Anne van Dam’s six keys to swing it pure

Anne van Dam might just have one of the best swings in golf.

The Dutch player has won five times on the Ladies European Tour, and that’s largely down to her ability to hit the ball a long, long way. 

In 2021, she was comfortably the longest hitter on the LET, and when you watch her swing a club, it’s easy to see why.

The 2019 Solheim Cup winner shared six key things she works on with bunkered.co.uk, and now you can copy her out on the course and the driving range.

Keep it simple

“It’s funny, I tend to focus a lot on just the basics. Set-up, grip and alignment, a lot of good swings won’t work because one of those three things aren’t matching up. That’s what I focus on the most – the basics.

I feel like if I do a lot of drills with my backswing, the rest always falls in place, especially the first part of my takeaway. That’s what I tend to work on.”

Know your tendencies

“The more you play, you have little tendencies you fall into. I tend to stand too far away from the ball sometimes and that can mean I tilt too much over the ball. Other times, I’ll also aim a little too far right, which doesn’t help what I’m working on in my swing. It’s those little things, if you play a lot of golf and a lot of rounds, those things can get a little bit off.

That’s why, every time you practice, it’s good to work on your basics, hit a few balls, and keep sharp.”

• Copy Rory’s warm-up

Swing work on the range

“I like to really switch on and off from thinking about the swing. When I’m out on the golf course, I like to just hit the shots rather than focus on my swing. The best place to work on your swing is on the range, so that when you’re out on the course, you can just focus on your score, not the technique.”

Practice won’t make perfect

“It doesn’t always need to perfect. I see it with a lot of rookies out here on tour. You don’t always need to hit the perfect shot and do everything perfect all the time.

When you play more years on tour, you learn to make some more ugly pars and just get the ball around the course.”

• Transform your range sessions

Keep your balance

“If I try and generate too much lag, I can lose my balance. For me, it’s more about rotation and width of my swing, not lag. That’s the key to keeping my balance.”

Bomb it

“I don’t have a lot of lag in my swing. I’m pretty tall, so my swing is kind of short and wide and that’s how I generate most of my speed. It doesn’t come as much from mechanics or a lot of lag.

Distance off the tee comes naturally to me. I work more on my tempo and my shot shapes. I know if I can hit both flights accurately – a draw and a fade – it’s a great weapon to have.”

This instruction piece first featured in issue 194 of bunkered magazine.