Slow is becoming more meaningful to me as the slower my take away, the more I can tell the big muscles of the core and back are creating the backswing. I can also feel my left arm elbow staying “inside” on the way back. This is something I always tried to create but couldn’t. Now I understand it is the left side creating the left elbow staying inside.
I really started to feel the control of speed on both the backswing and downswing in the chipping motion today. If I can really relax my shoulders and upper body, my core can create the backswing, my arms don’t lift and I can transition and go slow to start the downswing. In the past, my transition was “jerky” and my downswing was extremely fast. I now can complete a very deep turn, have a slow transition and not pick up speed until I am halfway down on my downswing. It is a very cool feeling to be able to do this.
I still use my arms a little bit on the downswing and getting to the ball, but my rhythm is so much better. I also don’t feel the need to try to hit the ball hard with my arms. While my approach wedge was only going about 80 yards, it felt so much better with a slow backswing, smooth transition and very slow downswing. Patrick explained that I am now grasping the idea of creating speed while swinging slower.
Once again, there are still arms and hands on the downswing, but it is so much better. The practice chipping motion really opened my eyes to how herky jerky I was with my hands and arms. Now, if I can relax my upper body and use my core to create the take away, I am a very smooth golfer. Who would have ever thought I would be typing that just a single week ago.
I am in such a better mental place as I don’t have this false sense of power with my hands and arms. The power is going to come from going slower, not faster. Good luck trying to tell that to the common amateur golfer.
