After a relaxing weekend, it was a backswing day at PKU. Patrick focused on my arms getting ahead of my body on the backswing. He explained that my lower right side really needs to be soft and “stretched” at takeaway and into the backswing. He stood behind me and made my torso long which helped me feel the lower right side turn rather than pull. After doing this a few times, I started to understand why Patrick wants me to suck in my right side on the backswing. If I can keep a long posture at setup, it allows me to feel the tendon on the right side of my back being stretched.
From there, I can feel my torso turning and then support it. I definitely have to work on my legs not collapsing, but I can feel the tension of my tendon getting out of the way on the take away. I can also really feel it once I turn my upper thoracic and get to the top of the backswing. Patrick was very pleased as this is the first time my torso, especially my right side, is supporting my upper body rather than helping pull it higher at the take away.
I also have to focus on keeping my right shoulder down and soft as I turn through my lower right side. If I can get into and through the lower right side of my back’s tendon, I am in a good position to keep turning and allowing my torso to support the rest of the swing.
Once again, it is going to take quite a bit of patience and practice to not use my right side to start and continue with the backswing. My practice will be keeping my right shoulder low and soft and then turning with my left side to feel the turn get through the tendon on the lower left side of my back.
Golf is so easy.
UPDATE: In late May 2021 I finally accepted that thinking about the swing while hitting balls is the worse thing I can do. I have developed the body and flexibility to be a great golfer but I need to work on my mind. If I can think of other topics while hitting balls, I hit it great. When I start to have swing thoughts, it all goes haywire. My goal for the next month is to not have swing thoughts when club meets ball.
