The Data Behind Aldrich Potgieter’s TOUR-Leading Distance

At just 20 years old, South African Aldrich Potgieter is leading the PGA TOUR in average driving distance.  We had the opportunity to evaluate Aldrich in our lab and wanted to highlight some of the key kinetic and kinematic data behind his prodigious speed:

• Total Torque: Total torque is one of the kinetic variables most-closely associated with clubhead speed.  Essentially, it tells us how well a golfers "twists" in the frontal, sagittal and horizontal planes.  Unsurprisingly, Aldrich creates as much total torque as any TOUR player we've evaluated. 

• Timing: If you've followed our content for any period of time, you're probably familiar with this topic.  While measuring the magnitude of ground reaction forces is important, how much force a golfer generates almost doesn't matter if the timing is too late.  Aldrich's vertical force peaks extremely early in the downswing, giving him more time to transfer that energy to the club.  Most higher-handicappers we evaluate generate their force much later than him. 

• Shoulder Turn: In order to generate more clubhead speed, a golfer can either apply more average force or apply that force for a longer time (a longer hand path).  We like to refer to it as "ramp time."  Aldrich makes a large shoulder turn, which allows him a longer ramp to accelerate the club.

• X-Factor: As we outlined in our article about our assessment with Patrick Cantlay, too much x-factor can be a bad thing.  However, if a golfer isn't able to create separation between their upper body and lower body, they won't be able to engage their oblique abdominals which are a key contributor to torso rotation velocity.  Aldrich creates excellent separation of his upper body and lower body, a hallmark of elite rotational athletes.

• Lag: We generally don't coach or cue "lag."  We see it as a product of quality movement. If we see issues with lag (or casting), we usually look at the lower body first as improving sequence (starting downswing with lower body) is often a long-term solve.  Aldrich has a beautiful kinematic sequence and does a terrific job initiating the downswing with the lower body, which helps him set the club.

Aldrich came in a few weeks after carding a 59 at a Korn Ferry Tour event.  His game was dialed and the data reflected it.  After hours of poking and proding, Dave and Greg had one major takeaway: "Don't change a thing."

Had an opportunity to assess Aldrich in our lab last spring, a few weeks after he shot 59 on the @KornFerryTour.

Here was Greg and Dave’s reaction to his data. Unsurprisingly impressive. https://t.co/nCk9RJVCvR pic.twitter.com/b2SFAbvfiA

— TPI (@MyTPI) October 8, 2024

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