Alex Buckner
Marco Penge is the name on everyone's lips at the moment, having won three times on the DP World Tour in a sensational year that is culminating in an exciting end at the season-ending playoffs.
Penge has so far held his own in a big-hitting battle against Rory McIlroy at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, but can he overtake the Career Grand Slam winner and claim an order of merit title to go alongside his ever-growing collection of accolades?
The Secret To Marco Penge's Power
Alex Buckner is the coach of three-time DP World Tour Winner Marco Penge and has coached at top tier professional events including The Masters.
Alex spends most of his time looking after his stable of players on the DP World Tour, Ladies European Tour and Challenge Tour, focusing primarily on their short games. When home he is available to help your game reach the next level. Alex has helped many pros climb the ranks and earn their tour card.
Golf Monthly Top 50 Coach Alex Buckner had worked with Marco Penge on his short game for the past two or three years, but after dramatically saving his DP World Tour card at the end of the 2024 season, Penge decided to make a change.
Alex Buckner took over as Penge's main coach, taking a more holistic approach which instantly bared fruit through a 3rd place finish in South Africa in just his second tournament of 2025.
Alex Buckner has worked with Marco Penge on all areas of his game since the start of 2025
That finish qualified the Englishman for The Open and shot him up the rankings following a short ban the prevented Penge from playing on the DP World Tour at the start of 2025.
One of the first questions I asked Alex was perhaps the obvious place to start... how has Penge managed to become one of the biggest hitters in world golf and what top driving tips can amateurs learn from him?
Buckner replied, "He has always been pretty long and probably one of the longest hitters for his age growing up.
"One of his key values is to be an athlete, working with his trainer Mike Murray a lot. He priorities training over anything and with his long limbs, and how fast and strong he is, he has always been silly long".
Fitness is a key component in increasing speed and strength, ultimately resulting in improved power in the golf swing, but many amateur golfers do not prioritise this as part of their golf improvement plan.
By adding in a series of the 10 best golf exercises into their regular schedule, amateurs can find additional gains in power but also improve their flexibility, mobility and reduce their risk of certain injuries.
However, as Alex Buckner eludes to, producing additional speed and power requires a body that can accommodate this in the golf swing, so nutrition is key.
"We upped his calorie count so that he could keep the mass on, because if you are generating that much speed and power you ideally need the body to be able to sustain it over the course of a season".
Then comes the technical aspect, which Alex explained has been an important element to partner with Penge's work away from the course.
"You also need to hit the middle of the clubface and find the golf course. He lost a lot of golf balls last year, making triples and doubles. Whereas this year, there has been barely anything. When you are that comfortable, you can hit it a lot harder".
Try This Marco Penge Tee Shot Drill
I know many of you will be thinking, 'that's great, but how can I apply this to my own game when I don't swing it as hard or as fast as the biggest hitters in the game?'.
In readiness for that response, I asked Alex Buckner to share some of the things that Marco does on the range and how amateur golfers can replicate this to improve their own performance off the tee.
"A lot of players have the technical attributes to hit the ball well, but it's a skill to be able to be that accurate too.
"One of the drills we do is how many 'fairways' can you hit, then make it smaller and smaller".
Marco Penge ranks third for Strokes Gained: Off The Tee among the top 150 players in the world
This simple drill is simple for any amateur to set up in their next driving range session. Pick two points on the course that can act as boundary markers, then highlight the middle area between these two points as your fairway.
Start with a manageable number for your game, perhaps three or four, seeing if you can hit that many in a row into the 'fairway' identified by your two boundary markers.
These could be yardage markers, flags, humps or hollows and man-made targets, as long as you are clear about where your area that you intend to hit is.
Once you have achieved this number, you can increase the amount needed in a row to add further challenge. Like Marco Penge, if you really want to test yourself, decrease the size of your fairway and repeat the process.
Every amateur golfer should try this drill on the range and vary the challenge level to foster progress in their long game
This drill is best used when you trial different styles of tee shot, practicing a variety of trajectories that you might need to use on the course - as Alex explains.
"He has a stinger, a grip down, a stock fade and a high draw, which he will circulate between different styles of shot to hit the fairway and make his target smaller and smaller in practice".
"Many amateurs just hit driver but only have one way to hit it. If Marco needed to hit the fairway he would go for the grip down driver, if he was into wind he would generally go with a stinger and go for a stock shot if there is nothing".
Using the data collected through your driving range sessions, you will be able to tell which type of shot is the most accurate in hitting the 'fairway', which gives you the most length and which is your most consistent that you perhaps feel more comfortable with.
That knowledge is invaluable when standing on the tee box, as it means you can make an informed decision and strategically play each hole on its individual merit.
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