US Open Champion Minjee Lee’s swing has all the right moves and this is a neat video to learn from. It has the background trees and camera that we can use as reference points!
High Definition Video of Minjee’s Driver Swing – Face On
Pause the video at the time point on the video (mm:ss) to match my comments.
Set Up – 00:01
Minjee has a classic driver set up with her feet slightly wider than her shoulders and the end of the grip pointing to her belt buckle. Note the two “goal post” trees behind her as they are useful as we take a look at a few sound points in her swing! Her rear hip is in line with the rear tree. Notice the distance from her front hip to the camera.
Takeaway – 00:07
She takes the club shaft back parallel with her feet! This is “width”, which helps encourage a bigger circle and more potential swing speed! This is something you can easily practice with an alignment stick parallel with your feet, extending back, away from the target!
3/4 Backswing – 00:14
Note the distance from Minjee’s hands to her head? A nicely extended left arm is a really key fundamental that you want to practice. It should not be “locked” and tension-filled – it should be extended as much as possible!
Top of Swing – 00:12
Minjee has turned into a braced and resisting lower body. Her back is now facing the target and it loaded up the weight on her braced and resisting right knee and foot. The upper body turning into the lower body like this is a clear example of torque! The same tree is still visible near her rear hip! See how she is still holding that boundary by not swaying to her right! Her left arm is beautifully extended as well! Her head and back are just behind the “front” tree at this point where she is fully loaded!
Half Way Down – 00:18
Her left arm is parallel with the ground. But see how the shaft still points to 1 o’clock? She has a lot of “stored lag” and this angle between her left arm and the club shaft is proof of that lag. If she had less lag at this point, the shaft would be pointing vertical or worse yet, to 11:00. But Minjee doesn’t have those worries!
Impact – 00:20
Look how Minjee has made a great lateral move toward the target. You can now see BOTH trees behind her! The downswing is led by this forward hip bump, then around. Notice her lead shoulder is also forward of the tree on the right, yet her head is still behind the tree as it is trained to stay back “behind the ball” at impact! I like the “long left arm” look! A nice straight line from her lead shoulder all the way down the shaft to the ball!
Post Impact – 00:23
Minjee has released her right hand and the club shaft is horizontal and pointing down the line parallel with her toes. She has that nice extension here as well!
Finish – 00:46
Minjee is definitely closer to that camera than she was at set up! Remember we noted the position of her to that camera back at the start! The trees behind her are very visible! Again, proof that the downswing is a forward/rotational movement! She released the shaft behind her in the 11:00 to 4:00 position.
The people behind her can see her entire shoe sole as she transferred all of her weight and is in a nice balance position. Her right shoulder is closest to the target, showing a true full swing release!
Minjee just won the 2022 Women’s US OPEN! and it’s no wonder Minjee Lee is going to keep on achieving great things! Her swing is such a model in efficiency!
Pete
This great high definition slow motion video of Australian LPGA player, Minjee Lee is courtesy of GolfSwingHD.
