On Tuesday, December 17th, 2019, Patrick and Brad King flew to Florida to do a TV commercial for the Putting Perfecter. He met with the owner of Revolution Golf and did the commercial. It will be interesting to see when they air live on the Golf Channel.
As far as my swing, today Patrick had to reinforce that after the take away I need to use my “upper thoracic” to continue the backswing. I started to use my hands and arms after take away. If I use my upper thoracic I can feel my core being “skinny” but engaging. I also feel as if I am standing tall or long in the backswing when I do this correctly. If I can drive my hips into my toes at the setup and use my upper thoracic to get deeper into the backswing, I feel my back full. I still need a little more flexibility in my upper left lat to complete the backswing but I am getting there.
Once I am at the top, there is tension throughout the top of my back. At this point, Patrick has told me that I need to hold that tension as I start the downswing and even as I allow the downswing to develop. The holding of the tension in the upper back is what creates lag with the body. It is hard for me to keep that tension while also keeping the arms soft, but with every practice swing I am feeling better about it.
Patrick also reinforced that my left knee needs to stay soft and closer to the target line as I complete the downswing. I have a habit of allowing that knee to straighten and pull back and away from the target. This is how I used to get power. If I keep that knee soft and bent throughout the follow through, it feels quite squatty. It is also the feel of a punch shot Patrick consistently talks about.
Over the next few days I need to refocus my backswing to being a turn of my lower core, then upper thoracic. At the top, I am to keep the tension in my upper back. I am then to keep that tension all the way to impact and then release. If I can do this with my left knee being soft and remaining on the target line, I will feel as if I am hitting a punch shot.
During this particular lesson, there were a number of maintenance workers and cart barn guys painting the range or shagging balls. They were everywhere. The first shot I hit, I had to yell fore because it almost hit a car barn guy. I moved my aim even further right and then hit the top of his cart. By the end of the lesson I had almost hit two workers and I hit the top of a golf cart. It was quite the funny experience. Patrick and I laughed almost the entire time.
UPDATE: A the good old days of hitting the cart boys at Old Chatham. Those were the days. It is interesting to now know that my squatting with the left knee took out my spin but now in December 2020 I am not squatting at much and I am actually allowing that leg to fall back away from the target line. Notice “fall back” and not forcefully spin away from the target. Patrick always has to go from one extreme to the other with me.
