transition

the part of my golf swing which I have not ever focused on much but know it is there and inconsistent is my transition from the back swing to the front swing. here's what I believe happens on my poor shots; my club swing off the ball quickly and as my shoulders stop turning my hands & arms continue back. this causes the club to swing back too far and to have me sway or slide off the ball changing the bottom of my swing. my first move down is to move too laterally which separates the two parts of the body which must dance together to match up and contact the ball solidly. it is a good thing in some regard to have the body begin the down swing while the club is still swinging back but I have too much of this.

yesterday I felt a swing on the 18th hole where my back swing seemed to stop at the top and then my down swing was matched up and proceeded to the finish position without any adjustment at the ball. I thought of Jay Haas. A swing cadence of 1000 pause slightly & 2000.

I went to the range and did the practice drill of taking the club back to waist height and stopping and then turning back and thru......this allowed me to accomplish the front swing without any slide and finish on a solid left shoe in balance with this similar swing cadence.

I have thought about and noticed these last two weeks how hard it is for me to shift my weight to my left side/shoe and not fall back and I believe this entry explains why.

If the shift is rushed and not matched up then I do not stay in balance.

I remember a time at Keith Hills when I was trying to reverse pivot on my front swing and actually have my weight go back to my right foot on the downswing so as to not move too laterally. of course this was not actually happening but the feeling was helpful in making sure I didn't slide past the ball and leave my club stuck behind me. there was some of that sensation yesterday practicing.

weak grip in the bunker

claude harmon's insight and understanding of how to play bunker shots is well documented and I saw him hit plenty of bunker shots. I had taken a weaker left hand grip per his method but had my right hand on too strong so that I was squaring the club thru impact thus removing loft and bounce. by putting my rt. hand on very weak I regained the "thump" sound which is the sound of all really good bunker players. this sound assures you that the club with swing through consistently because the bounce keeps the club from going too deeply into the sand.

it also is a good feeling when playing these shots with this very weak grip that you can accelerate and the ball will not travel very far. this is particularly helpful on short ones.

don't stop

when you are playing well the swing feels and is a continuous motion and the ball is simply sitting there in the path of the motion. in february billy harmon said to me," on your good shots your body keeps going and on the bad ones you stop." I have been circling this notion and swing principle for years but have had some profound practice sessions these last two days which I want to try and explain.

of all the players I've known who have attempted to improve their swings john mcneely stands out as the one guy who really made a big change and improvement. it has to do with his body rotation thru the ball to arrive at a balanced finish where lots of speed thru has compressed his golf ball to produce higher quality shots than before he made the change. I asked him this week if when he was making this swing change years ago did he purposely turn his head thru towards the target sooner on the front swing to aid he body rotation and he answer was "oh yeah". so I believe this is noteworthy because I know keeping your head down too long impedes good body rotation thru.

before I write about the sensation of turning thru and not stopping to adjust the club face at impact I want to explore why we do often stop, lose speed and have to use our hands rather than our big muscles to square the club face at impact. fear, tension, being off balance or out of position all come to mind as the cause of stopping your body on the down swing.

it seems to me when you are connected to and fascinated with your target and have seen the ball flying towards the flag in your mind's eye your focus is out there and way past the ball so you do not tend to stop. but if you are up in your head thinking how to swing and have lost your connection to the target this predisposes you to stop.

when I think of players who swing freely and who's swing is one continuous motion players like fred couples and tom watson come to mind. I do not think enough has been said or written about this fundamental....maybe because it follows so many others in terms of cause and affect.

but the great ball striker from canada george knudsen recommended that we find and practice a finish form and in rehearsing your swing if you pay particular attention to the details of a proper finish and then try and arrive at that form after the swing is complete it help me not to stop because me swing feeling/thought is at the finish and past the ball.

my practice and insight came to me this way; I was working on my short shots and initiating the front swing by turning my hips out of the way.....I had taken a strong grip and the crease in my left wrist was pronounced. I thought of keeping this relationship between my hands and the club the same back & thru. to do this I had to turn my body and not stop.....I was able to do this more effectively when I visualized the butt end of the club pointing to my belly at the far end of my left side. I turned back and thru keeping this point the same.

after playing lots of short shots I tried this with a 7 iron with great success and a sensation I have rarely felt. the heel had speed thru and the toe didn't go deeper into the ground. I finished on balance and with my shoulders level and the ball flew the distance with little effort.

on all the shots I mis-hit my head did not stay steady....this is my key to whatever swing I make. to start the club back w/o moving my head down and back/under.

I had a finish form to swing into, and it had my left wrist the same as it is at address and my left shoe on the ground at the end of the swing.

this also allows me to focus on the left hand/side as the dominant part of my body.

lastly there was a tread of this session in my 2003 mid-am swing thought of creating a more together and pre-cocked grip.

shooting 82

yesterday I was looking forward to testing my game at the famous in these parts Linville Golf Club with friends who are members there and fine players. I had made 12 birdies in my two rounds this week at BRCC and was feeling really good about my game. Blowing Rock has 3 par fives and one par four which are reachable for me and so many of my birdies were two putts but still I was playing quite well.

I played the first 3 holes well and on the par 5 4th going for the green in two pulled my 21 degree into the water and made 6. I then played 10 holes where I was really in a fog and hardly made a par. how can this be? how does this happen? golf seems so fragile and there's such a fine line between feeling comfortable and swinging and trying hard and striving. I had 2 or 3 three putts and missed every par putt I attempted. I played the last 4 one under to shoot 82! in reviewing my misses they were both left and right....not far off but not on line. my work on my pre-shot routine is far from complete as I felt like I was going thru my routine but had less connection to my target than is needed. the routine is still new and not automatic and instinctive yet.

back in BR I went to practice and again I was trying too hard and swinging too hard and losing my balance slightly even with an 8 iron. I did come back to what I have been working on which is positive rather than creating a whole new deal! I don't quite understand where to go this morning but the area of the swing I am curious about is the release on the front swing. when I am relaxed and in balance the club seems to square automatically but when I am struggling I seem to move ahead and flip to try and square the club up at impact. the swing left/ball throw/ tom watson secret are all on my mind as the club starting early to begin the release makes certain the club will not end up behind me and require me to stop my body and flip it quick thru impact.

I want to practice making a more relaxed swing today so that at the finish I am not out of breathe and working so hard. what a game this is!

pitching

practicing pitching today I discovered once again that my back swing is often too long and so I must take some of the power away on the front swing.....moving ahead or slowing down are two of the ways I do this and neither is a good thing! the challenge I face is the club often does not swing away from the ball smoothly or first. when I jump back or go off the ball quickly the club does go too far back. when my head turns under this also shuts the face and my arms get away from my body. today I had a secure rt. hand grip with my hands low and it felt easy to swing left and have the club slip under the ball. so practicing starting the club back first with my head staying steady is a big key for me. the front swing is "powered" by turning my left hip out of the way and the speed of this hip turn determines how far the ball will travel. I felt the way that tom watson looks with very dead hands.

mountain time

here in the n.c. mountains for almost 3 weeks. I love this time because it is cool enough to practice which seems impossible for me in chapel hill this time of year. last year I came here just after I shot 63 at finley and my expectations were so high I totally bombed during my time here. this year I want to learn from last and try and enjoy my time here.

I have a plan which includes or rather has at the top of the page, practice and become more natural with my pre-shot routine. I also want to find more balance at the end of my swing. And paying attention to my grip and hand position at address....stronger left hand/ weaker right and a lower hand position so that I can see a crease in my wrists at address.

In my last session with mike he was able to observe that with my head position turned towards the target and turning back w/o allowing the head to turn under&down my hips stay level and allow me to create speed thru because I do not have to stop and flip thru impact. think resistance and the davis love image of propelling the matches.

I felt the club swinging left and it seemed I could eliminate the left side. The heel felt ahead of the toe thru impact. the club felt up and closer to my body on my backswing and many of the swings seemed that my left wrist was the same at my finish as it was at the start. also the shots had a sameness to the trajectory and shape that was encouraging.