The tenth doglegs left slightly across a flat field, seemingly easy to get to. A surprise is in store when you arrive at the green, however. There's a relatively flat shelf on the left, but on the right, the whole green tilts toward the bunker on the right. If you try to go for this green, you have to be as accurate as only a professional can be. Therefore, I think that laying up is the right move. From there, you can chip or pitch up towards the pin and leave yourself an uphill putt, rather that an impossible downhill situation. A bogey here is a good score, for me.
Eleven is another tough hole to get to in two. Even with a good drive, which will probably end up in the rough, since the fairway is relatively narrow, you still are looking at a five-iron or maybe even a four hybrid to get to the green. Since it is protected on both sides by bunkers, and again slopes toward the fairway, you might be well off by approaching short and chipping on. I'm sure you're beginning to see a pattern here. Once on or near the green, you're in pretty good shape. A bogey here is another decent score.
The next hole is fun. You can hit a drive, and if you hit it well, it'll go over a slight rise in the fairway and roll down quite a bit. A drive here of 275-300 yards is quite possible.
The next shot is where the problems begin. After a long drive, you're now standing over a shot on a downhill and, probably, sidehill lie. Only a really good golfer can get this short pitching iron or sand wedge onto the green with any accuracy at all. Most of us will probably skull the ball or flub it entirely, wasting a prefectly good tee shot. What seemed to be an easy par at first now turns out to be a complete disappointment and a bogey at best.
Adding insult to injury, the next par three demands a perfect tee shot. A five-iron is pretty much the right club for me, but you have to hit it very well or you'll end up in trouble in the greenside bunkers or way down the slope on the right. Take a par, if you can get it, and move on.
Fourteen is fun, starting from an elevated tee with plenty of room to hit to on this dogleg right. If I'm set up with a good drive and a decent lie, I can try for the green. If not, the smart play is to hit something in front of the green, pitch or chip on, and one- or two-putt for par or bogey.
Fifteen is all uphill, with a rolling, lumpy fairway with few flat spots to hit to. Lately, I've been able to hit the green in two with a seven-iron second shot, and even birdied it the last time I played it with a nice, curling fifteen foot putt. It's a treacherous green, however, steeply slanted toward the fairway, with no flat areas. If you're not beneath the hole, you're in deep trouble. If you miss your first putt, you're almost certainly looking at a three-putt, at the very least.
Sixteen is a par hole, a bit of a respite from the rigors of this course. You can reach the large green in two, and as long as you're below the hole, you should be able to get your four.
Seventeen is also a friendly layout, starting with a straight tee shot and a good second shot to a large green. It's slanted toward the fairway, but not too bad. Most of the time, you can expect a two-putt here.
The finishing hole is a 180-something par three, slightly uphill, with bunkers on both sides. Once more, stay below the hole for a good chance at par. I've been hitting a 4-hybrid here the last few times, with good results, but now that my swing has improved a bit more in the last couple of weeks, I could probably hit a five-iron, if the pin placement is in the front.
Last time I played the back nine in a full round, I shot 41, with four pars and a birdie. I should have had another par on thirteen, the elevated par three, if it weren't for a three-putt. So if I can put together a front nine like this, I'll be very close to my goal this season of breaking 80.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
My Local Course: Front Nine
As a beginner, I've identified my goals and have chosen ways of meeting them. Basically, I want to break 80 on my nearby public course. In all my previous posts, I've talked at length about developing my swing, but never about where I would apply it. Just today, that impetus arrived.
I subscribe to the Andy Brown email, and I spent some time today with his latest two emails, both about the common mistakes that amateurs, like me, make. The videos were great, and I highly recommend them. Go to the videos or subscribe to Andy.
The first lessons come from John Richardson, a Scot who has written a book called Dream On about learning how to shoot par within a year, after never breaking 100 before. You'll definitely benefit from watching the videos, but they reminded me about the importance of having goals and strategies. I think I've kept both in mind as I've concentrated on building my swing, and I've also thought about how to play the course that I'll probably play most regularly, my local public course, Mohansic, one of Westchester County's public courses. John advocates developing a plan for playing your primary course, something I've been thinking about for about the last six months or so, or ever since I could tell that my swing was becoming effective. This is a good time to lay out the ways I can see myself playing this difficult (in my opinion) public course.
Located in Northern Westchester just off the Taconic Parkway, it features a hilly landscape, trees and woods lining narrow fairways, and some very difficult greens. After playing it, on and off, for a couple of years, as I've been building my swing, I have some clear ideas of the way a novice golfer, like me, can play this course successfully. That means breaking 80. Even though I feel good about my game, I'm not so sure I can really do that on this course.
When I think about strategy for Mohansic, I think that most amateurs, with the amount of experience I have, will usually shoot in the 90s here. You really have to be sharp to do better than that. The main reason for this is the greens. I'd say that all of them pitch toward the fairway, and many are so tough that it's better not to attempt to get on in regulation. You're probably better off hitting a lag and pitching or chipping up to the pin. If you find yourself above the hole, most of the time, you better get ready to three- or four-putt. It's really discouraging. Basically, at least the next few times out, I'm going to try this strategy and see what happens. If my short game is accurate and dependable, I'll have a shot at breaking 90.
A pro from a driving range near me, Brian Lamberti, during some kind of pro-am last fall, shot 18 consecutive pars, the best score of the day by a couple of strokes, and something that seems quite remarkable to me. He's a top-notch golfer, to begin with, finishing high in the Massachusetts Open last summer and winning the New York State Open at Bethpage Black last fall, winning the tournament in awful conditions on the last day (rain and wind) with three consecutive birdies on the final three holes to win by a stroke. A superior golfer by any standards. And it takes a player like Brian to play Mohansic gracefully. The rest of us are constantly in trouble. Here are my thoughts on the best way I can play the course.
The first hole is the easiest on the course, although the green is hidden from the tee box. It's a gentle dogleg left, 340 yards or so (I'm going to use approximate yardages for my description, since I know, from pacing off my shots, that the yardages on the scorecard are not accurate), over a hill and then down a slope toward a green that, while relatively flat, is protected by bunkers on the right and left. If an approach shot is too strong, it'll fly the green, roll down a steep hill, and wind up somewhere near the entrance road to the course, a bad place to be.
So assuming I can hit either a straight drive, or, even better, a little draw, I should get over the hill and walk up to a second shot, probably a pitching wedge, to the protected green. If I'm in the rough, which is probably the case, given the narrow fairway, that makes the shot a little tougher, but, still, I have a PW into the green, which, since it's relatively level, I always decide to shoot for. From my drive position, I hit my second and probably land somewhere on the green. If the shot strays, and I find myself in a bunker, it's no big deal. The green is so relatively flat that I can blast out and still have a putt as my next shot. If I'm short of the green, that's a good place to be. I can chip or pitch on, going uphill slightly, and have a good chance of getting close. With any luck, I should get a par.
On the next hole, the course begins to exercise its personality. I'm faced with a drive uphill, with a tall tree on the right, around which I should try to hit a fade. Naturally, most of my tee shots find the branches of this tree and carom off to the right behind a red maintenance barn, with no option but to pitch out onto the fairway and take the third shot from there.
But let's be optimistic. My ideal shot is to aim right down the center of the fairway that I can see (since there's quite a hill in front of me) and hit a slight fade to the right. Hit correctly, this cut should take me down the fairway which slopes down toward the green. Let's suppose that I can do that. Now I'm looking at a shot of probably 150 yards. Here's where the subtleties of the course come in. It's not simply a 150 yard shot with an eight-iron. I'm probably on a downhill lie and it's probably slanted a little toward the right. Not a gimme, in other words. So now I'm hitting from a downhill, right-tilted lie toward a green that is slanted right, also. Right toward a larger bunker on the right. The whole landscape tilts toward the right.
This is where my general course strategy starts to come into play. To me, the smart play is to hit anything that will get me close to the green, but in front of it, taking the traps, left and right, out of play, and allowing me to chip aggressively toward the pin. Anything else is asking for plenty of trouble. I could find myself in a bunker, or on the green someplace where I couldn't possibly get a long first putt close to the hole. To minimize my difficulty, I think the wisest course is to hit something that will land short of the green, and because it's in longer grass, will stop, without rolling too much. From there, I'd like to be able to chip close to the hole and make the first putt. That would be the dream scenario.
After missing the first putt, I walk away with a bogey toward the third hole, a par three featuring an elevated green protected by two bunkers. If you miss with your tee shot, probably an eight-iron, you're either on the beach or pitching up a steep hillside. If I can hit the green, I'm pretty confident about two-putting for par.
The fourth is a long, long par four, with a long, uphill drive as the first shot. Assuming I hit a decent drive, about 235 or so uphill, I should have a second shot about 200 yards to the green. Like the first hole, this one is protected by bunkers and trouble behind the green. Again, the smart shot is to hit something that will get me short of the green. Then I can chip or pitch on. Are you starting to see a pattern? So, with luck, I get a par or, more likely, a bogey.
Now we come to a very difficult par four, with an uphill drive, followed by a second shot over a vale to an elevated green. Again, we're looking at bogey at best. My tee shot is woefully short, leaving me a three-hybrid second, which lands short of the green, but on the uphill, a good place to be. I hit a good chip and get close to the pin. A two putt, and I have bogey, a good score.
Feeling pretty good, I step onto the teeing ground on the next hole, an uphill par three with bunkers left and right and disastrous results for the golfer who hits over the green. This is probabably an eight-iron for me. I feel it's a seven, but it I hit that, I'm probably above the hole, and you don't want to be there.
So I hit an eight and find myself short. That's a good place. From there, I can chip up and then putt for par. A bogey here is not such a bad thing.
I can get back to par on the next hole, I think, a 370-something hole straightaway. If I can hit a good tee shot, I can get over the first hill on the fairway and with a good roll, find myself just a pitching wedge from the green. It's tricky, though, The green slants toward the right and front. The smart play, I still think, is to play to the front of the green, a shot which will take both right and left bunkers out of play, and then offer a nice chip shot close to the hole. One putt should do it. Of course, we can't one putt, and we take our bogey, feeling that we're even.
By now, we're used to conceding to the course, aren't we? The eighth hole reminds us of our limitations. Not a long hole from the middle tees, it is still an uphill layout and dogleg left, great for players who draw the ball. Still, even if the player hits a good draw, he still has a good pitching wedge up the the elevated green, a treacherous green under the best of circumstances. If you hit above the hole, this is one place where you cannot possibly keep the ball on the green if you miss your first putt. So you have to be below the hole, no matter what. Then, just take your medicine and putt uphill and take two or three putts. That's the best you can hope for.
The ninth hole is a conundrum. I can hit a great tee shot, hit a good second shot, and still have have no good view of the green. Your third shot is an act of faith. Two large bunkers right and left, and a huge fairway bunker just in front of the green, I'm not sure what the best play here is. I have hit the green in three, which means a good two-putt and I've got my par.
I've never broken 50 on this front nine, but with the progress I've made since last year, I should be able to keep my score close to 40 or so. We'll see. In the next post, I'll describe the back nine.
I subscribe to the Andy Brown email, and I spent some time today with his latest two emails, both about the common mistakes that amateurs, like me, make. The videos were great, and I highly recommend them. Go to the videos or subscribe to Andy.
The first lessons come from John Richardson, a Scot who has written a book called Dream On about learning how to shoot par within a year, after never breaking 100 before. You'll definitely benefit from watching the videos, but they reminded me about the importance of having goals and strategies. I think I've kept both in mind as I've concentrated on building my swing, and I've also thought about how to play the course that I'll probably play most regularly, my local public course, Mohansic, one of Westchester County's public courses. John advocates developing a plan for playing your primary course, something I've been thinking about for about the last six months or so, or ever since I could tell that my swing was becoming effective. This is a good time to lay out the ways I can see myself playing this difficult (in my opinion) public course.
Located in Northern Westchester just off the Taconic Parkway, it features a hilly landscape, trees and woods lining narrow fairways, and some very difficult greens. After playing it, on and off, for a couple of years, as I've been building my swing, I have some clear ideas of the way a novice golfer, like me, can play this course successfully. That means breaking 80. Even though I feel good about my game, I'm not so sure I can really do that on this course.
When I think about strategy for Mohansic, I think that most amateurs, with the amount of experience I have, will usually shoot in the 90s here. You really have to be sharp to do better than that. The main reason for this is the greens. I'd say that all of them pitch toward the fairway, and many are so tough that it's better not to attempt to get on in regulation. You're probably better off hitting a lag and pitching or chipping up to the pin. If you find yourself above the hole, most of the time, you better get ready to three- or four-putt. It's really discouraging. Basically, at least the next few times out, I'm going to try this strategy and see what happens. If my short game is accurate and dependable, I'll have a shot at breaking 90.
A pro from a driving range near me, Brian Lamberti, during some kind of pro-am last fall, shot 18 consecutive pars, the best score of the day by a couple of strokes, and something that seems quite remarkable to me. He's a top-notch golfer, to begin with, finishing high in the Massachusetts Open last summer and winning the New York State Open at Bethpage Black last fall, winning the tournament in awful conditions on the last day (rain and wind) with three consecutive birdies on the final three holes to win by a stroke. A superior golfer by any standards. And it takes a player like Brian to play Mohansic gracefully. The rest of us are constantly in trouble. Here are my thoughts on the best way I can play the course.
The first hole is the easiest on the course, although the green is hidden from the tee box. It's a gentle dogleg left, 340 yards or so (I'm going to use approximate yardages for my description, since I know, from pacing off my shots, that the yardages on the scorecard are not accurate), over a hill and then down a slope toward a green that, while relatively flat, is protected by bunkers on the right and left. If an approach shot is too strong, it'll fly the green, roll down a steep hill, and wind up somewhere near the entrance road to the course, a bad place to be.
So assuming I can hit either a straight drive, or, even better, a little draw, I should get over the hill and walk up to a second shot, probably a pitching wedge, to the protected green. If I'm in the rough, which is probably the case, given the narrow fairway, that makes the shot a little tougher, but, still, I have a PW into the green, which, since it's relatively level, I always decide to shoot for. From my drive position, I hit my second and probably land somewhere on the green. If the shot strays, and I find myself in a bunker, it's no big deal. The green is so relatively flat that I can blast out and still have a putt as my next shot. If I'm short of the green, that's a good place to be. I can chip or pitch on, going uphill slightly, and have a good chance of getting close. With any luck, I should get a par.
On the next hole, the course begins to exercise its personality. I'm faced with a drive uphill, with a tall tree on the right, around which I should try to hit a fade. Naturally, most of my tee shots find the branches of this tree and carom off to the right behind a red maintenance barn, with no option but to pitch out onto the fairway and take the third shot from there.
But let's be optimistic. My ideal shot is to aim right down the center of the fairway that I can see (since there's quite a hill in front of me) and hit a slight fade to the right. Hit correctly, this cut should take me down the fairway which slopes down toward the green. Let's suppose that I can do that. Now I'm looking at a shot of probably 150 yards. Here's where the subtleties of the course come in. It's not simply a 150 yard shot with an eight-iron. I'm probably on a downhill lie and it's probably slanted a little toward the right. Not a gimme, in other words. So now I'm hitting from a downhill, right-tilted lie toward a green that is slanted right, also. Right toward a larger bunker on the right. The whole landscape tilts toward the right.
This is where my general course strategy starts to come into play. To me, the smart play is to hit anything that will get me close to the green, but in front of it, taking the traps, left and right, out of play, and allowing me to chip aggressively toward the pin. Anything else is asking for plenty of trouble. I could find myself in a bunker, or on the green someplace where I couldn't possibly get a long first putt close to the hole. To minimize my difficulty, I think the wisest course is to hit something that will land short of the green, and because it's in longer grass, will stop, without rolling too much. From there, I'd like to be able to chip close to the hole and make the first putt. That would be the dream scenario.
After missing the first putt, I walk away with a bogey toward the third hole, a par three featuring an elevated green protected by two bunkers. If you miss with your tee shot, probably an eight-iron, you're either on the beach or pitching up a steep hillside. If I can hit the green, I'm pretty confident about two-putting for par.
The fourth is a long, long par four, with a long, uphill drive as the first shot. Assuming I hit a decent drive, about 235 or so uphill, I should have a second shot about 200 yards to the green. Like the first hole, this one is protected by bunkers and trouble behind the green. Again, the smart shot is to hit something that will get me short of the green. Then I can chip or pitch on. Are you starting to see a pattern? So, with luck, I get a par or, more likely, a bogey.
Now we come to a very difficult par four, with an uphill drive, followed by a second shot over a vale to an elevated green. Again, we're looking at bogey at best. My tee shot is woefully short, leaving me a three-hybrid second, which lands short of the green, but on the uphill, a good place to be. I hit a good chip and get close to the pin. A two putt, and I have bogey, a good score.
Feeling pretty good, I step onto the teeing ground on the next hole, an uphill par three with bunkers left and right and disastrous results for the golfer who hits over the green. This is probabably an eight-iron for me. I feel it's a seven, but it I hit that, I'm probably above the hole, and you don't want to be there.
So I hit an eight and find myself short. That's a good place. From there, I can chip up and then putt for par. A bogey here is not such a bad thing.
I can get back to par on the next hole, I think, a 370-something hole straightaway. If I can hit a good tee shot, I can get over the first hill on the fairway and with a good roll, find myself just a pitching wedge from the green. It's tricky, though, The green slants toward the right and front. The smart play, I still think, is to play to the front of the green, a shot which will take both right and left bunkers out of play, and then offer a nice chip shot close to the hole. One putt should do it. Of course, we can't one putt, and we take our bogey, feeling that we're even.
By now, we're used to conceding to the course, aren't we? The eighth hole reminds us of our limitations. Not a long hole from the middle tees, it is still an uphill layout and dogleg left, great for players who draw the ball. Still, even if the player hits a good draw, he still has a good pitching wedge up the the elevated green, a treacherous green under the best of circumstances. If you hit above the hole, this is one place where you cannot possibly keep the ball on the green if you miss your first putt. So you have to be below the hole, no matter what. Then, just take your medicine and putt uphill and take two or three putts. That's the best you can hope for.
The ninth hole is a conundrum. I can hit a great tee shot, hit a good second shot, and still have have no good view of the green. Your third shot is an act of faith. Two large bunkers right and left, and a huge fairway bunker just in front of the green, I'm not sure what the best play here is. I have hit the green in three, which means a good two-putt and I've got my par.
I've never broken 50 on this front nine, but with the progress I've made since last year, I should be able to keep my score close to 40 or so. We'll see. In the next post, I'll describe the back nine.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Right-Wing Politics and Swing Correction
As I get older, I find that many of my views become more conservative. Aside from a woman's right to choose and the NRA and probably a number of other issues, I sort of get what the Republicans stand for. They have the assets and they want to keep them and retain their status. That's completely understandable. If I were one of them, I'm sure I would feel the same way. Definitely, I'm leaning to the right. The trouble is, so is my golf swing.
Or has been, lately. I've noticed that I'm pushing the ball right, unless I'm very conscious of bringing the butt of the handle to the ball from the inside. When I look back to last fall, I was doing the same thing, pushing to the right, but I didn't really understand why that was happening. Now I think I do. The reason that I'm pushing right is that I'm coming into the ball with the face open, and something that is supposed to happen that will square up the clubface is not happening. At first, I thought it was the clubhead path. But even when I was sure that I was coming from the inside to the ball, I would still tend to push it right.
In situations like this, I go immediately to the research department. YouTube is generally the first place I look for help, but in this case, I finally went to a DVD I have of A. J. Bonar talking about the driver. He's a long-winded teacher, but a good one, and I've had loquacious teachers before who taught me, in unintended teaching outcomes, to be patient and listen. Finally, A. J. talked about turning the toe of the club around as you come into the impact zone. I had watched his video several times before, but I think I just wasn't ready to understand this crucial point. Now I did. It helped me to picture what my own swing must look like coming through impact: an open face, with the arms dragging the clubhead through the ball at the point where the clubhead should be moving at its greatest speed.
The obvious answer was to remember a few things. One of them was where the release beings. So I did some research online and refreshed my memory about that, reminding myself that the release begins at about hip level or where the left arm is about at a 45 degree angle to the level of the ball. Then I remembered how the left arm has to slow down in order to let the clubhead swing through at maximum velocity, thrown by the right hand, creating forces that result in that classic image of the overlapping forearms after impact. Until now, I've been trying to achieve that position consciously and manipulatively, which, I've learned for myself, doesn't work. That started to help.
Then A. J.'s admonition to control the toe of the club added another dimension of understanding. As I practiced that, I could see that it added more power to my driver swing. Still, I was lacking that really powerful "Bam!" at the ball (as Johnny Miller likes to say), and, on top of that, I was still hitting that mat before the ball way too frequently. Something was still missing. Even a neophyte, like me, could see that. Then I discovered what that missing piece was.
In a recent post, titled "Sean of Arc," I talked about how I was trying to let my swing describe an arc. In that post, which was only a few days ago, I thought I was making progress. Now I know that it was just another example of how "hard-won" or "hardly-won" swing improvements can be.
As I experimented with A. J.'s metaphor of turning a screwdriver counterclockwise after impact, I suddenly felt the missing piece of my swing. That was the part after hitting the ball. I've always felt that this was not right, but I never understood why. Now I think I do. After impact, the clubhead has to continue on its arc, but at this point in the swing, the arc is upward. It is not flat and out towards the target, and the right hand does not control its path. No, it's still the left hand that is in charge. As the left hand turns to toe counterclockwise, it also lifts and allows the clubhead to follow a circular arc.
Once I realized this, I suddenly understood how these good players swing through the ball without hitting the mat or hitting mostly tee. They are swinging on a perfect arc, and they have located the bottom of the arc precisely where the ball is waiting. And their perfect arc is what gives them that beautiful follow-through up and around the left shoulder.
Once I started practicing this at the range, I really had to laugh to myself. This was the answer, I thought, as I hit balls right at my target. Of course, now and then, I'd push one to the right, but that didn't bother me. I knew that what I needed was practice. Finally, I was at the point where I could make a correct driver swing and repeat it without serious error. As A. J. says, controlling the toe is the mark of a good player. But, in my experience, what teachers fail to explain or illustrate is the way the left hand and arm bring the club UP after impact, completing the arc that the backswing and downswing previously established.
Another thought occurred to me as I though about A. J.'s advice about the toe. That movement is probably what Hogan meant when he talked about "slinging" the ball down the fairway. I mentioned this in an early post and thought I understood it then, but I don't think I really did at the time. Now, when I hit the ball, I can actually feel the toe moving and slinging the ball. Once again, like countless other examples, here's a case where I thought I understood an aspect of the swing but really didn't. This part of the learning process, now that I think about it, may be essential. Maybe the first time you work on an element of the swing and you think you have it is just a preliminary stage, one that sets you up for a later, full understanding. I haven't made a full inventory, but it does seem that I have to learn certain parts of the swing twice.
There is no new video, simply because my discoveries are so recent that I haven't had a chance to videotape them. I was going to do some swing practice today, Saturday, May 8th, but, once again, the Mistral is blowing—powerful, gusting winds of probably forty to fifty miles an hour at times. Instead of hitting with the driver, I went to the local public course and did some putting and chipping. The winds were enough to move putts as they rolled and nearly knock me off balance. When I realized that the winds were drying out my eyeballs, I decided it was time to go home and have some red wine and start getting dinner ready.
I'm very excited about my new understanding of the swing, though, and I can't wait until tomorrow to get out on the range and out on the course to try out a much-improved swing. Then, maybe, I'll have some good video to post. While my politics may continue to drift to the right, I'm expecting my shots to move toward the center.
Or has been, lately. I've noticed that I'm pushing the ball right, unless I'm very conscious of bringing the butt of the handle to the ball from the inside. When I look back to last fall, I was doing the same thing, pushing to the right, but I didn't really understand why that was happening. Now I think I do. The reason that I'm pushing right is that I'm coming into the ball with the face open, and something that is supposed to happen that will square up the clubface is not happening. At first, I thought it was the clubhead path. But even when I was sure that I was coming from the inside to the ball, I would still tend to push it right.
In situations like this, I go immediately to the research department. YouTube is generally the first place I look for help, but in this case, I finally went to a DVD I have of A. J. Bonar talking about the driver. He's a long-winded teacher, but a good one, and I've had loquacious teachers before who taught me, in unintended teaching outcomes, to be patient and listen. Finally, A. J. talked about turning the toe of the club around as you come into the impact zone. I had watched his video several times before, but I think I just wasn't ready to understand this crucial point. Now I did. It helped me to picture what my own swing must look like coming through impact: an open face, with the arms dragging the clubhead through the ball at the point where the clubhead should be moving at its greatest speed.
The obvious answer was to remember a few things. One of them was where the release beings. So I did some research online and refreshed my memory about that, reminding myself that the release begins at about hip level or where the left arm is about at a 45 degree angle to the level of the ball. Then I remembered how the left arm has to slow down in order to let the clubhead swing through at maximum velocity, thrown by the right hand, creating forces that result in that classic image of the overlapping forearms after impact. Until now, I've been trying to achieve that position consciously and manipulatively, which, I've learned for myself, doesn't work. That started to help.
Then A. J.'s admonition to control the toe of the club added another dimension of understanding. As I practiced that, I could see that it added more power to my driver swing. Still, I was lacking that really powerful "Bam!" at the ball (as Johnny Miller likes to say), and, on top of that, I was still hitting that mat before the ball way too frequently. Something was still missing. Even a neophyte, like me, could see that. Then I discovered what that missing piece was.
In a recent post, titled "Sean of Arc," I talked about how I was trying to let my swing describe an arc. In that post, which was only a few days ago, I thought I was making progress. Now I know that it was just another example of how "hard-won" or "hardly-won" swing improvements can be.
As I experimented with A. J.'s metaphor of turning a screwdriver counterclockwise after impact, I suddenly felt the missing piece of my swing. That was the part after hitting the ball. I've always felt that this was not right, but I never understood why. Now I think I do. After impact, the clubhead has to continue on its arc, but at this point in the swing, the arc is upward. It is not flat and out towards the target, and the right hand does not control its path. No, it's still the left hand that is in charge. As the left hand turns to toe counterclockwise, it also lifts and allows the clubhead to follow a circular arc.
Once I realized this, I suddenly understood how these good players swing through the ball without hitting the mat or hitting mostly tee. They are swinging on a perfect arc, and they have located the bottom of the arc precisely where the ball is waiting. And their perfect arc is what gives them that beautiful follow-through up and around the left shoulder.
Once I started practicing this at the range, I really had to laugh to myself. This was the answer, I thought, as I hit balls right at my target. Of course, now and then, I'd push one to the right, but that didn't bother me. I knew that what I needed was practice. Finally, I was at the point where I could make a correct driver swing and repeat it without serious error. As A. J. says, controlling the toe is the mark of a good player. But, in my experience, what teachers fail to explain or illustrate is the way the left hand and arm bring the club UP after impact, completing the arc that the backswing and downswing previously established.
Another thought occurred to me as I though about A. J.'s advice about the toe. That movement is probably what Hogan meant when he talked about "slinging" the ball down the fairway. I mentioned this in an early post and thought I understood it then, but I don't think I really did at the time. Now, when I hit the ball, I can actually feel the toe moving and slinging the ball. Once again, like countless other examples, here's a case where I thought I understood an aspect of the swing but really didn't. This part of the learning process, now that I think about it, may be essential. Maybe the first time you work on an element of the swing and you think you have it is just a preliminary stage, one that sets you up for a later, full understanding. I haven't made a full inventory, but it does seem that I have to learn certain parts of the swing twice.
There is no new video, simply because my discoveries are so recent that I haven't had a chance to videotape them. I was going to do some swing practice today, Saturday, May 8th, but, once again, the Mistral is blowing—powerful, gusting winds of probably forty to fifty miles an hour at times. Instead of hitting with the driver, I went to the local public course and did some putting and chipping. The winds were enough to move putts as they rolled and nearly knock me off balance. When I realized that the winds were drying out my eyeballs, I decided it was time to go home and have some red wine and start getting dinner ready.
I'm very excited about my new understanding of the swing, though, and I can't wait until tomorrow to get out on the range and out on the course to try out a much-improved swing. Then, maybe, I'll have some good video to post. While my politics may continue to drift to the right, I'm expecting my shots to move toward the center.
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