Today was a downswing day at PKU and a fun one at that. My backswing continues to improve but I need to work on my posture with my hips rolling forward even more. When I get lazy with my posture, my right knee cannot brace or resist and I get outside with my right side, especially my lower right side. If I really focus on my hips being rolled forward at setup, I can feel my right knee bracing and the tension being on the inside of my right leg rather than the outside.
On the downswing, Patrick wants me to work my lower right side through more. He calls it closing the gap meaning my lower right side will get my body back to the setup position. Only then am I to use my upper right side to drive through the ball. I have a tendency to use my upper right side way too early in the downswing which is causing me to come over the top just a bit. If I can use my lower right side to close the gap and then drive through with my upper right side, I can feel my hands being under my chin much longer.
After hitting a few balls, I finally felt my hands and arms being under my chin throughout the entire swing. This has been something we have been working on for months. Patrick also allowed me to rotate my neck and chin after impact so my head actually lifts up. I know I need to keep my head down through impact but after impact I need to allow my head to come up and see the ball out of my right eye.
There is just so much to understand when it comes to the golf swing. This lesson was fun because two high school girls were trying to hit balls behind us and they were a complete debacle. They got a second bucket of balls and said it was “grind time”. Ahhh, good luck!
UPDATE: “Grind time” has come back to the range a number of times in the last few months. It is so funny because they have no ability to actually hit the golf ball but they have fun. It is early May 2021 and my swing has improved drastically. I am just now starting to understand how to swing slower to hit it further.
