May 17th Range time

After my two days at Crown Colony and 75-69 score i was not pleased with the ball striking i had for the two rounds. I was fortunate that i was able to accomplish some nice up and downs while playing there but my ball striking was not up to my normal capacity. Since my surgery i have struggled maintaining a good balanced posture so i have worked on some core strengthening exercises. Which have helped some but not completely. I have discovered that i have started moving off the ball a bit to try and great that extra yardage which in turns makes for off center hits.

I have also switched irons going to the PXG 0311T irons which are incredible however i am constantly hitting the ball on the toe. I had the irons bend up two degrees and it didn’t seemed to help.

I went to the range yesterday and tried most everything. The obvious standing closer to the ball. Having a ball under my right foot so i would move off the ball, rotating and not lifting the club to the top. Soft left shoulder coming through to the finish. To make things worse i tried them all at the same time and believe it or not actually made contact with the ball. I am a feel type player even though i go through a specific routine before i swing. This is to get everything aligned so i can just swing the club and not just hit the ball. I want to get back to that and i knew something was amiss. I could feel my left shoulder tightening on the down swing causing me to lift the shoulder vertical and hips would go out and not turn. This was causing me to hit the ball on the toe of the club.

Sometime knowing to much can be a problem in your own game and seeing in on video would have helped as well. But alas i thought of something before i walked off the range. I knew i had to swing my shoulders on a more level plane and i was not doing that currently. I took a break and thought of all the lessons i have given over the years and thought of the first thing that would come to mind if i wanted to correct this flaw in someone’s swing. I would place a head cover under both of their arms pits and have the swing waist high. Then have them get into the golfing posture and swing the club with out the head overs coming out. I tried this drill and realized that i was not swing the proper plane but already knew this, but the feeling was totally different. I was releasing the clubs to the target and left. As my old teacher Henry Ransom would say knuckles down through the ball. Have the feeling you slap the ground with the back of your hand.

After making several swings with out a ball both waist high and in golfing posture i thought i was ready to make an actual swing. I teed the ball up with a wedge and made a half swing half speed. When I came down i felt my hands try and slap at the ball and hit it very thin. Attempt #2 same swing half and moved my shoulders more and didn’t allow the club to go pass my body until i had already hit the ball. To my amusement i hit it square in the face. It really wasn’t amazing in did it it was amazing i was hitting it so wrong.

So now i have hit maybe 50 balls this way and found that my right arm was moving away from my body on the back swing instead of folding causing me to move off the ball. A bit of work in front of my mirror at home helped to realize this. In the attempt to hit the ball further i was trying to gain width and instead gained nothing. So now my right arm is collapsing around my body on the back swing the club in in the proper position at the top and turning to a complete finish i started hitting the ball in the center of the club face again. I worked on the head cover drill for a bit and will probably have to do it for a while until i get that feeling back again. Some times the simple drills are the best and most affective in gain a response that will work.

I swing in front of a mirror often to get the feeling i am looking for in my swing. I suggest that you do too. Or video your swing so you can see it for yourself. It you do video make sure that you video from the front and the back so you will get both perspectives.

It was a great lesson on golf is not that hard but with the search for more distance sometimes it causes more harm than good. The best way to gain more distance it to have your clubs properly fitted by an expert, with the proper shaft for you to gain the maximum ball speed and spin rate. Then after you get his accomplish find a good teacher that can help you make more center strikes with the club. With these two things you will get the maximum distance you will achieve. If your still looking for more then getting in better shape especially your core is the next answer.

As always if you have any questions feel free to drop me a note.

And remember the best way to lower your score is Fairways and Greens and 29 putts per round