After an eventful winter of '11-'12 I am back in MN to enjoy the warm weather. Thanks to Mother Nature!
I spent most of the winter hitting balls in CA. Really. Gave myself plenty of time to experiment with different thoughts, moves etc. I think I hit about 200 balls (plus chipping and putting, of course) five times per week. A great opportunity that I've not had for soooo many years to delve into my golf swing.
It helped me physically by allowing me to stretch out, make a fuller turn, strengthen my legs. And after a couple months of work I settled on what I wanted to do with my positions. For instance, I was opening the clubface too much going back, forcing a strong rotation through the ball to get back to square. Since I teach that the clubface opens going back, and because of always working with people that bring the club back along the line, i.e., shut, I had developed a too open face.
The physical part was harder. Just turning the shoulders 90ยบ was difficult. I was leaning left at set-up making things worse. My posture was bad; my back looked like I was slumped over the steering wheel. I would look at the video back home and go: Is this me?
The result of all this was a loose, sloppy swing with no repetitiveness. Most shots trailed off to the right. I was losing distance. Mis-hits were common.
Historically, I seem to always look for problems, and am always changing this and that.
So after 3+ months of hitting balls I feel I have a swing that I need not change. And I will not change! So now my thought pattern is sequence, timing, leg action, stay with the ball etc. These are the thoughts I need to play golf with. This is all I think about, and practice, now. What a relief to hit balls and not be burdened with positions, theories etc. I have found peace on the practice range.
Will I play better golf? Yes. Stay tuned.......
I spent most of the winter hitting balls in CA. Really. Gave myself plenty of time to experiment with different thoughts, moves etc. I think I hit about 200 balls (plus chipping and putting, of course) five times per week. A great opportunity that I've not had for soooo many years to delve into my golf swing.
It helped me physically by allowing me to stretch out, make a fuller turn, strengthen my legs. And after a couple months of work I settled on what I wanted to do with my positions. For instance, I was opening the clubface too much going back, forcing a strong rotation through the ball to get back to square. Since I teach that the clubface opens going back, and because of always working with people that bring the club back along the line, i.e., shut, I had developed a too open face.
The physical part was harder. Just turning the shoulders 90ยบ was difficult. I was leaning left at set-up making things worse. My posture was bad; my back looked like I was slumped over the steering wheel. I would look at the video back home and go: Is this me?
The result of all this was a loose, sloppy swing with no repetitiveness. Most shots trailed off to the right. I was losing distance. Mis-hits were common.
Historically, I seem to always look for problems, and am always changing this and that.
So after 3+ months of hitting balls I feel I have a swing that I need not change. And I will not change! So now my thought pattern is sequence, timing, leg action, stay with the ball etc. These are the thoughts I need to play golf with. This is all I think about, and practice, now. What a relief to hit balls and not be burdened with positions, theories etc. I have found peace on the practice range.
Will I play better golf? Yes. Stay tuned.......
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