Lydia Ko has a US Women's Amateur and 3 pro tournaments underneath her belt... And she's not even 16 but. She's no longer a large hitter; she simply thinks her way across the direction. But she's got a nice strong swing that every one weekend golfers can study from.
I've been looking for video pictures and images of her swing but no longer having a good deal luck. Her website is meant to have a swing sequence, however it is being rebuilt. However, I determined the following pics at the jeffygolf.Com forums (they're blown up lots larger there). Let's test her flow via effect:
Lydia stays connected a la Ben Hogan during the bottom of her swing. That just means that her upper arms stay pretty close to her chest as she turns through. I'll come back to that in a moment.
Notice that she doesn't push her hips forward the way most weekend golfers do. See how her lead hip never moves outside of her lead foot in any of these photos? Her hips are turning because her trailing knee stays flexed all the way through -- her lower body doesn't "lock up" and stop turning. The flex in her trailing knee allows her trailing hip to keep moving. Because of this lower body movement, Lydia stays balanced and has good footwork. It's just a function of staying loose and keeping out of her own way.
Now, back to her arms. Look at the very first photo and focus on her trailing elbow. See how it's still bent? That's why her wrists are still cocked in the lower part of her swing! A lot of you are straightening your elbow at the start of your downswing; that's called casting. That's when you lose your wrist cock.
At the top of your downswing your lead elbow is fairly straight and your trailing elbow is bent; you can see that if you look in a mirror. As you start your downswing, none of that should change. Just let your hands and arms drop from the top of your swing until your trailing elbow is near your side. That's when you straighten your elbow! (And, btw, once your elbow is near your side, you can straighten that elbow as hard as you want and you'll still hit the ball solid. The connection with your body that I mentioned earlier will help keep your arm and club on line.) Just look in the photos and see what Lydia's doing.
Learning to drop your palms like this is hard for a few people. It feels as if all of the movement is going on at your shoulder joints. But if you allow them to drop to begin your downswing, you are going to make lots of your swing occur mechanically -- your weight shift, your footwork, your balance, the whole lot.
You can learn to strike just like the Kobra. It's not approximately looking to hit the ball hard; it's just about letting gravity take its course.
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