Today was Patrick’s 25,000th lesson and my 190th. It is crazy to think he stated instruction on Thanksgiving Day 2001. I was a sophomore in college with no interest in golf at that time. My how things have changed.
Today was a downswing day at PKU which we haven’t had in quite some time. Patrick explained to me that with more and more depth on the backswing, my standing up and lifting with my shoulders at impact is exposed. My angle breaks down and I end up hitting behind the ball and lose all swing speed.
So, to combat that, Patrick wants me to get to the top of the backswing, close the gap with my lower right side, continue to drive under and through but keep my upper body low and spine angle. After impact I am to keep the spine angle and drive under very slowly with the backside of my right obliques and into my right lats. As I continue to drive under slowly it should feel like my shoulders are turning on a more level plane. I feel my shoulders high because I lift with them right at impact.
As I drive under, I will close the gap or slam the door with my right side driving my right elbow into my left side and my right elbow. At finish, my shoulders should feel much lower than they did in the past. In fact, my head will feel higher and my shoulders will feel lower; almost like spinning in a barrel with my just head outside the barrel.
We did many of these exercises with Patrick making certain I go very slow and keep my spine angle while driving with my right side. By the time the lesson was over I could feel my core doing the “spinning” and feeling lower. That said, I still hit the ball very high because I give up right before impact, throw my hands at the ball and lift with my shoulders.
Patrick explained that it is going to take quite a bit of time to break this habit as each time we add more depth to the backswing, it is going to expose it even more because I have more time to get to the ball.
Looks like another six months of not hitting the ball well. Great!
