Lesson #65 – July 26th, 2019

The last few days have been a challenge for me. With the added elements of the grip and the backswing, I am now struggling to actually hit the ball. I went to the range with Mikaila and had a mental breakdown because my divot is actually an inch outside the ball and I am hitting it with the hosel. Not good.

Patrick explained to me that each step forward is going to expose the arsminess of my swing. This exposure is needed but can get very ugly. We went back to working on the take away and the backswing but I am still hitting the ball with the hosel and about an inch outside the ball. Patrick said that I need to focus on the take away before I can worry about the other parts of the swing.

By the end of the lesson, Patrick had me using the Putting Perfecter to simply chip the ball. He said that locking my arms and upper body in place, at the impact position, will help me feel what it should feel like at impact. He also explained that it would be a good idea to just use the Putting Perfecter to chip and get the feel for a more core based swing that does not use the arms.

After doing this a few times, I started to understand just how armsy my swing was. It is crazy to think that I have the misperception that my arms were out of my swing. This makes me wonder just how much the common amateur uses their arms in the golf swing.

After doing about 40 chips with the Putting Perfecter I finally got the feel for a golf chip without the arms. My left elbow needs to be pointed in towards my belly button and my right elbow needs to be low and inside my right shoulder. Months and months ago I told Mikaila that the golf swing was holding your boobs with your elbows. This is exactly what a non armsy golf swing feels like.

I am still getting used to my left elbow being pointed toward my belly button at impact as this a stretch on my left tricep. It is crazy to know that my left elbow has been pointed out, instead of in, so much that I now have to stretch it to get the feel for the correct golf swing.

I have hit dozens of chips with many of them being great. It is important for me to keep this feel as it allows me to take the arms out of the backswing. I am going to let Patrick figure out how to get me to keep the arms out of the downswing. That will be quite a challenge for him.

UPDATE: And here we go. Let’s see just how long it takes me to actually get the ball off the ground and into the air. Patrick and I always jokingly argue about how long it took. Now we will see. his was definitely the most difficult part of the process of my golf swing transformation.

This content is supported by Wake Forest, NC Dentist Dr. Brent Wells.

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