Today was a difficult day at PKU as I learned I am always going to have issues with my upper right side taking over. As many hours and as much time as I have put into trying to soften my upper right lat, it still lifts in the backswing. This is so very depressing. I have put in countless hours trying to make my right side softer and less active and there is basically nothing I can do from it taking over and trying to generate power. The worst part about this is the fact that the right side taking over causes a weaker swing. I am not going to have the distance of other people simply because I jerk and pull with the right side which means I can’t come inside as easily.
It is quite depressing to realize I am 251 lessons in and I will never be a great golfer. I often wonder if I should have just said I will play with what I have after about 10 or 15 lessons; especially now that I know my right side will always be an issue.
Anyway, Patrick turned me up by pulling up from under my left shoulder. He slowly started to jab and knead at my upper right side which is when we had the conversation about it always being an issue. I don’t know whether to be depressed or just adjust my expectations or change my course of the swing lessons altogether. This is a conversation Patrick and I will have next week after our vacations.
After a few turns Patrick made certain I was keeping the crease on my right side. We then did some turns with the driver in my hand and I hit some balls. I told Patrick I can’t hit my longer irons well when I go to the range so he handed me a club to hit balls that was a longer iron. He told me not to look at the actual number on the clubhead. I hit my first one super fat, about an inch behind the ball. I shanked the second. I then actually hit the next three rather well. Patrick said I need to start working on hitting my longer irons now that I have spend over two years hitting just short irons.
My homework is to work on my turn without a club in my hand by allowing my right side to be soft at the top and fall back towards the target. If I go really slow I can feel the turn. I am then to start the downswing with my lower right side and drive with my right side while keeping my left shoulder down and through. Patrick said my main problem is I lift with my right shoulder at the top of the backswing and that causes my downswing to basically become a check mark instead of a circle. Once again, I am not sure if this is depressing or helpful.
Oh well, now I am off to the Outer Banks to have a birding adventure and to get away. Hopefully I can clean my mind and get back to the golf swing next week. I think it is safe to say there is absolutely no way I will be playing in Patrick’s Wednesday night tournament on April 14th. I have to wonder when I will ever be able to actually play a round of golf hitting all clubs in the back. Should I really have gone down this road?
