PGA coach Justin Kraft breaks down Nelly Korda's iron swing and a hat-and-tape slice drill

The PGA of America posted a new Swing Lessons episode on Thursday, October 29, in which PGA coach Justin Kraft walks through how Nelly Korda compresses an iron off a tight fairway lie. The six-and-a-half-minute video ends with a simple drill for golfers who slice: put on a hat, stick a piece of tape on it, and watch where the tape points.

A big turn without the arms running away

At the top of Korda's backswing, Kraft points to two things. Her shoulder turn is huge, but her hands and arms stay in front of her instead of wrapping behind her head. And her pelvis stays centered in her stance, with little lateral slide away from the target or toward it.

The sway gap

From there, Kraft says, Korda pushes off her trail foot and her pelvis shifts toward the target, by his estimate two to five inches by impact, while her head stays roughly over the ball. Sportsbox, a 3D analysis program, calls the horizontal difference between the center of the pelvis and the center of the chest the "sway gap." In Korda's downswing the lower body leads and the gap widens.

Kraft says that relationship lets a golfer shallow the club while keeping the low point in front of the ball. Golfers who come over the top usually have it backward, he says, with the chest closer to the target than the pelvis.

Chin, shoulder and the tape drill

His other key is the lead shoulder. Many slicers keep the chin and lead shoulder stuck together in the downswing, and their head starts to point in front of the ball. Korda pulls the shoulder away from her chin and keeps her neck pointed behind the ball.

The drill trains that move. Put a piece of tape near the middle of a hat and swing while keeping the tape pointed behind the ball as the lead shoulder separates from the chin. If the tape points ahead of the ball with the chin and shoulder connected, Kraft says, that is what most slicers do.

Through impact, he notes, Korda's arms, legs and spine extend, her head rotates to follow the ball, and she finishes tall with her pressure in her front foot.

How to use it

Film a few swings down the line or face on and check two things against the video: whether your chest gets ahead of your pelvis early in the downswing, and where the tape points at impact. Start with half swings before taking it to full speed.