Six ways to crush it like Brooks Koepka
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Brooks Koepka and his coach Claude Harmon reveal the 2018 US Open and PGA Champion’s six swing keys for power
Here, Koepka and his coach, Claude Harmon III, reveal the six swing keys that deliver the power which underpins his whole game.
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#1: SET UP STRONG
Harmon says: “The key to any good tee shot starts with the set-up. Brooks has a strong, athletic posture but we need to keep an eye on his ball position. When it creeps back in the stance, it throws off his path. By having it lined up on the heel of his left foot he can rotate all the way through the shot.”
#2: KEEP HANDS OUTSIDE THE CLUB
Harmon says: “The lower body is the engine behind Brooks’ power. He keeps the club out in front of his body on the backswing and downswing. The club is a little shut at the top but because he doesn’t pull it inside on the way back and on the way down he can really use his body to be aggressive.”
#3: DON’T OVER SWING
Koepka says: “I’m not mechanical. If I’m thinking too much, it’s not good. My key thought is not to overswing. That’s what gets amateurs in trouble. They think that by swinging harder they’ll hit it farther. They won’t. I try to feel like I’m making a three- quarter turn back and then let it rip from there.”
#4: ROTATE THE UPPER BODY
Harmon says: “Brooks is a much better driver than when I met him five years ago. He always had a lot of power but he hit a draw and couldn’t always control it. Now he hits more cuts. By letting the body pull the club back and through, he can hit it as hard as he wants and know that it’s not going off line.”
#5: KEEP THE HANDLE LOW
Koepka says: “The last thing I try to feel as I compress the ball through impact is the release of the club. I achieve this by feeling that the handle of the club is as low as it can be at impact. If the handle is too high it will be harder to release the club and to be able to hit that trusty power fade o the tee.”
#6: TURN ALL THE WAY THROUGH
Harmon says: “In the follow- through, there’s very little separation between Brooks’ left arm and his body just after impact. When his swing is clicking, Koepka’s chest just keeps turning all the way through the shot. It’s a simple but very effective way of delivering maximum power to the ball.”