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| Choi Ho-Sung |
"I feel like in my mind the way I move my body, sometimes it feels like I have a remote control that wills the ball to go in the hole, so I'm going to keep doing that," Choi said to the media at Pebble Beach.
Interestingly, if his ball does not go where he wanted, he tries to make it go there by waving the club. Also, when his ball deviates from his intended target, he tries to pull or push it with his entire body.
Now, everybody is talking about his unorthodox golf swing. Golf fans are curious about how he's getting by with his wacky swing and why the unconventional swing works for him.
Choi has a mechanically sound swing despite his comical spinning. His unique follow-through turns his swing into a funny one, setting him apart from the crowd.
At address, he aims the clubface at his intended target, taking a closed stance with his toe line pointing right of the target. This says his major workhorse is a draw.
Choi swings the club back outside the target line, which contributes to increasing his swing arc.
He does not rush his backswing and coils behind the ball with his left arm slightly bent or soft. He turns his upper body fully so his back faces the target.
He sets up his downswing by squatting just a little. That allows him to flatten his swing plane so the club slots into the proper inside path. His head bobs down just a fraction as his legs push against the ground.
This is a great move allowing him to increase his swing speed and distance. This motion resembles what athletes do before they leap.
Roughly waist-high, Choi keeps his right elbow close to his torso. More important, he points the cap of his grip toward the ball, keeping the clubhead lagging behind his hands. This says he is ready to unleash his power fully into the shot properly from the inside.
He pushes or jumps up through the shot the way you would do to shoot a free throw in basketball. That is, he uses the ground, speeding up his club.
He creates a textbook example of perfect ball-striking position. His left arm and club shaft createa straight line when his clubhead meets the ball, with his upper body behind his lower body.
Critically, he keeps his body staying in the conventional position until well after his ball bounces off the clubface. He leaves his head and chest remaining behind the ball until the ball soars into the air.
Roughly chest-high after contact, his club shaft matches his shoulder tilt, which features right shoulder sitting below his left armpit. This says he swings his club on the proper plane.
Then, he lifts his one foot and spin around, almost like pulling up the fishing rod. This pulling-up actionencourages extra power, adding more power and speed to his swing. With this fisherman swing, he added more than 10 meters to his tee shot.
Undoubtedly, his corkscrew swing does not cause him any negative result. His pirouette during the finish does not affect his ball-striking adversely. His contortions take shape after his ball has already gone far. This goes to explain why his unorthodox swing works for him.
Choi took up the game at age 25 and is a self-taught golfer. He does not stick to the notion that his golf swing needs to match a particular convention. And he developed his swing solemnly to fight his way to more power and distance.
Indeed, no one swing fits everybody's build. There is no textbook example of a standard swing that fits every golfer.
To hit your ball successfully, your swing needs to feel natural, comfortable and easy to repeat even under pressure. And Choi looks like he makes his swing naturally and effortlessly.
More important, his idiosyncraticswing does not cause him any knee, waist, wrist or shoulder injury.
