All Right! All Right!

In my last post, I anticipated another 3500 hours of practice before I got the swing, a forecast both premature and pessimistic, as my practice at the 202 range this evening showed. That my swing is basically OK became clear yesterday when I was hitting plastic balls in the backyard.

My round with Gary and Al at Put Nash gave me the idea that I was missing whip, or clubhead speed, in my swing. With the plastic balls, I started experimenting with speeding up the hips and shoulder turn, with excellent results. The ball really started to take off. At 202, I extended that new understanding, which also gave me fresh insights into staying connected, and using the core muscles to swing the club. For the first time, I started to feel as though the turning was producing a quality, repeatable swing. I could feel my arms tight against my rib cage and my hips and shoulders swinging my arms through, lag preserved and the clubhead swinging through at the bottom of the swing arc of my hands. These shots went out straight and high. Just what I like to see.

Next post should be about speeding up the turn, accelerating the tempo. That should give me more distance. And I have to remember to relax. As my pro, Brian Lamberti tells me, "Stop thinking!"