Man of Steel
How ball-striking star Joaquín Niemann became an 'absolute flusher'
It's called The Grid, a ball-striking challenge that has amassed more than two million views on Golf Digest’s YouTube Channel. The task for The Grid’s competitors—which have included Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Scottie Scheffler—is to hit a ball into a 10-yard target area on command using whatever club they wish. The goal is to hit all 10 different landing areas, presented in random order, in as few attempts as possible. A perfect score is 10 attempts. Rahm and DeChambeau did it in 17 shots. Scheffler carded a 15. When Joaquín Niemann tried it, he needed only 11.
“I can’t believe I missed one, I should’ve gotten a 10.” Niemann says.
With the possible exception of Scheffler, Niemann might be the best pure ball-striker in the game—even his fellow pros think so. “He’s an absolute flusher,” says 2022 Open Championship winner Cam Smith, who plays with the 26-year-old native of Chile on the LIV Golf League. “He hits it on the screws every time.”
It’s a skill Niemann, a two-time PGA Tour winner and now a five-time champ on the LIV circuit after winning in Mexico in late April, credits to his technique. As an undersized guy compared to many of his peers, the 152-pound Niemann initially focused on swing speed to keep up with the distance of bigger players. Soon, however, he realized more speed couldn’t make up for the distance lost when he hit the ball off center. Now he has developed a series of checkpoints in his swing that help him get the best of both worlds—good speed and pure contact. The result is lasered iron shots. On the following pages, he’ll share some advice to help the rest of us get the same.—with Luke Kerr-Dineen
SEE IT
“Before every shot, I picture the flight I want to see. This is not a time to think. It’s a time to see the shot and be athletic.”
HOLD IT
“I always try to pose my finish. If you can hold it easily for three seconds, your balance is good. It’s easier to hit the ball better that way.”
SPEED AND CONTACT
Niemann: Your ball-striking will improve a lot if you focus on weight shift and segmental body rotation.
My golf swing has a lot of rotation. A big turn back is how I create speed. A big turn through is how I unleash that speed.
You might not have that kind of flexibility, but if you want to hit quality iron shots, make your body the swing’s engine. There’s less that can go wrong if the big muscles lead instead of focusing on the movement of the arms and hands.
I like to feel my chest moving the clubface instead of my hands. It gives me more consistency.
However, there is one good swing thought involving the hands that will help you blend the rotation of your body with the swinging of your arms. On the downswing, I feel like my right arm is skipping a stone, not chopping an axe. It helps me stay down and make a good turn through the ball. A lot of amateurs stand up too soon, flipping their hands and hitting fat shots or hooks. You have to stay down and turn.
Back to proper weight shift, I like to feel a big move into my right side in the takeaway, but it’s back to 50-50 on both feet at the top. Then comes the key: I transfer my weight to the front leg before starting down. That is the most important move if you want to pure a shot off the turf or muscle it out of the rough. I see many amateurs who aren’t very good at this, but you have to get your weight moving toward the target.
Keep in mind that this shouldn’t be a violent move. I was the skinny kid growing up, so I learned to use my flexibility and swing hard to hit the ball longer. Now I know it’s more important to stay in control and not hit the ball off the planet.
‘I like to feel my chest and arms are moving together through the ball like one unit. If your chest stops moving, your hands take over and you mis-hit it.’
It’s why I do a few things during every range session to get my swing in check: (1) I make sure to stretch. I turn my upper body back and forth without moving my hips. Then I turn my hips without moving my shoulders. You need separation between your upper and lower body to swing properly, so it’s important to get warmed up; (2) I hit balls with a PureOne iron, which is like a 9-iron with a way smaller head. When the sweet spot is that tiny, you have to find good rhythm or you’ll mis-hit it badly; (3) I focus on tempo for a while, but I finish a session hitting different kinds of shots.
If I leave the range with a good feel for that day, I know I’m ready to rip it.
