Golf World: Principles of a woman's swing

Recently, I was speaking at the German PGA Annual Conference and was asked, should a woman swing like a man? This question seemed to generate quite a bit of interest. My answer was if your body strengths and weaknesses are the same, then yes.

But in general there is a difference in the approach taken to giving women instruction. Women generally don't swing like men due to physical difference, which include:

-- Women have a lower center of gravity with wider hips.

-- There is tendency to be weaker in the shoulders, arms and upper body.

-- Often women are weaker in the wrist, forearms and hands.

-- The shoulders are usually narrower.

-- The knee structure is weaker.

The best option to creating a successful swing for the ladies is to design a swing that incorporates the use of the lower body: legs, hips and pelvis.

USING YOUR POWER SOURCE EFFICIENTLY

-- Bend over from the waist from the hips at about 35 degrees with a fairly straight back. This gives a good posture and stability.

-- Put arms over the top of the chest not besides the chest when addressing the ball, this way your chest won't get in the way of your left arm swinging.

-- Use a strong grip. Turn your left hand to the right so you can see 2 1/2 knuckles when you look down at address position.

-- It is important to coil your upper body over stable legs. A good drill is to cross your arms over your chest and turn your shoulders twice as far as you turn your hips.

-- Keeping the right leg stable and in the position it was at address. Women tend to sway or move legs laterally too far.

-- Once you get to the top of your swing, start down by using your lower body. Push off your back foot and open up your hips to the target and let your hands release naturally throughout the impact area. Typically women have weak hands and need to practice releasing the club.

-- Finish as high as you can and hold it on your left leg for three seconds.

-- All the spikes on your right foot should be showing at the finish of your swing. Your head should be positioned over your left leg and look at your target at the finish and not still looking at the ground.

Remember ladies, use the strong muscles of your body.

There is no question that men can get away with overusing the upper body on the down swing, but women cannot. This is why the swing on the PGA Tour is more of a rotary upper body swing.

I had planned on having some tips at my Web site as I realize I am describing positions with your body and you may be visualizing something totally different than what I am describing.

However, on finishing my speech in Germany, I became very ill. By the time we got to Holland, where our flight departed, I was very ill and ended up in a Dutch hospital and had a three-hour surgery.

I am still in the hospital and should be able to travel home by Saturday. Hopefully by next week we can have visual input for the ladies on my Web site.

(Dr. Jim Suttie, the 2000 PGA Teacher of the Year, is director of instruction at The Club at TwinEagles in North Naples, Fla. and at Cog Hill Golf Club in Lemont, Ill. Suttie is a Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher, Golf Digest Top 20 Teacher, and coaches the Florida Gulf Coast International golf team. E-mail him at jmsuttie@aol.com or go online to www.jimsuttie.com.)

(Golf World is a feature of the Naples Daily News in Florida.)