Jessica Korda
BIO: No. 13 Women’s World Golf Ranking; No. 12 LPGA Official Money List; No. 5 Race to CME Globe; No. 8 Average Driving Distance (274.2); 6 LPGA titles
4D SWING: Friday, Round 2. Hole measured 379 yards.
BACKGROUND: Tied for the lead at -3 early in Thursday’s round, Korda arrived at No. 6 on Friday at +2 for the championship. She hit 3-wood into the fairway (252 yards), had a sand wedge from 126, and two-putted for par.
TAKEAWAYS
00:00:00 – Jessica sets up with the toes pointing slightly outward. This helps with rotating the body away from the target on the backswing and toward the target on the downswing. Her arms and club form a lower case “y” in the setup.
00:00:04 – By the time her lead arm (left) is parallel to the ground, the wrists are hinged and form a 90-degree angle. This leverage helps to store power that’ll be released at impact. Notice the letter “L” here.
00:00:05 to 00:00:06 – Before Jessica completes the backswing, we can already see the lower body change directions. At 5’11”, she’s one of the taller players on the LPGA Tour. It’s easier for her to generate more speed due to a bigger swing arc.
00:00:07 to 00:00:08 – The left shoulder is tilted towards the ball. Many golfers tend to stand up and lose the front shoulder tilt. They lose connection with their core and don’t get the needed stretch of the muscles.
00:00:10 to 00:00:11 – The arms travel a long distance here. They’re moving fast while the lower body remains stable and hasn’t taken off yet.
00:00:12 to 00:00:14 – The left hip is clearing out of the way quickly. This aids in creating more speed but also helps the club to swing back around on a plane left of the target line rather than down the target line too long.
00:00:16 to 00:00:17 – While the head remains back, her arms are in full extension. The club is designed to rotate, and we’re seeing it clearly.
00:00:17 to 00:00:18 – The left arm stays connected to her chest as the left elbow starts to fold. Even though the ball is gone by this point, the folding action is a contributing factor to clubhead speed (similar to pulling back and snapping a towel).
00:00:21 to 00:00:22 – The club finishes near her neck. Many golfers have a much lower finish because they’ve swung the club on a path across their target line, which leads to pulls and slices.
Next Up: Megha Ganne