Today was a downswing day at PKU and a teaching moment for Patrick. He explained that he will go one way with me and then go back the other because I often try to focus on things that are not that important. The golf swing does not have to be perfect. This freed me up a little bit to stop thinking and just allow muscle memory to take over.
We are still working on the crease on the backswing with my right hand on the crease when we are practicing without a club. We are also still practicing with the driver when we are doing the stretching practice swings. On the downswing Patrick wants my right left to fall behind the left leg and for me to get up on my toe quicker. In essence, he wants my right leg to be a rutter and not a driver. To practice, I can actually lift the right foot up and let my toe sit on the ground like with the practice chipping motion.
He then told me that my right side needs to travel. I hang back which causes me to create more loft and hit up on the ball. It is also why I sometimes dump the club right before impact. Instead, my right lat should travel all the way in front of my left hips while my arms stay back. The travel is the right lat driving under and out to right field while my left leg holds off and there is a crease on the left leg. This is advanced stuff that I am not ready for yet, but I understand it.
Patrick also wants my arms and hands to get through impact now. After impact, the club should be angled down toward the ground. I always want to lift it as quickly as possible. Instead, it should stay angled down and on the target line as long as possible with the right side traveling, driving through and towards second base.
I am starting to realize the importance of depth in the backswing now with the traveling on the downswing. I also now somewhat understand why great golfers say they want to delay speed as long as possible. From the top of the backswing to about 50% of the way on the downswing it can be really smooth with the right side storing energy. Then, as the right lat travels, you can really feel speed created under. I can feel this without a club in my hand with my arms across my chest. It will take many practice exercises to be able to do this with a club in my hand.
Since we are supposed to get snow and ice tomorrow, I decided to play 18 holes. It was the most consistent and fun 18 holes I’ve had since I started this adventure. I really focused on keeping my legs soft and my upper back soft when approaching the ball and through setup. If my knees are soft and I can feel the crease at the take away, I really end up hitting the ball quite well. In fact, I hit one shot that the diviot was less than 3 inches from the hole. My pitching wedge was on fire from 100-110 yards today.
While I know this is not the distance we will once have, I am hitting the correctly. The ball takes a hop and spins back with all my short irons. I had four birdies and the hole got really big with my putting. I went back to everything being “small” with my putting. Narrow stance, right hand almost on the metal, squatted over the ball and a very short backswing. It brought back memories of the old days when I was one of the best putters at Hasentree. No more tinkering with putting, just keep things “small” and make sure you have your speed and they will end up dropping.
Playing the back 18 holes I had 4 birdies and 18 pars. What a great round of golf.
