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Paula began her career as though she would become one of the all-time greats, but her progress has slowed considerable over the last 4 years as she has only one win in that period (after 8 in the previous 3 years) and has fallen to #13 in the World Rankings. Still, she is a great player and any analysis should start by pointing out her excellent shaft control and dynamic pivot motion. If I were working with her I would start by deepening her right hip in the backswing, which would allow her a chance to keep from moving her upper body so far forward toward the ball during the swing. With her weight more pressed down into the right heel I would then introduce more lateral movement to her lower body in the forward swing, aiming it downward and more toward the left heel. As it is now her left heel is consistently off the ground at impact. While she certainly has the “hard catch” of the club in transition, showing that her sequencing is spot on, she has little lateral hip drive and thus does not do a great job of engaging the muscles of her lower and mid back, which means her arms end up advancing past her body and delivering the club to the ball in a less than efficient manner, costing her compression with the irons and distance with the driver. This substandard (and note that I am comparing her to the best women ball strikers I have analyzed, Annika, Mickey Wright, and Yani Tseng) hip movement becomes all the more apparent in her finish, as she ends up with her right shoulder far beyond her belt buckle at the finish. Lastly I would suggest that she “chase” the club to the target less and try to let the release move around her body instead.
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