right to left inside to out or something

The drill I've been working on has been working well and my contact with the drill has improved a lot - I am not 100% sure I'm doing it my actual swing so will have to find out next I have a lesson.  I was supposed to today but I just ended up hitting balls.  I've not been paying great and practice has been poor too.  I've had a lot of extra stress in my life and it's not boding well for my golf game.  Today was also very very stressful and I showed up to the course in tears but somehow stayed focused enough to hit very well.  I also have been working a drill to get that inside to out motion going but I'm not sure it's working.   I can hit a draw if I stand with my right foot pulled all the way back but that's about it.  Will keep working that.

Felt I was having trouble with my backswing again but really I just need to rotate my shoulders all the way.

Reminders for what I need to be doing goes back to the beginning:
- Rotate shoulders all the way to make a full backswing
- Weight on the inside right foot to prevent moving around so I cannot make good contact

Worked these two things tonight on the range without thinking about much else except a clean takeaway and hit well.  Playing Coyote Hills tomorrow which can be tricky but looking to shoot a good score.  No expectations is tough so focusing on having fun.  Stress free is the motto.  Full finish and smile at every shot.  Okay?

mind. blown.

I'll spare even myself and anyone else any sort of harsh language about if I had started this game a long time ago or had a good coach to start with but neither happened... just taking a moment to acknowledge the pain and... we're moving on.

Onward and to lower scoring that is.  Nice strong streak continues on the course but really what I can attribute it to is when I'm on the course.... I'm playing and nothing else.  Pre-shot routine, set-up, aim, fire.  Move on with life.  It may not look like that always because I have my share of "oh Calhoun" moments and the occasional happy dance but it really has been good not having swing thoughts in my head on the course.  Ya' all do you and if no less than five swing thoughts must be in your head but really you have one but then you talk about five like my favorite golfer/boyfriend ever does that's cool, it's just not working for me. 

Lesson today was epic.  All my drill practice over the last two weeks paid off and it's been further broken apart this week.  Two things are happening here - one, we're working on swing path and the two, working on really closing that club face down through impact and rotating right over left.   First the latter.

Drill 1 - hold right hand OVER left hand and do small swings noticing that the right hand controls the roll but no the grip.  My hitting balls left per Kris is really because I'm gripping the club too tightly (TENSION) or I'm not rotating my shoulders all the way and therefore the top of my backswing doesn't put me in a good position for the swing path. That leads us to..

Drill 2 - right foot back to close the shoulders a lot (I think about my right shoulder before I hit my driver always and this is just a very exaggerated version of this) which forces the path to come from left to right.  I think I really thought about dropping and then coming around but that is NOT what is happening - you're actually just really swinging down from the top of the backswing with a full shoulder rotation and around - it makes it a lot easier to release the hands when you do this too.  She moved the club for me last we met but I already had too much in my brain - this week it clicked.  If your shoulders are not rotated all the way though... this doesn't work.  the top of the swing starts more parallel to the target line and you cannot come in to out... it's really hard and really why my swing isn't where it needs to be.  I just have to trust it... and practice.

I'm going to be doing a lot of that this week - focus will be on full rotation of the shoulders which I am forgetting and a LOOSE grip!  For the love of god Amanda shake the tension.

First tournament this week - no expectations except a fun round!!
x

hurt and back but with a new drill

I hurt my shoulder - more than likely doing yoga which was really probably a back injury coupled with a nice bout of tennis elbow.  Needless to say yet another summer where I am crippled from my favorite game.  No matter... a few weeks off plus going on vacation now I'm back at it.  New workouts and a new drill!   I've been playing well in spite of all of this - while injured I shot a 94 from the red tees at Strawberry Farms and last week shot a 97 from the white tees at Skylinks.  Not a bad showing, especially my game at Skylinks.  I did putt out of my mind so that's not a bad shout.

Back swing is looking pretty good after all my practice there and now the focus is really trying not to come outside in and instead inside out.  I really hate this bumping the hips idea... everyone always says it and I think it' a load of garbage, how are you supposed to think about bumping the hips and not f up your swing?  At any rate, it clearly must work (or not) for people so that's why you keep hearing it.  I on the other hand have the Lyda Ko drill.  If it's good enough for one of the easiest looking, most lovely swings on the LPGA then it's good enough for me.  I've been having easy success with it using my short irons but working my six iron with it has been a little tougher but I think will be well worth it.

With split hands taking the club back to a half swing still making sure to rotate the shoulders fully.  The takeaway remains unchanged - straight back with loose hands/no tension in the arms.  While the back swing remains arms free swinging, the down swing does too - first dropping the arms THEN rotating the body - the right arm is lower than the left arm while rotating though the ball.  The mental thought is to hit the ball with the "closed" toe of the club which promotes rotation though impact.  I tend to rotate my shoulders first causing an outside to in motion and keep the club face open after impact which almost always promotes ball flight to the right.  Wish me luck as I work on this for the next couple months!  The good news is today is the 15th and my handicap has come down to a 24 :)

takeaways - round 4/3

I played really badly again today.  I shot well over my handicap so I think I just need to take a break and practice.

Issues:  Right - everything was right - sliced almost all of my drives.  Short - almost everything was really short.

Felt my arms coming around not up
Felt tension in my hands a couple times.
Did have some really nice shots off the tee with my hybrid clubs so that was nice but I really need to work on some mechanics and cannot do that on the course.  I also think I'm not staying behind the ball - I'm lunging forward.  Frustrating out there today, glad I was with such a fun bunch of women. 

I can deal with going right off the tee box and losing my ball.  I really can.  I cannot handle getting 100 yards and not even come close to hitting the green.  Couple par 3's today that I should have made without issue but I didn't have on those or any approach shots ANY GIR's.  That, I would say was my frustration.  Such easy shots.  Back to work.

now for something completely different

I've been playing really really badly so when I showed up to my lesson today no surprise she was like, uh, what's going on here?

My backswing has started to come around my body again which has made worse by, I think, trying to turn, and by I think.... my old swing being close to my body but this is for sure something Mike worked on with me too.  I'm not sure how this happened but aehhhh it has.

Here is the badness.  I mean, where is the butt of that club pointing and why is it all so close to my body and why is that club face pointing straight down?  Ugh.  So apparently this is why I have been hitting fluffy shots to the right and also why I suck.  So... after about ten different ways of telling me and showing me and physically moving me we got this.

 

 

Still would be nice to have that club a little less pointed out like the first one.  So she just put my in the right spot. 

 



This is a little bit more vertical that I'm used to but it also feels good - it feels like my swing two weeks ago before I started messing it up.  Vertical is good for women, it helps them get more power and for me it will help close my club face because right now it's not.  Also need to work on that straight take away like I was working on with Mike and was working on before seeing my new pro.  I just had forgotten about it in all honestly.  So with that comes starting the hinge right away and lifting up while turning so that my wrist isn't collapsed.  After all that I hit the ball... my brain hurts.  This is going to take a lot of getting used to maybe.  I hope not because I guess I was doing it before but somehow stopped.  Go figure. 

I am playing a round tomorrow but not sure it will be very good with all these swing thoughts swishing around in my head.  Here is to another week of range work. 

An ass kicking

I got it handed to me at the Champion’s Club in Corona this last weekend.  It wasn’t so much that it totally destroyed me it was what it did to my head.  By the 10^th hole I felt totally helpless.  The golf courses we play around here… are… easy.  Okay, so not easy.  But you can’t really lose a ball too badly.  Something goes “into the woods” means rolled behind a palm tree or into a cluster of low trees.  NBD – whack it out with a 7 iron.  This place… ravines, rattle snakes in the rough and totally lost balls were totally normal.  Out of bounds was really…. Out of bounds.   However, instead of owning my 25 handicap and thinking, oh well, bad shot, onto the next.  I totally folded.  Hard.  Then something happened which I’m starting to recognize – enough times to recognize a trend.  The last hole is my best hole.  I walk up to the tee box and crush it.  7 iron to lay up?  Easy.  Chip to the green?  In my sleep.  2 putt?  Hell yeah.  Sometimes I just hit the green with my 7 iron, sometimes I’m up and down, sometimes I just straight hole it on that chip shot.  But the last hole?  Why the last hole?  Why?  Because I can see the club house.   Beer is in sight.  I’m almost off this damn course which totally ate me alive.  Forget the snakes!  Let’s talk about the long par 5 or the par 3 I lost three balls on!  Actually, don’t remind me.  And that’s what happens – it’s all out of my head.  The target – being done with this stupid round.   So what if instead I just thought about my target the whole round – like you are supposed to do.  I’d probably play better golf.  Just a thought – that doesn’t include any swing thoughts in it is probably what I need.  Sooooo I took it to the range to try it out.

50 yard sign.   Align.  Shoot.  Boom.  50 yard sign.  Align.  Shoot.  Boom.  Over and over and over.  Hmmm what’s that?  Why does Kev smoke so much vape?  Why is this woman yelling in Korean?  What time does this place close?  Shoot.  SHOOT! Focus.  

An interesting thing happened – I started making shots when I removed swing thoughts from my head and all the other thoughts… and started just focusing on what the hell I was aiming at.   I’ve read half of the book, Golf is Not a Game of Perfect now and I think that a lot of it just makes a lot of sense.  I’m always telling Kev to stop beating himself up verbally after every shot.   A strange thing starts to happen when he does it though – subconsciously I try to stay above it and then I start to shoot better.  I’ve also realized this on the putting green – I get up there at last and I think – yes! I’m putting!  It’s like a totally different game when I get to the putting green.  Suddenly it doesn’t matter if I shank crap or my ball didn’t hit the GIR now we are doing something else – we’re doing something I’M GOOD AT!  I really like putting and even though I don’t really like to practice putting I convince myself I do.  Half of it is my attitude.  I pull my putter and I think – now it’s on.  I love a five foot putt – easy I think to myself – I’m really good at these – three feet in?  Call it done.  10 feet?  20 feet?  Been making a lot of those lately.  Miss?  Oh, sometimes that happens.  I have without a doubt fallen into putting slumps and every time it’s the, “I cannot do this” thoughts that creep in my head – or I over read everything.  I smash balls, I wimp out.  Confidence ruined.  I feel like this is something I will really try to avoid very much in the future.  I love my YAY PUTTING attitude so I’m going to try to cling to it for as long as I can and when things get rough I will just have to think – this is the great equalizer out here.  You’ve got it. 

The Range

Been hitting the range a lot because that's what you do.   I went last night and worked the weight on that inside foot.  Things started out well and went south - what was surprising is I was able to reign it back in which doesn't  happen very often.  I started topping the ball and slicing and all kinds of crap but pulled it in to finish well.  Swing thoughts that helped:
- Weight on inside right foot
- Loose arms and hands
- Rotate full back to target - almost pushing off right inside foot to unwind the body on the downswing.

Started to feel that constricted backswing/akward feeling at the top I'd been having.  Re-focused in on that big turn and the weight and that feeling went away quickly.  I think it's 95% mental too.

Also focused on how far I'm hitting at the moment.  I know my 8 iron is pretty consistant at 120 - 7 iron was just over 130 - couple strong hits sent it a bit further but I'd say that's right on.  Six is in the 140's and that 5 hybrid is really 155.  Played from the fairway to the green at just over 150 with that this week and it rolled to the back of the green - nice GIR on a par 4.  Happy with that and four hybrid is playing considerably longer - 170+

No lesson this week - will play a big course and see what she has to say next week!  Screen shot from a slow motion video Kevin took of me.  That weight is so hard and that's what I've been thinking about!  AUGH!  The shot was good though so that's all that really matters :)

More... Turning...

I think when I first started playing golf I had a great turn – really killed it… but that’s the problem with bad golf lessons.  It was coached out of me so when I went to see my new pro she was like, uh, how do you hit golf balls?   So now I’m here practicing in my mirror to get that full turn back while keeping my weight on the inside of my right foot.  Seems easy but not as much as you would think… I think I naturally stand on the outside of my feet in everyday life so that doesn’t make it any better.  

Mirror work –

Loose grip loose arms – width of stance

60/40 feeling pressure on inside ball of right foot

Hinged take away

Full turn with weight transfer on right hip – not trying to keep my weight centered as I naturally tend to do.

Drill for this is to cross arms – right hand on left bicep and physically turn and pull upper body to the right.  Works quite well – can mimic that in the mirror so feeling better .

I will say however I’ve had some pretty horrible shots – some stuff like way the f right and some stuff way the f left – still also having issues blading chips and topping the ball.  I am however hitting my hybrids better than I was which is good news.   I think I just need more practice time.  I haven’t really played in a few days and the first thing I noticed right away was my putting.  Plus, with so many new things it’s difficult to remember everything when you go play and don’t have a chance to even hit ten balls before going out. 

On again off again

Bladed it, smashed it, rolled it past the hole 30 feet.... you know things like that.... add up quick to a bad round but what part really sucked?  Was it one bad shot that stuck in my head or was I actually really bad at getting down the fairway?  I like tracking my stats is what I've found.  Funny... I played like crap at Skylinks this week but looking at my score my putting kept me from blowing up and my driving tried really hard to sink me.  The opposite of last week.

Lesson today was good - focused on not rolling to the outside of that right foot.  Really trying hard to focus on that and it's making my back swing feel a lot more solid and less out of control.  Funny how that works.  I think I naturally stand on the outsides of my feet so this will be an interesting one to practice.  Played alright tonight though - some bad shots but got tired too.  Not a super relaxing weekend which was too bad.... on to Monday all to fast.

The Turn

Worst.  Round. Ever.
Sunday at Comedy was my worst showing.  We finished +2 which would be on the surface not such a bad go but I actually fell over.  On hole 8 I went to hit my drive and I missed the ball (for the most part) and did a 360 and fell over.  It was awful.  I was so embarrased I cried.  I brushed it off as laughter but I cried.  I was in a bad mood all day stemming from all kinds of things but that was sort of the nail in the coffin.

Lesson two was the day before and actually was good.  My pro was very excited about how much my turn had improved from the week before so I'm looking forward to continuing to work on that.  We were going to work more on the release but I struggled so am focusing on the turn mostly this week until I get more used to it. I played a lot last week and this week it's been a struggle to get out.  I went to Skylinks to hit balls today and the ball machine was broke.  I got a half bucket and was basically told to go away and be happy with it.  Fine.

Need to work on sweeping the ground and out - was given two drills to work on once my turn is feeling more natural and I'm doing it consistantly.
- Reverse split grip doing a full swing - focus on turning the wrists to the ground
- Baseball swing on a flat plane - really working the wrists.

Focused on the fact the release actually starts at the top of the swing.  My arms are extending out both at the takeaway, down swing and after impact to the the finish which is reducing my swing speed significantly.  Need to get that hinge in play...Time to probably say "bye" to my ladies hybrid cause I'm gonna be back to my old swing crushing it.  She was impressed by my distance and thinks it will easily increase once I get this all figured out - and stop topping the ball.  While Sunday was a shit show the couple balls I did get to hit today were alright.  A few spraying around but once I get that impact zone locked in again I'll be fine.

Few last notes - when the balls go left with my swing it means the rotation isn't happening.  Good way to hook the ball.  Loose and relaxed is the key to sweet shots with good hinge.
Will try to get back out tomorrow after work before I workout - I hope the dumb ball machine is working.  Will try to play Hartwell again Thrusday to beat my old score.  Fingers crossed it doesn't rain Friday and  that brings us back to Saturday again!

Years Later

New world like two years latter huh? 

There was John then someone else?   No, Mike.  Then back to Kev and back to Mike and hitting balls at Heartwell.  New job.  No time.  A whole summer wasted - 24 handicap slips back to 26.  Shit.

My lessons in golf started a long time ago and I don't really have much to show for it when you look on the surface.  A couple good rounds breaking 100, a few closest to the pins, I can make in down the fairway usually in three shots instead of seven... It's hard when you start at the max of 30 to even get to 25.  It doesn't even feel incremental.  I also don't have all my old score cards to show improvement - maybe if had kept them the story would look better but I live a life as free from clutter as possible.  I am hard on myself after all.

Dig a little bit deeper though and all these really beautiful stories emerge.  A wonderful loving boyfriend, smart and funny friends, a new job because I met someone even worse at golf than me out there swinging sticks and getting some sun.  Yes, we tend to look at the negative, why am I not a 20 handicap yet?  All this money on golf lessons... all this time just trying over and over and over to sink a putt from five feet.  All the frustration, lost balls, lost mind, lost heart.  We miss the point.  The game we play is the exact same game we watch on TV.... you can actually watch golf on TV 24 hours a day - a whole industry built around hitting a ball into a hole.  At the same time, it's not the same game at all.  We don't have sponsorships, and tour cards to keep, we putt from off the green, bump and run with a 7 iron, get really good at punch out shots to get back to the fairway and when we finally get the ball in the hole it's our friends that say, nice finish - and they mean it.  They want you to play well too.

I suppose though there is an easy road and a hard road.  The hard road is hacking away until you get better.  I'm choosing the easier road with all the practice and the lessons and the score tracking.  Trying to see if I can't get some statistics to emerge.  Actually kind of seems like the hard road huh?  I'm waiting to make goals until I have somthing measureable but I think beyond low scoring it will have a lot to do with figuring out hybrid clubs, hitting those greens in regulation, and after I stop swaying like a tree in the breeze every time I hit a golf shot adding those lost yards Mike took away from me.

New Pro: LPGA Class A - Note the L in LPGA. 

Lesson 1 - Ye 'ol Setup

This has been tweeked, modified, changed, scrapped, re-build, added on to, straighened out, added tilt, you name it by everyone who has seen me. Kris didn't have much to say - three things I'm working on.

Looser arms
Club butt pointing at left ear
60% of weight on inside of the right leg

I'm very bound up when I swing - Mike did this to me.  He too had a compact swing and he also had a fast swing without a lot of body rotation from what I remember.  I'm actually not turning at all.  I played this Sunday at comedy with a guy who has no body rotation at all.  Less than me!  I noticed some of the issues he was having were the same that I have been having - balls going every which way.  While the lesson did not focus so much on body rotation I did notice notice quite a change in my driving and overall distance when I played 9 at Skylinks this week...

Keeping the  weight in the right leg promotes "staying behind the ball" and not swaying forward twards the target.  A big turn "back facing the target" promotes good power.  I had 6/10 fairways at Skylinks yesterday (didn't play a whole round casue it got dark).  I noticed when I focused on that weight in the right leg I hit straight - and long.  My longest drive was 240 yesterday. 

My best round was this summer in MN and I was driving out of my mind - I've never played like that again.  Kevin asked me what my swing thought was I said staying behind the ball.  I think this is what I was doing - weight in the right leg but I didn't know I was doing it.  Excited to keep practicing this at setup - if I continue to hit balls like this I will hit 90 this summer. 

lord it's been some time

Alright so not the constant posting that I had been hoping for but isn't that how a blog works?  It's not like good golf isn't a goal but it also isn't easy.  The game is 95% mental and 5% non sucking swing and if you've got that you've got yourself a pretty good golf game.  This spring and summer were not easy or fun and it had a serious effect on my game.  Quick summary without too many unnecessary details:
- Started to see John and coaching was going just okay.  In the end I found out he wasn't the right fit for me as his style wasn't my thing and he didn't explain things in a way that clicked for me.  I think he is an excellent coach and I am a much better golfer when I use the set up that he taught me.  I will for sure have this set up into the absolute indefinite future.  While every coach  I have from now forward will have their own idea of the right setup I really like John's and I think that it's really sold and build for swinging from the lower body.
- Not that it matters.  John moved to China to teach golf there to Olympic hopefuls.
- Emotionally this summer hasn't been easy.  A rough life carries straight out onto the course and I actually left the course in one instance where I couldn't pull my shit together emotionally enough to even play.  No wonder Tiger fell off the scene when his wife chased after him with a golf club.

Last week though I decided I've had enough bad golf games and called my friend Jeff.  He isn't exactly a PGA swing coach but he is good at reminding me of the things I'm doing wrong.  He calls me out all the stuff that John called out and the most important thing?  He doesn't use gimmicks.  None of this oh well if you hold your club like this you will fix your swing cause it's so closed at impact that you can't possibly slice the ball.  No.  Jeff says something and it must be how he says it or how he explains things but they click with me right away and it's easy for me to fix things on the spot.  He also gets me motivated to play well and that's what it's all about... motivation to  play well and motivation to practice.  I'm telling you, practice is key.  You've got to practice... and not just like once a month, once a week, twice a week.... but like at least one round a week and practice a couple times a week.  Clubs in hand three times a week to maintain playing the same way you play every week.  Add a swing coach, time on the putting green with drills and sticks, working out, yoga, range time and chipping.  Hours of chipping... then... then watch your handicap drop.  Simple as that right?  Who has all this time???

Lunch Monday:  Putting... After work Monday:  Meet with Jeff and work on swing.
Tuesday:  Yoga at lunch, swim after work
Wednesday: Yoga at lunch, range after work with chipping
Thursday: Yoga at lunch, curling at night
Friday:  Swim at lunch if lucky or yoga, short game or practice after work.
Saturday:  Yoga or 18 holes.
Sunday:  Comedy Golf

So... the time exists.  But... it is really hard to get that practice in.  Kevin is gone all week working on the east coast and I have no kids and by looking at my calendar you probably think no social life either :)  I used to curl as much as I play golf and I got really pretty good at it.  Curling isn't accessible here so I've replaced the obsession with golf.  Love it.  Shot one of my best rounds this weekend and now I cannot wait to get back out and play again.  More goodies to come!  Thanks for sticking with me, it's onward and upward from here!

1+1+1+1+1+1+1 = a golf swing

I'm supposed to practice these little swings and every time I add something else I'm supposed to do I forget something else.  Good back swing, why have I lost my posture?  Good contact, why is your wrist opening the club face?  Time to practice... how?  I've just come up with a good way to do this.  Same as rowing!  Focus tens.

Ten 1.25 swings....

Ten for back swing position at the hinge. 

Ten for grounded feet. 

Ten for hips swinging the club. 

Ten for only a 1.25 finish club butt pointed at my hip. 

Ten for wrist position. 

Ten for feeling the club change direction.  

Ten for good posture. 

Gonna see how this works for me.  It worked with rowing after all.  Quick hands away, sitting up, slow up the side... with any highly technical sport with repetitive movement I think this might be key!  For sure without a doubt when I keep my good posture and swing with my hips the rest becomes much easier.  Duh Amanda.

In other news I realized golf is 95% mental, 3% style and 2% knowing what you're doing.  Also, no thanks to the PGA store my clubs are the right length and the grips are the jam.  Alright, off to practice.  Ten for grounded feet in two.  

practice makes perfect

Unsolicited advice.  I dish it out all the time... can't lie.  Random stuff, what roads to take after 5 PM, what curling shoes are best, how to pass the 8th grade, why you need Amazon prime.  When it comes to the golf course it's like men can't stop with the advice.  Choke down, choke up, feet wider, feet more narrow, stand closer, stand back a bit, arms loser, firmer grip, loosen the grip... rapid fire, unsolicited, I'm gonna punch you if you don't stop talking, advice.  So how's a girl to deal?  Here is some... uh, unsolicited advice on how to deal with it on the range and more importantly, in the middle of a round. :)

This week has been tough.  I'm trying to really working on making good contact, leading with the left wrist but not breaking the hinge, and finishing with weight transfer to make the ball go straight with good loft.  That's a lot of stuff to work on.  However, because I practice and practiced and practiced my set up I'm fining it easier to work on what I want.  That's been my deal all week - everything is off to the right though.  Shank freaking central.  Shaw Shank Redemption.  It's bad news.  Brad and I went to the driving range and he was determined to make this work for me.  So he starts talking, moving me around, do this, do that.  Bla bla bla.  This is why I have a pro.  The best thing to do is remember what your coach told you.  If the person you are with tells you something your pro told you take it as a good reminder.  If they say something that helps you understand something your pro already told you... great, it will only help to hear it in another way and maybe it will help make it stick.  If they start saying something that contradicts something your pro told you just gently tell the advice giving man, no.  Case in point.  I need to keep my feet shoulder distance - even a touch more.  My shoulders are really wide - wider than my hips for sure.  It looks funny to have my feet that far apart but I need to have them that way at this point because it helps with my hip rotation.  Brad didn't like it.  I just said, hey Brad, it's something I'm working on with John because bla bla bla.  He says okay and we move on.  In the end he helped remind me of some things I needed to be working on and I'm not hitting balls off to the right nearly as much.  It's good to get out and practice with different people.  It makes practice more fun and it helps me get used to golfing with more people so I'm less nervous in the tee box.  

Story two...  we had our tournament of champions yesterday at Bixby.  We still drew names and I got Brad's friend Brandon.  He and I have played together before and I could tell he was a bit disappointed that we drew the same number.  I knew he thought he had a good chance of winning with the right partner and that partner probably wasn't me.  We were one of the first groups to tee off.  I did my set up, took a deep breath, tried to calm my nerves and gave it a sold hit.  Right.  Right into the trees.  I pulled my tee, and walked back to my bag, tossed in the stupid six iron, threw my bag on my back and started down the fairway.  This was not how I wanted to start my round.  I could feel my body was tense, my heart was beating fast and I even felt a little numb and shaky.  CRAP.  I wanted a good first shot and I wanted to impress my partner.  I know Brandon is super competitive and I knew he wanted a chance to win.  Right away he started giving me advice, how to play, what the strategy was, not to let the other pair with us get in our heads.  Important to have fun... all this bull.  I walked up to my bad shot, picked my ball up and said, "Listen.  Take some of your own advice.  Just be cool and let's have a good game."  We did and he had nothing else to say to me about my swing  I shaped up after that and didn't have too many bad shots.  In fact, I golfed really well and we had a solid ham and egg game finishing -1.   Be firm about what you're working on and don't let anyone work you up or get in your business.

frame by frame

Pesky golf swing, so much going on!  The good news is I’ve really come a long way in how it should feel.  This is a video that I took clips from the app Ubersense.  It’s a stupid app name but it does the same thing pretty much as V1 Home.  It’s just easier to use and the videos are better since I don’t have the pro version.  Here we have Jaclyn Sweeny with her 8 iron.   The full back swing isn’t shown here but the parts I wanted to really look at are.

Overall notes about this series of photos

The secondary spinal tilt remains though the entire downswing and through impact. 

You can see in the photo of me and John he is showing me that my upper body is swaying towards the target when it should remain centered and to the right.  He is essentially holding me in place.  I am practicing this by standing in front of a door jam and I have to keep my spine tilted in the doorway as I practice my down swing hitting my hands (softly) into the door frame.  If I do it wrong I will be looking at or past the door jam and will no longer be in the doorway.

The feet are grounded. 

She does lift her heel slightly in frame 1:60 but you can see pretty clearly she is using the ground to rotate her hips. The right toes and ball of the foot are very grounded and her left heel is so grounded in 1:60 that her left toes actually come off the ground a bit.

Frame by Frame

1:58:  One of the easier things to see when actually watching the video is that her right hip really does come “up.”  Up is sort of not the right word but it has a feeling of elevation as we move from the backswing to down swing because we are changing directions and loading up using the ground as support for the lower body to move our weight over the left hip.  We are creating that hitting down motion on the ball that I’ve been after.   The hinge at the wrists is also visible too.  Keeping the hands relaxed allows the hinge (wrists) to change direction effortlessly.  There is a slight lag as we go from back swing to down swing.

1:58:  Clearly we can see the ground is being used as leverage for the lower body with the right toes and ball of the foot. 

1:60:  The hinge is line with the club face, shaft, wrists and arm.  The butt of the club is pointed at that left hip.  The hands are NOT getting out in front.  Very connected.  I have been letting my hands get out in front rolling the top of my left hand out which opens the club face.  It’s also impossible to keep the top of the left hand facing the target if the wrists become unhinged. The butt of the club will face out left instead of at the hip.

1:61:  This is my favorite frame as it illustrates very clearly the position I want at impact.

The connection is the same as in 1:60 but even more so with the shoulder because the weight has transferred over the left hip.  What you can’t see here very well is the top of the left hand is facing the target.  Not opening the club face – it is square at impact.

The secondary spinal tilt is still  happening as the weight moves left the right heel is off the ground slightly but not twisted out and that left heel is firmly planted.

The right hip is still up creating a swinging down motion into the ball.  The lowest part of the swing is after the ball and the arms are all the way extended.

1:63: The arms continue to sweep away and the shoulders rotate into a finished position.

Looks pretty simple huh?  No big deal!  I am still working on quarter swings and am working my way up to half swings.  I am also working on a new pre-short routine.  Confirm the connection starting with the hinge.  Bend forward at the hips bringing the hinge to the ground…. I never bend forward enough.  Hands above the toes.  Then flex the knees and step apart.   I am also doing a trap drill to connect from the ground up.   Updates soon!!

making an impact

Swaying hips.  Like an 8th grade dance.  That's what we have here my friends.  Not only that I'm all upper body.  Have you seen me rock climb?  I've done it once... maybe twice.  I just pull myself up on top of stuff.
My golf coach, John, called my swing "armsey."  I'd say he is on the money.  Swinging with my upper body and not transferring weight over my left hip also causes me to hit behind the ball.  Bad news there too.

After my first lesson I learned a new pre-shot routine.  I also learned a correct set up.  In the last post I reviewed how I tend to squat a lot when I think about getting my arms to hang over my toes so I think standing with straight legs THEN bending them just until the quads engage will help me avoid too much bend in the knees.  I also tend to dump in the lower back and not to have my spine angle slightly left eyes directed at where I want to hit the ball. - Ahead - of the club face.

Check out that hot mess on the left.  John said that doesn't look like anyone he has taught golf to!  I believe him :)

The biggest deal is hitting down on the ball.  What I tend to do cause I'm "amrsey" is that I don't use the lower body to swing.  It took me two lessons and a lot of practice swings in my living room to get the right feeling.  Today at my lesson I really felt like it was coming together.  We reviewed a couple additional key things.

- Keeping my feet grounded.  Swaying that right heel out isn't helping anything.  Use the ground to rotate the hips. Lifting slightly with the right heel.
- The right hip needs to come up and the the secondary spinal tilt/angle needs to remain though impact.  I practiced hitting a door jam (lightly) with my arms to maintain that body position.
- Hands at impact hinge slightly.  The left had faces the target so I don't open the club face.
- Aligning the butt of the club with my left hip really helps with the hand position.  Getting my hands out in front does me no good.

Looking better!!  Just need that right arm a bit bent.  Getting there friends.   Getting there. 

A Yogi's Guide to Golf

I had my swing analysis the day before I played 18.  You may be thinking... bad idea.  It was probably a bad idea but in the end it really wasn't.  I scored a 48 on the back 9 which is more in line with how I golfed in about August.  Well before anyone had the chance to put a lot of bad ideas in my head about my swing I was doing pretty well.  Okay okay okay...  so I wasn't doing very well and 48 it's that great...  In fact, even this summer I was sucking but not too bad.  Even blind squirrels find nuts... am I right?

Look how cheeky I am here!  I won closest to the pin on hole 2 at Bixby the first time I played Comedy Golf.  Used my 8 iron over the lake.  Boom.  

I think actually blind squirrels don't last long in the wild and they forget where their nuts are.  Not wanting to be that squirrel or... ahem.... guy at the driving range hacking away thinking he's hot shit I did what I should have done months ago and got my swing looked at.  It is shocking.  It's actually horrifying.  It's shock therapy.  Oh you think your swing is good!?!?!  ZAP!  Hit her with the video!  The good news is John puts up with my slow learning abilities and I do make progress.  And seeing yourself do it wrong on video after he tells you it's wrong and then you do it again anyhow?  Yeah, that shit works.  My address is a million times better.  The funny thing is all the things I've learned from my other sports sort of apply here.  The only thing now is I wish I had played something that involved a stick an a ball....  Here is my Yogi's Guide to the Address.  Lord knows maybe some day I'll write the Yogi's Guide to Golf.  Hot sales in SoCal.  Just sayin. 

Flat Back

No more hunch back like an old man.  The key here is plugging the shoulders as in the set up for full wheel (Urdhva Dhanurasana).  You will also then want to draw the shoulder blades down the back.  This brings the shoulders away from the ears and allows (girls tip) your left arm to rest to the left of your left breast.  The right arm is slightly bent and has more room because of the slight spinal tilt to the right.   This simple move of drawing the shoulders down the back and plugging the shoulders in also gives stability to your core and stops the club from being disconnected.  The added bonus is suddenly our arms are not glued together like the LAPD has us.  Extra bonus if you ditch the death grip on the club.  Look how much progress we've made so far!

Arms

No more reaching for the golf ball - arms hang over the toes now.  With feet shoulder width apart - seriously double check this.  Are they really shoulder width apart?  You should feel the weight come into the center of your feet and they should feel grounded.  As with any standing pose.. let's take Uttanasana or standing forward fold into consideration for a moment, all four corners of the feet are grounded and it's necessary to stay balanced as you fold down or come back up into Mountain Pose or you would tip over.  The same holds true here. The core engages and it feels as though you are just looking over the edge of a building.  When the club is held the butt of the club should point towards your left hip.  

Legs and Low Back

Although to this point it's all coming together and feels right I find myself having to still check two items.  One is I feel I really need to get into a squat.  Wrong!  Maybe it's just too many years of squats and Chair Pose (Ukatasana) but I feel like a really athletic address somehow includes getting my hips down too low.  This takes away our good balance - the knees bend just until the quads start to engage - not very much!  The hinge we are looking for is at the hips.  The low back also needs to be flat.  This comes with core engagement as well.  As in Chair Pose it's natural to want to dump the in the low spine and the "guts hang" as my Thursday lunch instructor says.  It does you no good to dump in the lower back.  You want it to be strong and supportive in your swing so remember, "Guts in! Guts in!"  Engage your lower back and transverse abdominals.  Tuck your pelvis floor in and you're good to go.   

Speaking of yoga - here is a fun new pose I learned today!  Demonstrated by the beautiful Sunina.  I can bet mine was not as lovely.  Check her out here - she has a really nice yoga blog.

So much was wrong now so much is right and that's not even the whole of it.  We're getting there friends.  Just these small changes while thinking about finishing and sweeping the club away made all but one of my drives on the back nine smoking fairway hitting beauties on Saturday.  

throwing down the cash money

I did it. I got a real golf coach.  Not some guy who says, let me record you with my iPhone so we can work on "that" but we never do.  Not some guy who just hacks away at the range all day.  Not some guy who is twice my age and wants to date me and not some guy half my age working on his tan.  This is the real deal. A PGA Pro who is A Certified with distinctions.  And I'm paying for it.  A lot for it.  I'm also getting a lot out of it.  I want to cry a little bit sometimes and when I go to the range mostly I just feel like it's all never going to come together.  Then it does.  Maybe one stroke where I feel something different turns into ten strokes where it feels right.  This is my journal and my notes.  My pictures of my trials and tribulations and glory.  2014 is the year of golf for me.  Here are my goals.

- Take ten lessons at least with John.  Master set up and the swing.  Then.....
- Practice twice a week on the range.  Twice a week putting.  Twice a week chipping.
- Play one game every week.
- Get my 29 handicap to under 20.
- Beat Kev... for real, not match play.  Handicaps and tee boxes accounted for.

Here is Kev.  He's my good looking golf partner.  He bangs on about how it is on Scotland and how you go to jail for 10 years for all kinds of golfing offences.  He is a little offensive to be honest :)  I'll keep him around for his good looks and charm.  Certainly not his golf cart (buggy) driving skills.  I also give him all the credit for giving me the little bit of a push I needed to really embrace the game.  I'm obsessed because of Kev and I thank him for it.  Sometimes I say, "Look what you've created!"  He just laughs.

 Me and Kev after playing 18 at Vineyard Escondido in a fundraiser for the San Diego Curling Club.

So there you have it.  Some goals, a real coach, and some motivation to play well.  Let's do this thing!

xx

A