Today was a backswing day at PKU and a very fun lesson. Renny and Brad Fritsch were hitting balls while Patrick was turning me. He stood in front of me and was looking at me, then Renny then Brad. He said, “progression”. Clearly I am the weakest link but have improved quite a bit.
Patrick really pushed my left lat to get much deeper. He was using some force to really get the back side of my left side to drive hard. He then lifted my left lat so that my shoulders were more flat. I don’t have the ability to do this myself quite yet but it does make sense that this flattens the swing.
At the top of the backswing Patrick really turned me hard and made certain my right side was soft. He also reiterated that my left knee should remain stable and soft and there should be distance between my knees.
While there wasn’t a lot of new knowledge in this lesson, there were some new feels of the left side really driving hard to get my left lat to feel like it is driving through my left ribs as we get into the backswing. Patrick physically opened my left shoulder and right shoulder as I approached the top of the backswing. This is a completely different feel as my right lat is now open and feels like it is moving towards the target.
I have accepted that any practicing at home is really just a waste of my time. Instead, I am going to focus on the small homework exercises Patrick gives me and slowly allow my swing to develop. I need to work hard on the mental aspect of golf and much of this is not to overanalyze when the lesson is completed. Let the body feel the feels and let the mind relax. When I think about the golf swing again it will be with Patrick at my next lesson.
