It was a backswing day at PKU. It was also a very fun day as I have now become flexible enough for Patrick to put me where he wants me on the backswing. The basic take away from today was as I get close to the top of the backswing, my lower right side is actually going to feel like it is pushing to the left of the target line. In essence, if 12 o’clock is the target and 6 o’clock is a straight line down the target line behind me, it feels like my lower right side of my back is actually driving towards 5:15 rather than 7 or 8 o’clock.
Patrick did some tweaking with some of my muscle memory on the way back but I tried not to think about it as I just let him do it. We are now to the point where Patrick just starts my swing and then I allow him to put my muscles into places in which I need muscle memory.
I was hitting the ball poorly last Friday but hit the ball extremely well today. The less I think about the backswing, the better I hit it. I have also added quite a bit of distance. Patrick is very pleased with the progress of my chipping motion as well. I can do that simply using my core by making certain my right side feels long from my right hip all the way to my right elbow. This is expansion and how you really get swing speed.
Now that we are at this place with my swing, I have to be diligent in my stretching and practice to not think too much. What a crazy ride it has been.
UPDATE: I have had so many swing thoughts and ideas of the golf swing in the last two years. Now, I understand most of the swing as taking the right hand out of it and having the left side soft on the downswing allows me to really get to a good place. Lots of drills and lots of hard work, but I finally have the mental picture of what a great golf swing is.
