The PGA Tour’s longest hitter gets his power from the ground up.
Last year on the PGA Tour, Aldrich Potgieter ranked first in driving distance with an average of 325 yards (297.2 metres). His longest drive of the season was 401 yards (366.7 metres) at the Genesis Scottish Open.
I started working with Aldrich when he was 14 years old after his family moved from South Africa to Perth when he was 8.
Power was never an issue. He had a very natural, free-flowing swing that crossed the line a little bit with a shut clubface at the top of his backswing and a lot of explosive power coming down with a downswing that matched his strong grip and shut clubface.
He has spent very little time developing that power in the gym. Aldrich’s other sport was wrestling where he became the Australian Under-15 champion and he had background in rugby training that enabled him to develop all his strength in his core, glutes and quads.
As well as being the WA Boys Amateur champion at the age of 15, Aldrich followed that by winning the WA Amateur Championship the next year at the age of 16, just missing out on winning the Australian Junior by one shot to Jeffrey Guan that same year.
At 5-feet-11, Aldrich is by no means tall, but he is built like the proverbial brick outhouse. While he has developed the speed needed to win on the PGA Tour, the foundation of Aldrich’s power is in his lower-body strength and core stability. That allows him to go at that speed and still have control of his ball flight, which is straight to a fade.
Generating more power from your lower body is a great way to add distance to your game.
Based at Lake Karrinyup Country Club, David Milne is a two-time PGA of Australia Coach of the Year and coaches DP World Tour rookie Connor McKinney and WPGA Tour of Australasia winner Abbie Teasdale, among others. A PGA professional can help get the most out of your game. To find the PGA professional closest to you, visit golf.com.au/find-a-pga-pro
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