We are still at Knight’s Play due to Coronavirus. Today Patrick added a layer involving my feet and hands. This means we are getting very close to actually going out and playing golf. With my hands, Patrick is getting the club more “vertical” at the top of my backswing. Meaning, my left hand is causing the club to go up rather than falling flat.
With my feet, Patrick has created the image of a triangle. On my backswing, I allow my left side to drive into the ball of my right foot then the heel of my right foot braces and the ball of my left keeps my left knee stable. On the downswing, we re-establish the left knee over the left toes and then I need to allow my left heel to brace. I was trying to keep all the resistance on the ball of my left foot and there needs to be some bracing through the heel. The ball of my right foot then keeps the right knee inside but soft. The ball of the right foot and right knee do not create any power on the downswing, they simply support.
This was a fun lesson as I started to hit the ball very well. In fact, I hit a few that were pure and in the middle of the clubface. I still need to work on some flexibility on the follow through with my upper body being angled down towards where I just hit the ball, but that is going to take time.
At the end of the lesson I had Patrick turn me fully. While I am getting deeper and deeper in my turn, I still need to drive under with my left lat to really finish the swing. I can’t believe how deep I need to get to have a full shoulder turn.
As we were walking to our cars Patrick said, “you have been released.” I said, “what?” He said, “go play golf.” I was shocked as I did not expect to actually play for quite some time. Patrick said I should go play and hit every club in the bag so we can get a gameplan moving forward. Unfortunately, the tee times at Hope Valley and Hasentree are always booked so I am not sure when I will have the opportunity to get out and play alone.
I did find out that UNC Finley’s driving range is open again which is great news. It looks like Wojdylo Golf will be happening sometime in the near future.
UPDATE: While Patrick released me at the end of June 2020 I really didn’t start playing from 125 yards and in until November or December of 2020. It is now March 2021 and I am just starting to play from 135-140 yards. It has been a long process but my old habits cause my hands and arms to get way in front of my body when I want to generate power. Instead, my body should lead and I should actually feel my backswing getting slower. Ahhh, the joys of this difficult game.
