Distance Still Far Off

In January, 2009, I was in pretty good shape, with clear progress to show for all my practice during the winter. The path of my swing was good, and I felt I was incorporating that right arm motion that Hogan talks about.

In its general character, the correct motion of the right arm and hand in the impact area resembles the motion an infielder makes when he throws half sidearm, half underhand to first after fielding a ground ball. As the right arm swings forward, the right elbow is very close to the right hip and “leads” the arm—it is the part of the arm nearest the target.

My right elbow was next to my right hip, my right wrist was cocked back with plenty of power to release, and I could feel that there was more power ready to unload from my right biceps. With everything in place like this, why couldn’t I hit the ball farther when I went to the range, I wondered. I must be missing something.

Getting the club handle in my fingers was one thing I knew I had been neglecting. The worn spot on my golf glove proved that. So I needed more whip from swinging with my fingers. Then there was the more frustrating problem of being unable to hit the ball cleanly. Many times, the clubhead would hit the mat behind the ball, or if I made an adjustment for that, I’d skull the ball, sending it across my yard bouncing with crazy topspin.

These inaccuracies made me go back to one of the first drills I learned, the nine o’clock drill. Actually, I modified that drill so that it was more of a seven o’clock drill, with my hands going back only to the spot where I wanted to start turning the left elbow during the downswing. After days of practice like this, I started to get the feeling of the clubhead swinging more freely as I took it back to that spot and then came forward again. Almost effortless, that feeling must mean that I’m on the right track.

Still, I was hitting the top of the ball far too often. The cause of that, I thought, must be that I was moving my hips laterally on the downswing and getting out in front of the ball. The cure for that, I knew, was to stay back. That reminded me of something I had read or seen on YouTube about getting added “leverage” by staying behind the ball. To help me to this, I started trying to focus on a dimple somewhere at the back of the ball during the swing. That helped. And always, I tried to relax and swing as easily as I could. Not exactly like Julius Boros, but not Frankenstein, either.

All this practice and all the mishits took a toll on my plastic practice balls. I prefer the solid white practice balls from Wilson because I can see how a shot takes the spin that a swing imparts, but the balls tend to crack along the seam at their circumference. Looking online, I came across the Callaway Golf HX Practice Soft-Flite Ball - 30 Pack. Made out of soft rubber, with dimples so that their flight is realistic, they travel about a third the distance of a regular golf ball. In my yard, I can hit them (if I don’t hit the house first) about sixty-five or seventy yards on the fly with a driver doing that seven o’clock drill. Any farther than that, and they’ll end up out on the highway. Ideally, I’d like a ball with a shorter flight, but aside from that, they’re perfect for my situation.

With these balls flying about sixty-five yards, the equivalent of 195 yards with a regular golf ball, I still haven’t solved my problem with distance. Continuing my search for an answer will be the subject of the next post.