When you watch some of the best women's golf swings in the professional game, it's hard not to be inspired to pick up some clubs and give it a go. If you are new to the game of golf, or simply want to improve your performance, this article is exactly what you need.
Below, Golf Monthly Top 50 Coach Katie Dawkins takes us through every facet of the women's golf swing, along with some easy to follow tips and drills that can help fast track your progress on the course...
Women's golf swing: Dreamy driving
Taking time to perfect the driver address position is key. Most golfers don’t tee themselves up enough with a readiness to launch the ball. Instead, they tend to keep their spine up and over the ball, as you would expect to see for an iron shot setup.
First of all, creating an athletic posture will help you to gain those extra yards. The ball position should be forward in your stance, with your spine angled behind the ball. Staying cool, calm and collected will help you to get that sweeping action we are looking for, and you don't need to swing it fast to get a good strike with the driver.
A great way to “feel” the correct driver set up is to utilise the edge of a tee box. Set up to a daisy or object on the floor. This should be nearer the top of the slope. which will allow you to use the natural elevation to settle into that hill.
You’ll be leaning the shoulders and bringing them perpendicular to your slope. Nestling behind the “ball”, and with a touch more weight on the lower foot, you will be mimicking that all important driving position you need to be in on the tee.
No need to swing here, simply absorb that 'ready to launch' angle and take it onto the tee. Everyone makes the mistake of thinking they have to smash it because it's the longest club in the bag, but if your setup is correct there is really no need.
You’ve readied yourself to collect the ball off the tee, and that is exactly what you should do.
Flying fairway woods
Once the driver has been mastered, women then need a shot that will eat up the yardage on a hole. So getting to grips with fairways woods is essential. Many women are seriously successful with these, due to the length of the club and the sweeping action of a woman’s swing which can make it the best part of their game.
Fairway woods rely on sublime rhythm and smooth timing. This is where the ladies top the charts. Many male golfers will be squeezing the club too hard and the shot becomes all about the HIT and not the SWING. So here’s how to sweep those woods away with ease.
It is essential that you check how the ball is lying before deciding whether to use a fairway wood. If the ball is perched up partially on its own tee peg of grass then opt for your longest fairway wood and set that ball a clubhead inside your front heel.
if the fairway is tight then go for an easier option, a 5-wood and the ball position a smidge further back. Relax over the ball, let those arms hang down and keep the grip pressure soft. Any ounce of tension with this shot can cause you start topping it.
My top tip here is to feel that ball gets in the way of a practice swing. Keep the club moving through to the finish positions and allow the ball to be collected. Much like the tee shot with the driver, but this time you’re aiming to hit whatever the ball is sat on.
A practice swing that’s a half hearted whiff above the ground won’t do your shot any favours. If you’re missing the grass in practice, you will miss the grass in the shot. That’s a ball scuttling down the fairway into all sorts of trouble, and a total confidence killer.
Heavenly hybrids
If your ball isn’t sitting well, and you need to escape, some rescue remedy is required. This comes in the form of the hybrids (rescue clubs) and are literally a girl’s best friend.
The key is not to play them like a fairway wood. Too many golfers play them too far forward in their stances and end up mis-hitting them. Women are awesome at embracing these handy bats, with 54% of LPGA tour players opting to put them in the bag, forgoing the longer irons that are harder to hit.
Set up to a hybrid like a long iron, with the ball just forward of centre.
If the ball is sat down in an unfriendly spot then put it further back in your stance, and remember the BB:BB rule – If the ball is buried, bring the ball back. Also, remember to shift your weight forward, so the club hits down on the ball forcing it out of that tricky lie.
Chipping with these beauties around the green can really pay off too, especially on long, undulating shots. Hybrids are your friends, get aquatinted and reap the benefits.
Intelligent Irons
Your posture should be athletic and the swing should set half way back to an 'L' position with the arms and the club. With your wrists set correctly, you should turn back as far as is stable and compress the ball on the way through, releasing the club freely through to the target with a balanced finish.
Many women struggle with their irons, and it’s usually down to one thing. The attack angle can often be too steep, as a large number of female golfers do not take a divot or make any contact with the ground, forcing that low scoot off the clubface.
A poor grip is often to blame, and this leads to a lack of wrist hinge. Many can also over-swing, which can be caused by the incorrect grip to start.
Are you holding the club in the palm? If you wear a hole in your glove, at the heel of the palm, then the handle is too much in your palm and not enough in your fingers.
Lean the club on your leg. Hang your hands down and clap your palms together. Make gentle fists, then fit the club into the fingers of those fists. Your fingers form a channel. Held up at 45 degrees, you’ll see that your club is supported by that very heel where the wear shows up.
With an ideal grip, you should be able to take off the bottom three fingers and the club should remain supported. A club that is held incorrectly not only means you have to squeeze the life out of it, but it can lead to casting the golf club which is one of the main reasons that all of your irons go the same distance!
Perfect pitching
Pitching is the art of being able to do less than a full swing. This is not a favourite part of a woman’s game, often due to the issues stated in iron play. As wrist hinge is so important in hitting down on the ball, and pitching is is a mini version of your full swing, similar problems can occur.
For anything that’s not a full shot, you should plant a bit more weight on that front foot. Set up as you would with your irons, but shrink the set up as the swing shrinks. Yes, that’s right! No slowing down to get the ball to go further, this part is about varying the length of your swing to limit or increase distance.
Often the pitch shot needs to go up and over some sort of trouble, so I see a lot of players trying to help the ball. You need to hit down on this shot to make the ball go up.
Taking a divot is something that some golfers I coach actively avoid. Get down and dirty and give that turf a thump. This will get the ball spinning up the club face and utilise all that lovely loft.
Try this drill to start pitching like clockwork.
Once the strike is mastered, it's imperative to know your distances. Having a system in place is key here. Imagine your head is 12 on a clock face.
Head to the range and practice a swing that stops at 9, 10 and 11, and write down the yardages that you achieve with each wedge. This forms part of the distance wedge triangle, and will really help you get dialled in with your short game.
Chipping like Celine
Short game goddess Celine Boutier has the most amazing ability to visualise her shot, focus on her landing spot, and press repeat every time.
You too can be “Bout-iful” around the greens, it’s about investing time with your wedges and working on the right stuff. So let’s firstly shine the spotlight on the setup.
This is a little shot. So shrink that set up, grip down, feet close together and weight forwards. Putting the ball in the centre or just back will ensure a decent strike, but beware of a ball position that’s gone to the extremes. Too far back and you’ve got nowhere to go with the follow through except to stab the leading edge into the ground.
Using the triangle made up between your arms and shoulders work that club back with very little wrist hinge to keep it simple. Then – this is the juicy part that helps more women I coach than anything else – don’t just brush, but BRUISE the turf.
Bounce that club and follow through keeping the clubface looking to the sky and not scooping or flicking. You are trusting the club in your hands here, it has loft and you can use it. It will pop the ball into the air!
To get really good around the greens, you can hone your short game anywhere. All you need to do is perfect that landing spot and you’ll find your ball rolling closer to the pin when you get out on the course. I love a hula hoop, or wheelbarrow, and a spot of garden golf.
Putting Prowess
Putting is the gateway to glory when it comes to scoring. If you watched any of the Solheim Cup, you’d have seen putts rolling in from everywhere. Set up for success with your flat stick and you’ll find you can stroke that ball smoothly into the hole.
The key here is to try to take the wrists out of the equation. To do that you need to get that grip right. Too many golfers make the mistake of linking or overlapping their grip as they would do to hit a full shot, and this isn’t ideal.
Get that putter sat more into the lifeline of your palms and almost get the hands working away from each other instead of with each other. This will almost lock the hands out and anchor the elbows into the sides. This creates a magical pendulum action that’s reliant on consistent tempo and variable lengths of stroke rather than hitting it harder or softer.
Women don’t tend to spend as much time on putting as the guys, with more emphasis put on increasing distance and consistency. It’s worth remembering to apply a bit of time and effort to this area. The great news is there are so many fabulous putting mats on the market, you can hone your stroke at home.
