I was watching Golf Central and when the LPGA Navistar Classic 2nd round results were being discussed the lead story was that a 14 year old teenager, Alexis Thompson was tied for the lead. An amateur being tied for the lead after 2 rounds in an LPGA event is big news and worthy of extra discussion. Great amateur performances in LPGA events is more likely to happen than on the PGA Tour as I guess it is because females tend to mature sooner than males. We just went through the Michelle Wie teenage years of competing on the LPGA as an amateur and playing extremely well against the seasoned lady professionals. Now, it looks like Alexis Thompson is stepping up to take over where Michelle has been.
Alexis is no fluke or one time wonder. She qualified, that's right, QUALIFIED to play in the 2007 US Women's Open at the ripe old age of 12. Let's look at some of her playing record for the past few years.
*2007'¦ US Women's Open Qualified'¦Missed cut
*2008'¦USGA Girl's Junior Amateur'¦Won US Women's Open'¦Qualified'¦Missed Cut
*2009'¦US Women's Amateur'¦Semi Finalist US Women's Open'¦Qualified'¦Tie 34th
Pretty outstanding playing results against adult and professional women for a teenager. She does come from a good golfing family. Her older brother, Nicholas, was an outstanding collegiate player at Georgia Tech and now plays on the PGA Tour. This week, at the Turning Stone Resort Championship, he is tied for 2nd after the 2nd round. Nicholas has given his younger sister a good amateur legacy to follow and she is doing just fine matching it and maybe exceeding it.
Well, back to the Golf Channel's Golf Central Report. They did a segment where Golf Channel analyst and reporter, Mark Lye, a former PGA Tour player, did a swing analysis of Alexis. They showed a down the line swing and at the top of the backswing, which was ¾, the swing was stopped for Mark to comment. He drew a line down her shaft and commented that it was at 10:00 o'clock and that was good. Good if you like having a HEAVY club at the top of the backswing. As you know, the PPGS top of backswing shaft position is 12:00 o'clock, which is a light position. And, as we say about a light top of backswing position, 'It is easier to swing a LIGHT club faster and more controlled than a HEAVY club.' Why? Because it is in harmony with Gravity.
Mr. Lye continued Alexis' swing and stopped it again when she was at the top of her forward swing, just before where her arms would fold down into her finish over her left shoulder. He drew a line on her shaft there and it was just short of 12:00 o'clock as we like to see in the PPGS. Mr. Lye pointed out that in her forward up swing she changed planes and had 'no' release.' He said that was why her club was 12:00 o'clock. He further explained the 'no release' comment to mean, as he demonstrated with his right hand and arm stretched out with his palm perpendicular to the ground, that Alexis did not rotate her right hand UNDER or palm skyward, which is open, nor did she OVER rotate it palm downward which is shut. He added that this 'no release,' as he called it, is why Alexis hit it so straight.
To clarify in PPGS terms and teaching what Mark Lye just described is that Alexis did, in fact, release the club through impact. She just did the controlled release of the club that the PPGS teaches in our visual concept for the backswing of lifting the club up into the catcher's mitt 'Toe Up.' And, in the forward upswing, releasing the club after impact into the forward catcher's mitt 'Toe Up' as an equal and opposite reaction to the backswing as physics requires. The key is the toe up position, swinging into the backswing and forward upswing catcher's mitt, creates the exact amount of the controlled degree of release.
Alexis does release her club through impact, exactly as the PPGS teaches. And, that is why she, like golfers using the PPGS, consistently hit the ball relatively STRAIGHT!
The Surge!