Lesson #116 – April 7th, 2020

Today we addressed a root problem with my swing which is my legs. I use my legs way too much because of my track career. I used to drive out of the blocks by pushing forward. I still have this habit in the golf swing as I drive my right knee forward instead of supporting with the legs and allowing the right knee to fall inside my left knee when my right lower obliques and right lat drive through the swing.

We touched on making certain the hip angle is correct and then hit on my issues. I still trying to take the club back by using my right side; especially my right hip and right lats. The backswing is created and finished by using just the left side. I have a difficult time trying to get my entire right side to relax as I work to get into the backswing.

A drill Patrick had me do was to stand on one foot (my right foot), hold a bucket in front of my chest and start my turn back. I am to use my lower right obliques to start going back with a very small move down. Then, in another small move, I should feel the back side of my left obliques move my belly button away from the target. I am very unstable when I am doing this as sometimes I cannot even stay balanced. This tells me I am way too dependent on my legs and not my core.

I am now to do five of those before practicing my swing. My take away for my swing should feel exactly like the drill. After doing this a few times I could start to feel my left side tighten up as I tried to get deeper in the backswing. This is why I have had so much trouble getting the club back and behind me. I often drive the club straight back without going around my body. The reason is my right side is extremely tight and tightens even more as I get deeper into the backswing.

I am really going to have to work on my new drill with the back in front of my chest and relaxing my right side deeper and deeper into the backswing. The golf swing is extremely difficult.

Patrick mentioned that when he first started working with me, he assumed it would take 2.5 years to get my legs out of the swing. We are now about 19 months in and I am still working to address the root problem of my legs trying to drive in the golf swing.

UPDATE: Well, we are now well over 2.5 years into the golf swing and I am still working on the legs of the golf swing. In January 2021 I am now working more on the left leg stabilizing, especially the left shin. It is nuts how many parts of your body do not want to work correctly during the golf swing.

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