‘Leveling up to 300 yards’: Ground reaction + swing speed drills are key
“My goal this season was to get a full seed, and I’m so happy it’s already happened. It’s a dream moment”
A different kind of ‘super rookie’ was born. Bang Shin-sil토토사이트, a 19-year-old long hitter, won her first career title at the Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour E1 Charity Open (total prize money of 900 million won).
The final three rounds of the tournament were held at Seongmunan Country Club (Par 72) in Wonju, Gangwon Province, on April 28, with rain falling heavily. Bang made two birdies and no bogeys to finish with a 9-under-par 207 total and a two-stroke victory.
Bang made her professional debut last month at the Chris F&C KLPGA Championship. She made a shocking entrance with a long shot that traveled nearly 300 yards. She was tied for the lead before making back-to-back bogeys on the final hole to finish in a tie for fourth place, but the attention on her only increased. Two weeks earlier, she was in contention for another win at the NH Investment & Securities Ladies Championship. She held a one-stroke lead going into the 16th hole of the final round, but her tee shot on the 17th (par-5) was well off the fairway and she narrowly missed out on victory.
His third attempt was different. Back in contention after a two-week hiatus, Bang led the field from the first round to the third round and won wire-to-wire. This is the 10th time in the history of the program, following Shin Ji-ae (35-2006) and Yoo So-yeon (33-2008).
Bang Shin-shil kisses the winner’s trophy (Photo courtesy of the KLPGA)
‘Heartbreaking’ for national ace to finish 40th in the seedings
Bang has been an ace for three years in the tough national team system. He was selected for the Hangzhou Asian Games and turned pro in the second half of last year when the Asian Games were postponed by a year. For him, earning a full seed on the regular tour was out of the question. His final ranking in the seeding was 40th. Although she lost 10 kilograms last year due to hyperthyroidism and struggled with her fitness, the 40th place ranking came as a shock to her. His teammate Kim Min-byul (19) passed the seeding as the top seed, and Hwang Yoo-min (20) finished sixth, leaving him seemingly behind.
Undaunted, he started to play well on the regular tour. He became the first rookie to win the title this year after playing in the championship group three times in the past month. The best part of this victory is that it secures him a spot on the regular tour until 2025. With only a handful of tournaments available, around 10 at most, it was unclear if he would be able to secure a full seed. He will now be able to play the rest of the year, starting with the Celltrion Queens Masters, which kicks off next month on April 9.
With the $162,000 first-place prize, he moved up to sixth on the money list ($278,889) and sixth on the grand prize points list (146). He also jumped to third in Rookie of the Year points (651), igniting the Rookie of the Year race this season.
In the final round of the day, he was able to play error-free, unlike his previous matches. “I was disappointed that I didn’t win the last two tournaments in the champion group, but it was a good experience for me to win,” said Bang. “I thought my game plan today was to not play aggressively and stay safe in the fairways, so I hit more 3-woods than drivers off the tee,” he explained.
Playing it safe with a one-stroke lead through 15 holes, it wasn’t until the 16th (par-5) that Bang Shin-shil realized she was going to win. His second shot for a two-on sailed just over the back of the green and into the fringe, but Bangsinsil’s running approach found the pin 80 centimeters from the hole for birdie. “That was the decisive shot,” he said.
“There are a lot of good players, so I want to put aside my rookie ambitions and do my best in every tournament I compete in. My goal is to consistently finish in the top 10,” he said, adding, “I want to win the KB Financial Star Championship, which is a sponsored tournament.”
Bangsin-sil’s tee shot (Photo by Won-beom Cho, E-Daily Golfin reporter)
Ground reaction force + speed training for long shots
Bang has created a “long-hitting syndrome” on the KLPGA Tour, hitting driver tee shots close to 300 yards on multiple occasions in her five tournaments this year. Her 3-wood can reach 230 meters, which surpasses the driver shots of most KLPGA Tour players, and her 7-iron can reach between 145 and 150 meters. With 130 meters left, she grabs a 9-iron.
A year ago, Bangsinsil was averaging just 250 yards with his driver. Although he was a long hitter, this distance was not enough for his 6-foot-3 frame and athletic build. He had a severe “sway,” where his pelvis and upper body swayed from side to side, which prevented him from transmitting power properly. Since I didn’t use my lower body, I was swinging mainly with my arms, which naturally hurt my distance. Over the past year, I’ve been working on a swing that specializes in distance and speed, and in winter training, I focused on increasing my swing speed.
“We worked on changing his swing into a swing that transfers power to his feet,” Lee Beom-ju, the coach who worked on Bang’s swing, told the Daily. “The most important part of her swing is her feet,” Lee said. She puts pressure on her right foot in the backswing and shifts her weight to her left foot in the downswing. At impact, you need to kick the ground like you’re jumping to maximize your distance,” he explains. This is called “ground reaction force” swinging.
Another trick is the hinge. To prevent overuse of the hands, the wrists fold over the back of the right hand in the back half of the backswing. “It’s to compensate for the fact that the wrist is covered by the left side, which creates a hook,” the coach explains.
After correcting his swing, he spent more than an hour every day during the two-and-a-half months of training to increase his swing speed. Power, speed, and rhythm: He trained with a speed bomber to apply force to his feet, and he worked on his lower body strength with rote motions to increase foot pressure and core function. He also practiced speeding up his arm movements by attaching a 30-centimeter rubber band to the shaft of a regular screwdriver and continuing with a full swing.
The result was a 96-mile range.