Sean of Arc

With that appellation, I wonder if Jeanne d'Arc ever played golf. Maybe she became famous for the length and arc of her swing. If she wasn't, she still stands as a paragon of a good golf swing. And she stands as an aide mémoire for me. My first name, Sean, which is John in Gaelic, is also Jean in French, not a far cry from the feminine, Jeanne. So I—Sean, John, Jean, Jeanne-manqué— am striving, in my latest practice sessions, to lengthen my swing so that I can produce the beautiful arc that we all see in the Arnold Palmer Somaxperformance videos on YouTube. Yesterday, I wrote how difficult a swing like this is. Today, I have good news to report.

First, though, a disclaimer. Because of my body type and age and many other factors, I'll never have anything remotely resembling the swing of the anonymous golfer who can drive the ball 375 yards with "effortless power," and I am aware of my limitations. However, or (as the current jargon has it, a locution that is entirely regrettable) "That being said," I can improve my swing by trying my best to imitate the Somaxperformance swing. Yesterday, I thought it was impossible. Today, I can see some encouraging improvement.

Let's start with the backswing. By looking in my patio double-door glass, I've been checking out my backswing, and I can see that I can get into a fairly good position, with my left arm fully extended and straight and my right arm underneath. When I perform the backswing, I'm learning to use the right arm to help draw back the left and heft it into position. Through practice, I've learned that I'm in the correct position because there is some sharp stretching discomfort in my left shoulder. If it doesn't hurt a bit, then I'm not quite there. I've also learned to feel the left hand bowed a bit at the top, while the right hand is underneath, supporting.

After two days of practice, I've learned to feel my progress in the middle knuckle of my right hand. That's the key to creating clubhead speed. It's also a key indicator for chipping and pitching, but I'll talk more about that later. Once I get back, fully stretched out—and painfully aware of that—I practice several movements or swing thoughts. One, of course, is starting with my left knee and then rotating my hips. Next is letting my arms swing down, as a result of the rotation of my hips, into the hitting area. At this point, my weight should be on the left heel, or pretty close to it. Then I arrive at the "cast point," where I start to let the left hand release and the right hand starts to throw the clubhead. For me, this has been a deadend. For some time, I've felt that my swing really ended here. And in my latest practice, I've been determined to get beyond this wall and continue the swing all the way to its conclusion.

After many, many swings with plastic balls in my backyard, trying to get the feeling of extending my left arm straight to the top of the backswing and then coming through with the hips leading the way and finally the left wrist releasing and the right hand firing through, I started to get a new sensation. It was a feeling that both hands were acting as one. The left hand releasing and the right hand throwing felt as if they were happening together. Once I had this feeling of unity, it was easier to feel the two hands staying together to complete the swing arc over my left shoulder.

This was very exciting. And to test the efficacy of the swing, which I had been practicing with only the driver, I started hitting a few nine-irons now and then, just to see what would happen. To my surprise, the swings felt great. I could feel the left arm stay straight and then the right arm stay straight during the follow-through, just what anyone would want. I didn't even try for a full swing. A reasonable backswing and an abbreviated follow-through, where I could see my right arm fully extended, was all I wanted to achieve. The swing of an easy nine-iron to a green with a high degree of accuracy—that's all I was after.

Now the swing was starting to take on a completely new character. The hands were working more as a unit, the clubhead was starting to speed past the hands after impact, and I was beginning to feel as though I could finally control the clubhead speed. In the video below, you should see the left arm straighter than before, and the right arm straighter and longer after impact. As an added bonus, I've included a few chips with a nine-iron and a few full swings with a nine-iron. To me, these chips and swings are solid and repeatable. Of course, the true test is actual play. In the meantime, I can't wait to continue developing the swing arc.