What you can learn from Olympic champ Park In-bee
Park In-bee reacts after making a birdie putt on the ninth hole during the opening round of the women's golf event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Aug. 17. / Yonhap
By Kim Jeong-kyoo
The 2016 Rio Olympic golf champion Park In-bee’s swing reflects her calm personality. Her swing is idiosyncratic. She does not hinge her wrists fully on the backswing. Her swing is not athletic and powerful. But you’ll hit your ball better if you emulate her perfect rhythm, tempo and balance. Her swing features great rhythm, perfect timing and good balance.
Park’s swing does not have much power. Her keys to success are her outstanding short game, especially her putting, and her mental strength.
But you need to remember what she said about her swing: “I do not care much about what they say about my swing. I know what’s best for me and I am the specialist for my golf style.”
Park’s wrists aren’t flexible, which limits her wrist hinge. She also has limited trunk rotation. These are the two major stumbling blocks to being a long hitter. But she hits her iron shots accurately.
The real key to her success does not lie in accurate iron shots. Her true advantage is the ability to keep her emotions in check. She is like an unsmiling “Silent Assassin,” the nickname the U.S. media gave her.
Park is good at remaining cool during the round. Park always stays calm even when something bad happens. She remained calm when she hit her tee shot into the water hazard on the 10th hole of the Olympic Golf Course in Rio in the final round.
Park looks up through her shot. Years ago, Tour pros tried to look at where their ball was until well after they struck it. Flexible players can hit the ball that way. But weekend golfers cannot do that naturally. That is just unnatural. To release your club fully through your shot, you need to let your head rotate through your shot. To swing your club naturally, you need to stay clear of some unnatural body moves.
Put differently, you need your own swing style. Park, for instance, allows her club to stand up high at the top, mainly because of her less-flexible wrists.
Interestingly, Park said: “(Because of repeated failures and mistakes) I said to my mother that I would rather sell food on the street than play golf, just to feel better about myself.”
Here is the most important lesson you must learn from Park: you need to be patient and endure hard times. You need to persevere with your difficulties despite your despair or possible setbacks.
Park is a putting wizard. And the secret of her putting is her “feel” on the green. Her putting has set her apart from rivals, helping her win the gold medal in the 2016 Olympic golf tournament.
Park said: “I don’t seem to picture the pathway to the hole, nor do I measure the precise distance to the hole with footsteps. Perhaps a good ‘sense’ or a good ‘feel’ could be the most probable explanation to some of the best putts I made this season. If this ‘sense’ or ‘feel’ is something genetic, then should I be grateful to my parents for giving me excellent putting genes?”
She is, for sure, a great natural putter. But you can learn from her to improve your putting ability.
The key to Park’s perfect stroke is the lack of tension in her hands, arms and shoulders. If you want to snatch her putter at address, you could easily pull it out of her hands. She holds her putter softly. Gripping your putter lightly helps you release the putter through the stroke.
Don’t hold your putter tightly through the stroke in trying to guide your ball into the hole. That can push you to move your body too much, forcing you to rotate the face of your putter too much. For a sliding putting stroke, you need to let go of the putter through the ball. You need to release your putter correctly so its face stays square through the stroke.
Critically, Park does not rush her short clutch putts. You need a leisurely stroke. To this end, you need to grip your putter softly.
To improve the release of your putter, take your left hand off it and place it around your right elbow at address. Then, just stroke the ball with your right hand only. Crucially, you need to feel as if you were letting go of the putter as you putt.
Another key you can learn from Park is her cross-handed grip or her left-hand low grip. A cross-handed grip prevents your right shoulder from jutting out forward toward the target line at address. This helps you align your shoulders parallel to your target line. Without a square shoulder alignment, you’ll rarely swing your putter on line. You’ll swing across your ball from outside to inside or stroke it from too much inside your target line. Your putter will swing along your shoulder line.
Importantly, a cross-handed grip helps you level your shoulders at address. This also helps you level out your eye line. Too much tilt at address prevents you from enjoying a solid stroke. A cross-handed, or left-hand, low-putting grip improves your stroke, with the putter head staying on line longer through the stroke.
Also, a cross-handed grip naturally positions your right forearm closer to your body than you can do with just your left forearm. Leaving your right elbow tucked against your side, you will have a solid feeling through the stroke.
Critically, a cross-handed grip allows you to keep your left wrist firm during the stroke. This prevents your right hand from taking over through the stroke, promoting a square, solid stroke.
Kim Jeong-kyoo is a Korea Times golf columnist. He can be reached at kimjstar@hanmail.net.