Practicing Long Distance

I’ve made progress in developing my swing, and I’m continuing to make progress. Every day when I go out to practice, I gain new insights. My muscles and reflexes find new paths. Each day, I have a definite practice plan, something specific I want to implement or review. Since I’m a beginner just learning the swing, I never go out to my practice mat just to swing the club. Even if the question of the hour relates to distance.

As I have admitted in my previous posts, I haven’t been able to hit the ball far enough. When my friends ask how my swing is coming along, I say, “Great! I’m crushing my driver out there about 180!” Because this is so anemic, when I go out each day, I may have a specific thought to work on—such as extending my arms in the follow-through or staying behind the ball during the downswing—but at some point during the practice session, I’m going to focus on clubhead speed, which I know is the key to power and distance. Having watched, with envy, the LPGA players blast the ball distances far beyond what I can even dream of (at this point), I know that the answer has nothing to do with physical strength and everything to do with technique and timing.

The other day, in trying to solve the problem of an erratic swing that often grounded the club on the mat behind the ball or that skulled the ball, producing a hyperactive, topspin crazy shot that hopped across my frozen backyard, I thought I found an answer. It grew out of my attempt to lengthen my swing and keep my left arm straight. In trying to find a swing path that would take the clubhead directly to the back of the ball without hitting the mat, I started swinging as if I were doing a modified hammer-throw, you know, that Olympic event where the athlete swings a ball fastened at the end of a short length of chain around and around him as he spins before he reaches a maximum speed and lets the chain go. If his timing is good, the ball will go flying out across the field with the greatest distance possible. To me, it seemed perfect physics: centrifugal force, mass times speed, and acceleration all combining to move a dead weight an incredible number of yards.

As I was finishing this practice session, with good results, I might add, I remembered videos I had seen of Moe Norman, the great Canadian pro, who famously swung on a single plane and reputedly always hit the ball straight. Not bad company, I thought. I went to sleep that night thinking that I had made another step higher up the ladder toward the ideal swing. After a good night’s sleep, morning clarified that thought. Waking up to reality in the next post.