Lesson #110 – March 12th, 2020

Well, the coronovirus scare is in full bloom this spring with the “Trump no European’s in” speech, the NBA suspending the season and Tom Hanks getting the virus. That said, we still plow forward learning the golf swing with Patrick Kelley.

As is the new tradition, I hit five balls to start the lesson. The first one I hit was pure. I almost wanted to walk away. After hitting my balls, Patrick addressed my left knee and right knee. When getting my full shoulder turn, with my left lat coming under, I lose my left knee as if falls inside. When my left knee collapses, my right knee does as well. I am to practice getting to the top with my right and left knee remaining stable. When doing this, I feel like I am standing up more or “tall” but that is just keeping my torso long.

After getting to the top, I am to be very patient on the downswing. As I start the downswing with my lower right side, I then need to drive under with my right obliques. When doing this, I am to leave my arms and shoulders “back”. When doing this properly, as I drive through impact with my core, I come out on the other side with my belly button well left of the target.

What is different is the club is more in front of my chest through impact and towards that target. I used to allow my arms to try to keep the club right of the target or on the target line. Much like with my backswing, I wasn’t turning with my core which will turn the club deeper back and deeper through. At the finish, it feels like my chest is pointing 45 degrees left of the target. It is a great feeling.

Patrick said that would be the end goal. I told him he has until I am 40 and he said he wants my full commitment until May 2020. He is definitely going to get that.

As I continue to learn the swing, my elbows are soft and fall to the inside and I am able to really feel the top of the backswing with my left arm being soft which allows the left lat to drive under and finish the backswing.

UPDATE: Well, we are now in January 2021 and I am still learning the importance of the left knee. My shoulder turn is very good but it gets even better if my left knee can feel as if it is pointing towards the target through the first half of my backswing. The more stable and firm the left leg is on the backswing the better my arm flow, especially my right arm tucking, which then allows me to turn my shoulders even more. I would say that Patrick got much more than May 2020 out of me when it comes to a commitment to my golf swing.

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