However, compared to their male peers, players on the LPGA Tour have always seemed to favor accuracy over speed. 

LPGA Tour players hit an incredible percentage of their fairways.  Too many, perhaps.

There are 12 women on the LPGA Tour averaging an astounding 80% or greater fairways hit.  By comparison, Aaron Rai is the leader in driving accuracy on the PGA TOUR at 73%, with just four other men at 70% or higher.

Driving accuracy can be a messy statistic.  A golfer could miss a fairway by a foot or blow their tee shot OB, but both shots count as a missed fairway.  Also, because it doesn't consider distance, not all fairways hit are equal in terms of their impact on scoring potential. Stokes Gained: Off-The-Tee, however, is much more representative of driving performance.

When considering the BEST (not just most accuracte) drivers on the LPGA, elite distance seems to be more important than elite accuracy.  Of the top 10 in SG:OTT on the LPGA Tour, only three have a driving accuracy above 70% (which ranks 92nd on the LPGA Tour).  However, of those 10, all are in the top 42 in average driving distance.

It seems as if many LPGA players could benefit from sacrificing some accuracy for more distance.

This was a conclusion from our session with Gaby Lopez. 

When she came to TPI last winter with her coach, Horacio Morales, and trainer, Janet Alexander, she said she had three driver speeds: fairway finder, faster and fastest (she called it her "King Kong").  She liked swinging all out (King Kong), but felt like her mechanics were inefficient.  The data confirmed it.

When Greg looked at her King Kong swing, he loved the intent, but saw that her ground reaction forces could be optimized to help improve her ability to transfer force to the club. 

Gabby‘s lower body is a rocket ship.  She has tremendous physical ability.  It shows up in the gym, in our power testing (22” countermovement jump) and on our force plates (over 220% bodyweight vertical force with her driver).  

One of the hallmarks of elite ball strikers is that they tend to generate ground reaction forces much earlier than higher handicappers.

If golfers apply force too late, it’s more difficult to translate it to the club. pic.twitter.com/eN7wEtY8Es

— TPI (@MyTPI) February 3, 2025

By teaching Gaby to push against the ground earlier in the downswing, she developed more efficient mechanics, both in terms of power and consistency.

Gaby’s driver has always been a strength, but in 2025 it’s become a weapon. 

Consider this progression:

In 2023, Gaby ranked 49th on the LPGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Off The Tee (0.19 per round), averaging 262 yards and finding 71% of the fairways.

In 2024, Gaby rose to 28th in SG:OTT (0.41 per round), averaging 264 yards and finding 75% of the fairways.

In 2025, Gaby is sitting at 4th in SG:OTT (0.79), averaging a career-best 277 yards with 68% accuracy.

Essentially, by adding 13 yards and only losing 7% accuracy, it means that Gaby is one club closer off-the-tee 14 times per round while only missing one more fairway per round.  Obviously, this is a tremendous statistical advantage.

This more evidence that speed is a skill.  It is trainable, but requires intention and attention. 

If we don’t practice top speed, how can we expect to control top speed? As Greg says in the video, it’s tough to survive in the jungle if you were raised in the zoo.  Do uncomfortable things in practice so they feel comfortable in competition.