No kidding - I finally figured out the golf swing
ritpg
caddied at an exclusive club in NY and was exposed to top quality
golf. I got to caddy for top pros and amateurs. At my best I was
never better than a 10 handicap. Two years ago I went to a local pro
for some help. I had been to a pro before but never saw much
improvement. Before I go any further, I should tell you that I have
the worst inside out swing you've ever seen. As far as I know, I
always have. This new pro told me to do two things. First, observe
the angle formed by the club shaft and my forearms and try to maintain
that exact angle throughout the swing - including the downswing. The
second thing he told me to do was to keep my left bicep in contact
with my left chest throughout the backswing and downswing. As hard as
I tried, I could not follow his instructions. But I have continued to
try for the two years since my lessons. And guess what! I'm finally
doing it. And the results are amazing. I have never had as much fun
with the game of golf as I am right now.
So let's try to analyze what has happened. By maintaining the angle
on the backswing, what I am really doing is taking the club head back
outside my swing plane. And that seems to prevent me from coming over
the top as much as I was. (I haven't video taped myself lately so I
have no idea how much loop is left.) By maintaining the angle on the
downswing, what I am doing is I am delaying the uncocking of my wrists
- i.e. " "loading up". As a result, I have easily added 25 to 30
yards to my drives which are now the soft draw I've been looking for
all my life. It's been 6 rounds now and my playing partners are still
asking me what has gotten into me.
As for keeping my left bicep in contact with my left chest, I'm
basically using my chest as a form to control the path of my arms.
And it stops me from swinging too much with my arms. My handicap has
gone from 18 to 10 in a matter of one month. And for the very first
time in my life, I feel like I have control over what the ball does.
I'm now using spin balls and enjoying the heck out of the action I'm
getting on the greens.
I should also let you know that my putting has coincidentally improved
while this other transformation has occurred. I have typically
averaged 34 to 38 putts per round for the past several years. I
always sensed that my problem was striking the ball with a putter face
that was not square to the intended line. But I had no idea how to
fix it - or to even confirm the source of the problem. I read long
ago that you want to have your eyes vertically over the ball at
address. But I had also read that this is not what you want. Anyone
who has been around the game as long as I have knows that what works
for one golfer may not work for another. Good teaching pros know this
and try to adapt their instruction to the unique characteristics of
each student. I don't recall why I did this but about a month ago I
tried addressing the ball with my eyes actually slightly beyond
vertical over the ball. Yes, to do this I have to have my weight out
over my toes. But suddenly my ability to square the putter head at
impact improved dramatically. The result was two-fold. As one might
expect, I was hitting the putts on the intended line a very high
percentage of the time. But this is where the surprise came in. I
had also always had a problem with distance control. Suddenly, I was
hitting putts consistently that stopped within a reasonable distance
from the hole making the second putt a gimme more often than not. Now
why would this happen? Here's my theory. Now that I am striking
putts with a square face I am getting much more consistency in
distance vis-a-vis length and speed of stroke. In other words,
because of the improved consistency in distance, my ability to develop
"feel" has improved significantly. I don't even think about distance
any more. I focus strictly on line.
Now some of you are probably saying to yourselves right about now,
poor fool, he thinks he's figured it all out. I can't tell you how
many times in my life that I was convinced that I had finally figured
it out. But I'm convinced this time it's different. For the first
time, when I hit a bad shot, I know how to correct it and I do. I
just don't hit 2 bad shots in a row any more. Am I ready for the
tour? Of course not. And I never will be. But what I am is, at the
age of 63, enjoying the game of golf more than I have in many, many
years. I'll be playing with my daughter this Saturday (I always
recognized that she had more natural golfing ability than I - I had an
older brother who was a +2 or +3 most of his life and never took a
lesson in his life and whose genes were probably inherited by my
daughter)) and I can't wait to show her the new Dad.
alco...@gmail.com
I am a 55-year old 10 handicaper (though have been done to 8.6 eigthteen months ago). Stuggled since then for consistency and missing too many fairways.
The reason I came across your post was I was Googling to find the correct position for the left bicept. Some say on top of the left pec (chest) muscle while most say pressed on the side of it. I have just started some lessons with a local golf pro and he is changing my back 'spine angle' at address, so that and keeping my bicepts at my side while swinging feels bloody awkward at the moment. It feels really stiff/stilted and a bit mechanical. I know it will take plenty of practice before it will feel more comfortable.
After all those years after your lesson of not 'getting it', what was the ahha momement when the penny dropped of what to do?
Cheers, David.
