Easy Does It is the name of the golf game I want you to try and play today…

‘The first time I grabbed a golf club, I knew that I’d do it for the rest of my life’

Michelle Wie

This week I want to look at the ladies game. Lydia Ko, the young phenomenon from New Zealand, has just won the fifth and final major of the ladies calendar, The Evian Championship. To add to this the Solheim Cup, the ladies equivalent of the Ryder Cup, starts this week so let’s strike while the iron is hot and talk ladies golf._MG_3398

In my opinion there is a great deal that can be learned from watching the world’s greatest female golfers plying their trade. There is a distinct difference between ladies and gents golf and this is always most evident when watching these athletes from the tee.

Players on the LPGA and LET very rarely try to kill their drives and they hit more fairways and greens.

Watch ladies golf and you will see relaxed fluid swings with great tempo. Now don’t get me wrong, watching Rory or Bubba bomb one over 400-yards is incredible however this is a different thing altogether.

Here you’re seeing an emphasis on hitting fairways rather than gaining distance.

For example the leading driving accuracy on the PGA Tour is 76.88% (Francesco Molinari) whilst on the LPGA it’s 89% (Mo Martin). The same trend holds true on the European counterparts.

Mo Martin Driver Golf Swing

Lydia Ko Golf Swing

This, in my view is something that the average golfer can learn an awful lot from. If you stand up on the tee and try to boom one then that’s great, you’ll maybe catch a handful of them and it will look great. You will, however miss more than hit, this I can guarantee as I’m talking from experience. Try this though, take it easy, swing it smoothly and deliberately from the tee.

Concentrate on tempo and you’ll strike more out of the middle, you’ll probably hit it as far if not further, and you’ll rarely find yourself in trouble.

So what are the 3 simple golf tips and take home messages that you can learn from the world’s greatest female golfers and hit more fairways and greens?

–      1)  Slow down.
A slower more deliberate swing with good tempo will always work better than a ‘power swing’, especially from the tee.

–      2) Pick your target
Taking time to pick a really specific target and aim will increase your mind’s focus and make you more accurate ‘aim small, miss small’.

–     3) Don’t be afraid to take an extra club!
No one will care if you took more club when you put it close rather than short. This is one of the most common mistakes amateur golfers make.

Alex Fortey at ‘The Art of Simple Golf’ has some great drills to work on this very thing and are drills I have used to great effect. My performance coach, is frequently telling me to slow down my swing with the long stick. It really is one of the best things that you can do to improve the amount of fairways you hit and I promise you won’t lose much, if any, distance.

Watch the Solheim cup this week. It’s in Germany so it won’t interfere with your watching of the BMW Championship, and you’ll learn how simple smooth mechanics can really help your game.

Kenny Pallas

U.S based tour player and golf fan

Golf Lab