Today Patrick quickly fixed a few of my faults by addressing my setup. I was allowing my right shoulder and, subsequently, my right arm to get way too high at address. Remember when we first started this process and I was to keep my right elbow below my left elbow and my right shoulder was to be dropped? Well, that has become extremely important.
If I can keep my right shoulder down, which in turn will keep my right elbow low, I can then drive with my left side and it feels like the club making a circle around my body. It was definitely an “a ha” moment at the end of the session as I realized my major fault is I feel the need to lift with my right shoulder or right elbow at one point in the backswing. The earlier I do it, the worse I hit the ball. If I can keep my right elbow lower than my left elbow as long as possible, I really feel the circle of the club going around me.
I also can feel the club lagging my body when I keep pressure on the inside of my right foot. This allows my left side to drive while my right side supports. By the end of the lesson, I was hitting the ball very, very well.
While I know there is still a lot more to learn, the basic concept of the circle around my body is now there. At the top of the swing, I no longer feel the need to lift with my arms, I continue turning under with my left lat. It is an amazing feel.
My left foot is still an issue as I can feel the brace with the front of my left foot but the back of my left foot is not staying in contact with the ground. There will be many hours of stretching that Patrick will do with me to get my left foot, both the front and back of it, to stay on the ground.
A practice exercise that is becoming important is the exercise to pick up my left leg, hold a club horizontal with my elbows in, and turn into my right side with my left core. When doing this, I need to keep my right shoulder and right elbow low and stable. When doing it correctly, I realize just how much I want to lift with my right shoulder and right elbow. I need to really work on my balance so I do not feel the need to lift with the right elbow or right shoulder. When I do the opposite direction to emulate impact, I don’t feel as much of a need to lift my left shoulder but it is still an exercise I need to focus on.
Things are finally coming together.
UPDATE: We are now in March 2021, I am over 240 lessons in and the lifting with the right shoulder on the backswing and the left shoulder on the downswing is still a habit I have. It will always be a habit because it is easy. I have gotten much better but there is still plenty of work to be done. Golf is such a hard game.
