She’s taken a swing for the worse
Lydia Ko’s swing was once a thing of rare beauty. Smooth and effortless with every move synchronised to perfection. Unfortunately she chased the fool’s gold of extra yards off the tee and that swing is now gone.
What she has is a swing that looks much like her competitors – nice but no more than that. That beautiful effortless transition as she started the club down is gone. That’s the danger with swing changes. Once an alteration is made, it cannot necessarily be changed back if it doesn’t work.
Under coach David Leadbetter she went for extra yards off the tee and a different shot shape.
All she succeeded in doing was losing that precious rhythm with no discernible benefit – she has lost distance off the tee every year since 2014 according to LPGA Tour statistics.
That’s something that every hacker learns - hitting the ball harder doesn’t necessarily bring extra distance because the timing and contact aren’t as pure.
Now that she has thankfully ditched Leadbetter and his A-swing for Gary Gilchrist, the question is can she get back to her previous best? While the changes are sensible it’s looking increasingly unlikely she will again reach the same giddy heights - world No 1 for 85 weeks and back-to-back major winner.
Tiger Woods is exhibit A for golfers who have made major swing changes and made it work.
While Ko is a rare talent, she doesn’t possess some of the attributes that helped Woods make three different swings work at the top level.
The first is his obsessive nature. Ko knows there is more to life than golf so, while she works hard, she doesn’t do it to the exclusion of everything else.
Secondly, Woods was long off the tee, particularly when he first came on tour. He could afford to lose a few yards here and there as he tried different shot shapes and changed his swing to take the big miss out of play.
Ko cannot. She is already one of the shorter hitters on tour (127th this year) and that will only get worse as more athletic players continue to come through.
And that brings us to the main reason why she won’t regain her place at the top of the women’s golf world.
When Ko first got to No 1 in 2015 there was one player hitting the ball longer than 270 yards off the tee.
This year there are nine players in that category. That number is only going to increase.
Ko is hitting two extra clubs into greens and that puts her at a severe disadvantage, particularly under major conditions when greens are harder, so less receptive.
Ko’s best attribute was her accuracy and that should return as she adjusts to her new swing and equipment.
But that won’t solve the distance problem and that’s the main reason it wouldn’t be shocking if she never won another major.
Ko has said her game is close and she’s not wrong there. Her short game is not as impressive as two years ago, which is probably due to trying to bed in a new swing but that too will return.
However, she seems to have lost that Spiethian knack of making a putt when it absolutely has to be made to keep a round going.
Every year new players come on tour who hit the ball further and score lower.
That’s why she will never be No 1 again.
‘‘It’s looking increasingly unlikely she will again reach the same giddy heights.’’ Phil Hamilton ‘‘Ko is not in over her head in terms of physical ability. She is young, smart, and apparently injury free.’’ Kevin Norquay