After a week off, it was time to get back to the grind. While in Park City with Jodi and the boys I dove for a pass from Logan and really messed up my knee. It was swollen very bad during the time I was in Park City and is still a bit of a problem. Fortunately, I can still swing the golf club as the soreness seems to be more when I extend my leg. The left knee is what I feel on and that is my plant leg. Hopefully it heals up quickly.
I told Patrick that Mikaila might be moving to be a flight attendant and he asked me how long he had. I told him until at least next August or September. Any time Patrick knows he has to speed things up a bit he adds a few new layers.
The first thing we talked about was the angle we set by bending over with the hips. I was losing that a little bit over the last few weeks. We then discussed the first move being a slight move with the left hip. It is a downward movement but very slight. I have the bad habit of creating the backswing with my left hip rather than letting my left quad and left obliques create the backswing.
The feel is to keep the angle with the hips, start the backswing with the left hip going down while not moving the arms at all. Then, My upper right quads and the back side of my left obliques start to take over. If I do this correctly, I feel very skinny.
The next layer that Patrick added was to keep more weight on the left foot and not allow the left hip or left knee to fall back. The reason I am using my legs and hips so much on the downswing is because I am using them so much on the backswing. If I can use my left obliques and left side to get to the top while keeping my left hip and left knee stable, the backswing feels very short. It feels short because I am used to swinging my left hip and knee to get the club further back.
I need to work on allowing my left obliques and left lats to get the club to the top of the backswing with my left hip and left knee moving very little.
Once I get to the top of the backswing, I can feel my lower back being very full and my entire body is coiled. Patrick also explained to me that to get the most depth with my backswing, I need to feel as if my right lat stays outside my right tricep throughout the entire backswing. If I do this correctly, the backswing feels very wide. This is the width they talk about when looking at professional golf swings.
On the downswing, my right obliques will drive pushing my right butt cheek towards my left heel. This is ever so slight. Remember, we do not want to be using the hips to generate power. After the right hip is back to level and it feels like my right butt cheek is going towards my left heel, my right knee will feel like it is straightening and going backwards. I then use my lower right obliques to drive under and up. When doing this, it causes the club to come from inside. This is also a move that takes a lot of patience on the downswing.
While driving with my lower right obliques, I need to hold off my right hip. This is a challenge for me as I used to spin with that hip to gain power. I am to hold off with that hip and drive under with the lower right obliques and the feel will go all the way up through my right lat. When doing this, my left lat should stay outside my left tricep all the way to the top of the swing.
The more I can hold off with the left hip and keep the left lat outside the left tricep, the more speed I can generate. I also need to make certain the left knee and left leg does not straighten. It is often the case that the left knee will straighten which causes me to pull my entire body to the left. If we want to hit the ball well, the body should feel like it is going to the right through impact.
I learned a lot in this lesson but the understanding is there. Unlike in the past, when it took me days or weeks to comprehend something, it is now only taking me a few hours.
I am really going to have to practice the right lat being outside the right tricep on the way back and the left lat being outside the left tricep on the way through as I am tight in those areas. My triceps, lats and even neck muscles do not want this to happen. I know with a few hundred stretch swings, we will be good to go and will be able to hit the ball extremely well.
Patrick also mentioned having a “Patrick Kelley” tournament at Knight’s Play over Thanksgiving. He asked me if I would be interested. I told him, “of course!” I guess this means he thinks I will be ready by Thanksgiving. It would be fun to see some of his students that are at different places when it comes to their swings.
UPDATE: Unfortunately, the Patrick Kelley tournament never happened and I guess I am glad it did not as I was no where near ready to play golf back then. It is now early November of 2020 and I am 181 lessons in and there are still moments of concern when it comes to playing Knight’s Play. It is interesting to read about the right lat staying outside the right shoulder on the backswing and the left lat staying outside the left shoulder on the downswing. This can only happen when the shoulders are not rolled forward.
It has taken a lot of work and stretching to improve my posture to the point that my chest is puffed out and peacocking through the swing rather than collapsing. If you can keep your shoulders rolled back and the chest out throughout the golf swing, you will be a very good golfer. Good luck with that though.
