We are still at Knight’s Play due to Coronavirus. After Patrick “released” me I decided to go play 9 holes at Hope Valley. Let’s just say that I do not know how to hit my driver. I hit my irons fairly well and even hit a 5 iron into hole #2 from 180 yards with no problem. This is not a shot I had with my “former swing”. My ability to hit a 165-185 shot was abysmal to say the least. That said, we need to work on the driver.
I told Patrick this and he was not surprised. He said my tendency to get short while on the course plus the fact that the driver is a much longer club is likely causing the problem. It is crazy to me because the driver feels like a completely different club in my hands. I never would have guessed that I am comfortable hitting a 5 iron but I have no ability to hit my driver right now.
Patrick continued to focus on the triangle with the pressure on my feet. We start with the pressure being on the ball of the left foot, the ball of the right foot and it goes into the heel of the right foot as we complete the backswing. I am getting much better at keeping my upper right lat stable and supporting rather than trying to lift with it at the top of the backswing. Then, on the downswing, the pressure is on the ball of the right foot, the ball of the left foot and as we drive under with the right lat, there needs to be pressure on the heel of the left foot.
My mistake in the past was I did not get pressure on the heel of the left foot which made my left leg collapse at impact. When all is said and done, the left leg is going to brace and allow my right side to get through impact. This is where true power comes.
I am starting to feel more comfortable getting a shoulder turn in the backswing and starting the downswing but I give up right before impact and come across the ball. I can get away with this with my wedges and short irons but it starts to show with my long irons as the ball fades.
Patrick showed me that I really need to work on driving my right lat under with my left leg bracing through impact. I try to lift with my left shoulder, left lat and left arm rather than driving under with my right lat. It is going to take a lot of practice and stretching to get the right lat to drive under. It feels extremely short after impact when I do this because of my lack of flexibility. Right now, it is much more important to be short and keep my left foot, especially my left heel, stable. If my left knee collapses and does not remain over my left toes, I am doing it wrong.
It will be fun to see just how flexible I can get over the next few weeks. I never would have guessed I could use my left lat to get to the top of the backswing so now we are going to use that same feeling to get the right lat to finish the swing without using my left arm. It is extremely difficult to keep the left elbow soft and inside while my right lat drives under and my left leg braces. Ahhh, fun times.
UPDATE: I have learned so much in the last 100 lessons. While there were many different roads that had to be traveled, I did not understand the importance of sucking in the right side on the backswing and the sucking in of the left side on the downswing and finish. This is why Dustin Johnson looks so bent over after impact. He really sucks in on his left side and stays on the target line forever. There is no lifting on the backswing or the follow through for him. That is the goal. Easy enough.
