hogan's through impact as anyone in the game today. But I'd like to hear from more Hoganites and teachers if possible. Iteach is the pattern master from the sounds of it so it;d be great to hear from him.

 

You can see in this video the toe of her club never turns over. I know it's one of the things Dana D looks at in swings too.

 

And she is featured in the golf week article this week and it makes her sound even more impressive.

[tylerdurden]

Also, I understand her pivot has quite a few differences and I am overlooking those. But I think the end result in terms of what her club and arms are doing through impact is the part that is very similar.

[threejack]

[quote name='tylerdurden' timestamp='1361457361' post='6471327']
I'd honestly rather watch her than anyone on the PGA tour at this point.
[/quote]

Same here. I'll be watching any time she's playing.

[ej002]

Pretty solid, here foot work and leg action sucks. If she did the tennis racket thing on her right foot and got her legs to get in synch - her release would look even more hoganish than it does now. You can see she runs out of leg causing the right arm to extend too soon. I bet when she fixes that, it would be a bad-azz swing (which it already is).

[tylerdurden]

[quote name='ej002' timestamp='1361550149' post='6479933']
Pretty solid, here foot work and leg action sucks. If she did the tennis racket thing on her right foot and got her legs to get in synch - her release would look even more hoganish than it does now. You can see she runs out of leg causing the right arm to extend too soon. I bet when she fixes that, it would be a bad-azz swing (which it already is).
[/quote]

Agreed. Sounds like we both agree it could be even better if pivot improved, BUT pivot is already good enough to have hoganish release dynamics. They just aren't on steroids like the man himself.

What is the right foot thing you are talking about?

[Eag1e]

[quote name='ej002' timestamp='1361550149' post='6479933']
Pretty solid, here foot work and leg action sucks. If she did the tennis racket thing on her right foot and got her legs to get in synch - her release would look even more hoganish than it does now. You can see she runs out of leg causing the right arm to extend too soon. I bet when she fixes that, it would be a bad-azz swing (which it already is).
[/quote]

I get that this is entirely just batting around thoughts on if she resembles Hogan or not but it's kinda painful reading an OP about how she's apparently the best female ballstriker in the world - with the way the quote in the OP is worded it makes it out like she may even be best of any gender in the world - and anyone would even bat around the idea of messing with her swing. ,-,

[tylerdurden]

Good point eagle. I guess it's not fair to say anything about the action sucks given that swing is a chain of movement all connected and her movement could be overall best in world based on results. But I think it's fair to say some things could be improved just for discussion purposes. But obviously any teacher should proceed with extreme caution at this point

[rankoutsider]

Lydia Ko is not going to read this forum and change her swing based on anything she reads here. If she does, then goodness help her, she won't last a week in the game. I look at these threads more as a chance to discuss characteristics of very good swings so we can collectively think about our own games.

Here lower body action in the transition and throughswing looks very Hoganlike to me as well. She seams to move her head back off the line a bit and then corrects it before coming through, which is perfectly fine, but not the best idea in the world. There are other swings where she seems to load around a somewhat more stable head/neck point. She may have been really trying to bust one on the swings where she lets her head float a bit as she loads the club.

It also appears to me that the driver swing can get a bit across the line with the face shut right at the top (could be the camera angle; she is certainly not laid off at all at the top), but she clears her front side so early and agressively that there is no danger of pulling the ball. The shut face does account for how she gets so much roll on the ball though.

I really like her swing a lot and watch LPGA golf whenever she is in the field and contending.

[ej002]

[quote name='Eag1e' timestamp='1361638296' post='6486559']
I get that this is entirely just batting around thoughts on if she resembles Hogan or not but it's kinda painful reading an OP about how she's apparently the best female ballstriker in the world - with the way the quote in the OP is worded it makes it out like she may even be best of any gender in the world - and anyone would even bat around the idea of messing with her swing. ,-,
[/quote]
If is ain't broke don't fix it - we all get that, but that is not the point of this thread. Her leg action is jacked up, 100%. If she could polish it up, it was be an even better swing. It is pretty solid swing as it is, no one is denying that.

I that FO driver swing, it looks like she doesnt get to the left pivot point, her hips spin out, the right heel comes up super early, and at impact she doesnt have that much spine angle. So her head must duck out backwards a bit as Rank pointed out (which by the way, good to see you back on here Rank). That is my opinion - jacked up leg work is the cause. Nice release, it can be better.

[tembolo1284]

wow...ya...porked up leg work.

[rankoutsider]

[quote name='tembolo1284' timestamp='1361817399' post='6500015']
wow...ya...porked up leg work.
[/quote]

She may have really been going after one with that driver swing we are talking about of course, but she does have a bit too much going on with her feet, I think. Oosthuizen gets the same thing going at times when he is trying to belt one.

The head movement might be a very slight compensation for a minor, minor issue with the takeaway. In a few swings you can see that the wrists move a tad early in the takeaway and let the club come inside, so in some swings she is a fraction under-plane in the first move; the compensation for this is usu to let the head drift back just a hair to clear a path for the club. Not a big deal, but something that she seems to not want in her swing, because most of the time she doesn't do it at all.

Being a shorter player myself (in terms of height, not necessarily distance off the tee), I know that sometimes if you want to hit it high you feel like you have to do so artificially, with an early wrist hinge, but that is almost never the best way to go about it. There is some of that in Ko's fantastic swing for sure.

Nice to hear from you ej. Hope you are doing well. Work has kept me off WRX for a while.