Maria Fassi comes into the U.S. Women’s Open this week third in driving distance, and she’ll be hunting for her first major while playing alongside a couple other bombers — Bianca Pagdanganan and Anne Van Dam — during the first two rounds at Champions Golf Club.
Our man on the ground, Zephyr Melton, caught up with Fassi before her first round to learn more about how she bombs the ball — and what golfers at home can learn from it.
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1. Push yourself
According to Fassi, the first step to hitting the ball longer is to push yourself on every swing. She learned that playing up alongside the male members of her club. If you’re committed to hitting the ball longer, then you can’t pick and chose, only swinging hard when you feel like it. You have to do it regularly.
“I grew up playing with guys, playing from their tees, so I think unconsciously that pushed me to swing even harder,” Fassi says. “Trying to keep up with the guys.”
2. Work on your flexibility
You don’t need to hit the gym to gain distance, though it certainly helps. But one thing she recommends all golfers work on, whether they enjoy working out or not, is their flexibility. The more elasticity you have in your swing, the faster you’ll be able to move.
“I’ve always been flexible and I work on it a lot, so it definitely helps,” she says.
3. Use the ground
You may have heard this one before, but that’s because it’s important. If you want to boost your swing speed, use the ground as leverage. Launch up off it for maximum speed.
“I try to use the ground as much as possible; use my legs and core,” Fassi says. “If you’re into working out, I focus on sprints and box jumps to help my legs be fast.”
4. Pay attention to your sequence
Golf swing “sequence” is a fancy way of saying that you want your downswing to move in the right order. Weight shifts first, then you rotate, then you rise. When that gets off, you’ll lose both distance and accuracy.
“That’s the one thing, making sure my body and club are in-sync,” Fassi says. “That’s where I work head during the off weeks, making sure the sequence of my swing is firing in the right way.”
5. Don’t think too much
There comes a point when you have to let go of all the knowledge you have and just swing freely. Power, after all, is about letting go. Don’t get bogged down in too many thoughts.
“Honestly, I don’t think about it or analyze it nearly as much as other people do,” Fassi says. “In my early years it didn’t really matter if it was going straight or not, I just wanted to be explosive.”
6. Trust it
When things do get off, don’t press the panic button. Just accept that golf is a game full of mishits, and move on to the next one, trusting in the process.
“It’s golf. You can be playing well, make a bad swing and lose one 50 yards right,” Fassi says. “But I still trust my technique, and trust that it’s going to be there when I need it.”
Another way of boosting your distance is to make sure your driver is properly fit by a team of experts. To book your driver fitting today, head over to our sister-company True Spec’s website or check out our list of Top 50 clubfitters.