Leadbetter takes swing: One change too many
Lydia Ko dumping her swing coach Ted Oh is one change too many, says former coach David Leadbetter.
Leadbetter, who coached Ko from
2013 to 2016, oversaw the 22-yearold’s rapid rise to the top of women’s golf.
However, those early years — when Ko won two majors and held the world No 1 spot for 84 weeks — now feel an age away.
Speaking to Radio Sport’s D’Arcy Waldegrave, Leadbetter said it has been sad to see Ko’s downfall.
“It’s just sad to see that Lydia has not continued along the path she was going on,” said Leadbetter.
“Considering, I would say, her start in professional golf was probably hotter than Tiger [Woods’], it’s obviously going to be very deflating for her and obviously they want to try somebody else. They’re falling fast these coaches, aren’t they?
“Unfortunately, it seems everything is muddled in her mind. Whether she’s being directed in the right way, whether she’s getting the right advice, whether it be parents or your advisers, I don’t know.
“But it’s just sad to see because as good as she was, as great a player as she was, she’s a good player still but she’s sort of back in the pack now.”
Last year’s victory at the Mediheal Championship was Ko’s 15th of her career but the only one since Oh took on the role in February 2018.
“We just mutually decided that it was time,” Ko told the Golf Channel.
“We ended on good terms . . . I have a lot to thank Ted for. He gave me a really solid blueprint simplifying my swing.”
Leadbetter said he believes making too many changes is one of the main reasons behind Ko’s recent form troubles.
“You look at somebody like a Jordan Spieth. I mean, look, he’s going through some terrible times recently but he and his coach are trying to work it out and that’s what you try to do.
“You try to find that little magic again and it was just very sad towards the end of 2017 where she decided because she had a poor last couple of months that she wanted to try something different.
“And, boy, did she try something different, from equipment, to coaches, to caddie, to workouts, her fitness coach, to her mental coach.
“When you make all these changes, it’s a shock to the system. Sometimes it can work, certainly, but a lot of times, it won’t. It’s trying to find that magic again which she had. She was a very special player.”
Leadbetter pointed to several technical areas in Ko’s game that have suffered since the big changes, including her ability to hit greens, previously a strength.
“The thing that’s most noticeable which is very important as far as statistics are concerned is her greens and regulation.
“She was always right up there in greens and regulation, up near the top. And now she’s way down. It puts a lot of stress on the rest of your game. She’s not hitting a lot of fairways but I think the biggest problem is that she’s not hitting a lot of greens.”
Leadbetter also said changes to her swing, as well as pushing herself too hard, may have contributed to Ko’s decline.
“Paige Mackenzie, who is a former tour professional herself, she came out and said ‘I think her swing looks better’. Well, it’s form over function isn’t it?
“The fact that she had a very functional swing, and towards the end of 2017, in my opinion, she was absolutely exhausted — she went through the Olympics, etc — and I think she should have taken probably a lot of time off, but she played.
“And when you play through fatigue and stress, as I think there was after the Olympics, and the rest of the year was pretty much a write-off.”
● Ko fired a three-over 75 opening round at the LPGA’s Mediheal Championship in San Francisco yesterday.
Ko is tied for 89th, with her poor first round denting her chances of defending her title from last year which was her last win on the LPGA tour.