When my golf swing is forced and I attempt to control it usually doesn't feel right or work well. I have been struggling for weeks with so many different swing thoughts I am embarrassed to list them all and I haven't written about what I have been up to because I really have been confused and down about it. How could it all have seemed so easy and clear in July to have turned so much the opposite just a few months later?

During my round this week I had tried everything and was losing my balance and not contacting the ball very solidly and towards the end of the round I tried a swing thought I used 3 or 4 years ago. On the first shot the ball "leaped" off the club face because it was contacted solidly. I am sure the reason it felt so good was because I had been swinging so poorly.

I tried to practice yesterday but never made it and just came from the range where I played shot after shot with almost no effort and very solid contact. So will I again be like the hampster in the cage spinning round and round again searching for my swing? I assume I will unless I can find a teacher and a way to practice the same swing motion again and again until it becomes mine!

Here's the swing thought and some of the sensations I felt;

I begin with a closed stance and my arms hanging down but with my shoulder square to slightly open....the backswing has my left knee moving out towards the ball which allows my hips to turn and the club to ( without any effort or manipulation ) to swing inside. If I bend from the waist then with less backswing I feel "loaded" or feel as if I have created enough leverage on the backswing to make a smooth transition. This backswing feels slower and shorter as the knee bends out towards the ball rather than back towards my right knee.

The front swing feels simple and as if the left knee straightens and I stay on a solid left shoe. It is great to contact the ball first and to stay balanced into my finish.

What is easiest for me is to play a draw as the club down-cocks and re-routes to the inside....I then release through which produces a slight draw or if I move too far laterally I miss right. Playing a fade requires more rotation and requires more effort ( fitness ) but there is less "flip" through impact and when I make this swing the shot are of a higher trajectory and the shot quality if slightly better.

There was also a one / two cadence to this swing today which produced a rewarding sameness and shot pattern.