The Case for Staying Forward: How I Matched Olsen Pin High

B. Olsen does something you won’t see many others do.

Instead of pushing off the lead side, he drives his weight to the trail side early. That move lets him make a short backswing — rarely do his hands get high. He stays inside and low, then comes in very shallow, rarely taking a divot. It produces a low draw — and sometimes, a hook. When that happens, he’s in trouble. But when he avoids it, he’s mid-80s material.

With driver, when he gets his hands higher and stays less inside with the takeaway, it turns into a towering fade. You have to watch out when he has that going.

It’s peculiar, but not necessarily wrong — he doesn’t seem to get much weight onto his lead side. He plays without that dynamic.

Not sure it will allow him to break 80 though.

On this shot, it’s 178 to the pin. Olsen went with a 7-iron. He swings hard.

I went with a 7-wood — a versatile club. A full swing carries about 205, so I’ve got to find a way to knock off some yards. We’re into the wind, so I’m looking to take about 20 off.

Olsen hit his ball low — the wind won’t affect it much. I plan to compress it, take a divot, and send it up. The wind will be a factor for me.

I’ll use a long backswing, but I’m not allocating weight to the trail hip. Instead, I’ll load only the trail hand — staying forward throughout. No weight shift.

I just want a pure strike. Eliminating the shift removes a variable. I won’t get the drive from my trail hip — it’s turning, but not powering. That’s my 20-yard reduction.

In my case, the shaft and clubhead are doing the work — I just drop from the top, and the follow-through naturally cuts short. Energy will dissipate as I’m not driving through. I’m intentionally dumping speed by not firing the trail hip. I come in steeper.

We were both pin-high.

Back nine. I’m protecting a lead. I just need to lay a clean strike and the victory will be had.