Ochoa's Powerful Swing

Filed in archive Golf Instruction on July 15, 2008

I have argued before in this space that most amateur golfers who are men would be well advised to watch how the LPGA Tour players hit the ball.

Why? Simply because the swings on the women's tour are much like the swings made by low handicap amateurs. And their games from the tee and the fairway are very similar, too.

Forget about trying to emulate Tiger Woods' swing or Sergio Garcia's - they're just too athletic for most of us.



Here's a case in point: Lorena Ochoa. She's the world's number one women's player, is 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighs 127 pounds and is the longest driver on tour with an average length this season of more than 270 yards. She's won a major or two with that diminutive package, as well.

Her distance comes from her lower body. We've all heard that you start the downswing with the lower body whether it's via the feet, legs, knees or hips. The common note is the lower body is where the clubhead speed begins to generate during the downswing.

Check out Golf Digest's feature on Ochoa along with frame-by-frame shots of her driver swing. There's also a video of her swing at their great site that contains just about every top tour player, man or woman, currently playing.