Joaquín Niemann averaged over 300 yards per drive during the 2019-20 season.
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Distance is king in golf these days. The game has been going this way for some time, but now with Bryson DeChambeau crushing bombs on a weekly basis, we may have an arms race on our hands. And while DeChambeau has taken hunting to the extreme, packing isn’t the only way to launch missiles down the fairways. Annex A – Joaquín Niemann.
At just 6 feet tall and weighing over 150 pounds, Niemann doesn’t seem to be able to generate the clubhead speed needed to hit with power off the tee, but it does just that. The Chilean averaged 301.5 yards per tee drive, finishing in the top 60 of the PGA Tour in the distance. This distance from the tee also translates into advanced metrics, as the 21-year-old is 31st on the Tour in SG: Off-the-Tee.
How do you manage to pack such a punch with a relatively small body mass to work with? It’s a combination of factors that contribute to this phenomenon, and Travis Fulton, the director of education for the PGA Tour Academy, recently helped break it down.
Niemann prepares with a strong left hand grip, which means his left thumb is on the right side of the grip at the address. This grip position makes it much easier to close the clubface on impact. On his takeaway, he makes an aggressive tack away from the ball, losing right knee flexion to charge his power.
From this position, he begins his transition and “sits” in the ball, almost crouching as the stick begins its way to the ball. Then, he quickly discharges all the energy he has accumulated in the backswing, as the club goes out behind him during the downswing.
“It’s not throwing,” says Fulton. “It’s not hitting where the lowest goes (towards the target). She’s making him sit up. It is rotating where it is more of a gradual weight shift and then it rotates and pops out. “
On impact, you can see Niemann’s shoulders and hips open towards the target, but the strong grip allows the clubhead to close easily when he enters the ball.
“Now do you know what you are doing?” Fulton says. “You turn and burn. You just have to open up. “
The result is a ball that explodes from the club face. Niemann may be of little consequence, but there is no doubt he can send it.
