Today was a downswing day at PKU. As always, we started with getting a full backswing with the right side crease bracing to get the full turn. Then, Patrick tried to get me to very slowly start the downswing with my lower right side. He held my left shoulder down instead of letting it rise or jump up. My biggest problem right now is my first move down causes my left shoulder to pop up. This is both a flexibility issue and a transition and speed issue. The slower I go, the more I can feel the left lat broaden and the left shoulder stay low.
It is going to take quite a few stretches to get my left lat near the middle of my back to be soft and actually lengthen during the downswing rather than get jump and pull up on the downswing.
After that, Patrick allowed my core to do the work and twisted me in the core. He then put the impact back out in front of where the ball would be. For the first time, he adjusted my hands. I like to bow my left wrist which closes the club face. It is Dustin Johnson like. Instead, my left hand should remain firm but not bow. To me, it feels like the club face is completely open but it is simply square.
We did the five twists for the impact bag exercise and repeated this a number of times. When I actually hit the ball impact feels much softer. I am used to my hands manipulating the club and really feel impact. Instead, the club should slide right through the ball like a hot knife through warm butter. It is going to take awhile to replicate this, but I am starting to feel it.
The most important thing right now is to greatly slow the transition so I can feel my left lat broadening and my left shoulder staying low. When my left shoulder lifts, my left lat cannot broaden, it actually gets shorter. In the golf swing, we want length and a broad back.
