Golf Lesson with Brian
I took a lesson with our golf director, Brian, today. He took a look at my swing and told me that I have a “really good swing” but I need to tweak some things. It’s frustrating to hit the ball so poorly with a good swing, let me tell you. He pointed out the Reverse Spine Angle in my backswing. Turns out I do it even in a half swing! No wonder my back kills. To fix this he said it’s really important that I strengthen my core (Golf with Aimee says the same thing but I haven’t listened to it). I guess it’s time to start my PT exercises again.
I put together a playlist of Reverse Spine Angle videos on Youtube, and of course have my drills on Golf Fix. I feel like this is probably the most important thing for me to work on because not only does it cause a cascade of problems, it destroys my back.
He wants me to focus on keeping my right knee flexed and pressure on the inside of my trail foot during the takeaway to prevent me from over rotating my trail hip and hitting Over The Top (a curse of being overly flexible but weak).
What’s odd about this to me is most of the videos online suggest straightening that trail leg, but I guess straighten it excessively and he’s trying to keep me from over rotating and collapsing at the top. I will practice this and see what happens.
So that is what I’m focusing on this week. That and weight shift … I’m still trying to figure that out. There are a few drills in my Golf Fix app that I will try and work on this week: Collapsed Lower Body at the Top, Over The Top in the Downswing (DTL drills) and Reverse Spine Angle at the Top (Face-on). I might throw Lack of Wrist Hinge and Casting in the Downswing in there too to remind me to set, not cup, my wrists. That’s an ongoing issue that my last instructor pointed out.
Oh, we also chatted about chipping a bit. He had an interesting posture suggestion. Most things were typical (stand close to the ball, feet close together, lead foot slightly open, ball by trail foot) but he had me standing up almost straight with very little knee bend and the heel of the club off the ground a bit. I swung, it felt foreign, as all my golf swings do, but I hit the ball solid. Like three times in a row! I hit it too far so I need to figure out distance control, but it was very forgiving on my back, so I will definitely revisit this.
Current swing thoughts (see why golf feels chaotic to me?):
- Keep wrists engaged
- Swing with chest, not just arms
- Rotate around spine, keep core engaged, chest down
- Pressure on inside trail foot in the backswing
- Don’t dip head in the backswing
- Remember the matrix (the transition)
- Shift towards target before you swing
- Arms cross over during the swing (driver)
- Focus on the low point of the swing
- Keep head steady at impact
- Swing towards the target
Current handicap: 48.7. Golf scores last week: 115 (18 holes), 63, 60 (both on the front 9).
In shopping news I bought a few things this week: Clothes for the Valentine’s Day Tournament, a balance board to practice weight shift, and a bit of winter gear (chunky beanie, neck gaiter, ear muffs).
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