Today we focused on coming up and under with my upper thoracic without letting my right hip fly back. I have the tendency to allow my right hip and right side to get soft which doesn’t allow me to turn around my right side. My right side actually turns with my left side which doesn’t create any torque or tension. When keeping my right hip firm after the take away it feels like I am not going back far at all. I have to get used to the fact that a deep shoulder turn is not the same thing as a deep “arm” or “hands” turn. Remember, the goal is to keep my hands directly in front of my chest throughout the entire golf swing.
Patrick is impressed with my chipping motion as my right side is really coming up and under. It is good to feel my right lat driving under and through the ball. I know there is still plenty to learn, but I feel as if I am getting closer and closer to holding off the release until after the ball.
I am going to try to work on doing a back bridge and have a progression plan with some stretches. When working on the back bridge, I can feel my hips opening up with the exercise and stretch in which you squeeze your glutes and raise your belly button to the sky. Quite a long time ago, Patrick and I discussed having the hips wide at setup. The more I practice my bridge, the more comfortable it is to have wide hips at setup.
With wide hips, I am less likely to want to allow my right hip to get soft and collapse or move back with the backswing. There is still so much to learn, but the shoulder turn with resistance of the lower body is getting there. It should be a fun fall and winter.
Also, I am the king of digging the toe of the club in the ground right at impact. It will be interesting to see how Patrick works on fixing this issue.
UPDATE: It took me months to get over living out on the toe of the club. In fact, for another 75 or so lessons I really lived on the toe of the club. Just recently, in April 2021, around 250 lessons in, did I start to stay down and drive through the ball without lifting with my left shoulder and toeing it. Now, I am hitting my 7 iron about 185-190 yards when I can maintain that right hip on the backswing and stay down through impact.
