It was a downswing day at PKU and we really cused on me not lifting my left shoulder and left side to start the downswing. Any time Patrick adds depth to my backswing, I revert back to lifting up with the left side to start the downswing. To combat this, Patrick squeezes my upper back with his hand on my right trap and uses his thumb to squeeze into the middle of my upper back. He then puts his forearm across my entire back and pushes down so my left shoulder and upper back stay low at the start of the downswing. This would be an amazing swing practice aid.
When he does this, I have no choice but to keep my left shoulder low and turn with my right side. With the alignment stick across my chest he explained that the alignment stick should be pointed at the target or just right of the target as my belly button is just ahead of my chest. I should also feel my stomach sucking in and very bent over keeping my posture. From there, my right side should drive and the alignment stick should exit stage left and very low. My left foot, both front and back, will brace and my right side will drive through. I should also feel sucking in on my left side just like on the right side of the backswing.
I have a lot of practice reps to get in of the left shoulder staying low throughout the entire downswing. I still live on the toe of the club and dig the toe into the mat when hitting but I am definitely getting closer to the sweet spot.
Overall, my backswing is so much better. Now I need to continue to get depth and keep my left shoulder low all the way through impact.
Patrick gave me some physical fitness exercises to do over the long weekend. I am to stand one footed on my foam roller for two minutes. I am to do two minutes with each foot and then two minutes with both feet. He wants me to use the Putting Perfecter to do my turn exercise. I am to stand on the foot I am turning into while bent over in good posture. I am to use a very slight movement to turn into the leg I am standing on without lifting with the shoulder above that leg. Both sides and 10 reps a piece. I am then to do this with a weighted medicine ball with the movement even smaller and focusing on using the core and not lifting with the shoulder. Both sides.
He wants me to do the pigeon toe lifting of the leg sideways and then use that same leg to go across the body – 10 reps each. Lastly, I am to continue my practice turns with the crease on the side I am turning into while keeping the shoulder of that side low and soft. I cannot do enough of these. I do need to work on going slow rather than trying to do these fast.
I am not playing in the Patrick Kelley Tournament on Monday, March 15th as there is no way I would be ready. I haven’t hit anything longer than a 9 iron and haven’t played from a distance further than 135 yards. I also haven’t even started the process of learning how to pitch the ball. I will play in the next one when I have more shots in my bag.
