Mania and Depression

I know I recently promised to show you how I use the club shaft and bungee cord when I want to work on staying connected. Interestingly, I just saw a Paul Wilson video where he says that he doesn't like this idea very much because it prevents the golf student from reaching a good position at the top of the swing. Paul's point really doesn't deter me much. I'm not so interested in whether or not I can get to a good position at the top of the swing. I'm more interested in what happens after impact. And the bungee cord teaches me the feeling of my left upper arm connected to my ribcage as I complete the follow-through. The latest example of a player I'm trying to emulate (please hold down your laughter!) is Dustin Johnson on YouTube.

He's 6'4" and hits his driver about 350 yards, or about 150 yards past where my drive would be. That would be pretty discouraging. However, his swing is very instructive for anybody. I've looked at two analyses, one from PurpleGolf.com and one from WayneDeFrancesco.com. The detail in each video is fantastic, and both analysts make great points. A couple of fundamentals struck home with me.

One is the "squat," which I haven't really thought about in quite a while, not since I was poring over the Swing Like a Pro book that I've mentioned in these posts. And the other is the whole phenomenon of the follow-through, something about the swing that has mystified me forever.

When Dustin swings the driver, he's very athletic, and that gives me hope. He squats and uses his legs and rotates his hips with the upper body following, and he keeps that left upper arm connected to his ribcage after impact. I think it's this connection that must help to give him the whip that sends the ball out there to places on the fairway that most players never venture.

After watching Dustin on YouTube, I started experimenting with the squat and posting on the left leg. Result: Mania. I felt great. The ball went out there straight and traveled a good distance for me, about 200 or 210 or even 220 yards slightly uphill at this driving range. I thought I had found the answer.

Then I started doing some more reading about the squat and did some more thinking about the clubhead traveling around me as I uncoiled my body. Result: Depression. All these variables are far too much to think about during the swing. As usual, I found that I could focus on maybe one thing on any one swing. Every once in a while, a lucky swing would produce a nice drive, right down the target line and carrying a pretty good distance. Usually, though, the result was much worse. A depressing sight.

The good results did tell me that I was onto something that I should pay attention to. Now I need to do much more practice on each new swing thought that I have. I'll see what works and see how I can start to build a repeatable swing. Remember, I'm four and a-half years into this. And it's still far from complete. Not even enough to go out and play a round.

Still, I feel as though I'm really close to the good, basic swing. With any luck at all, I ought to be able to settle on a decent driver swing and a decent 3-wood swing and go out and play Mohansic.

Let's see if it's "Famous Last Words" or "Stranger Things Have Happened."