Notes about golf (after lesson)

Yet another record of the benefits of a lesson…

…when you’ve been struggling to hit the ball well for a few weeks.

I should have built up my notes over the week, but I’ve been distracted and didn’t make time when I was at home. This is the best effort my memory allowed! (I did want to let the lesson bed down a bit, across some practice and rounds of golf, before trying to write it all up in full.)

Cover image: An unrelated sky photograph with a calming mix of light and colour.

Some notes from the lesson itself

• Sharing notes before my lesson is the best. It helps me clarify the difficulties I’ve been having and allows my coach time to take in what I’m saying about my experience.

• I turned up early to warm up properly and check out how my tennis elbow was feeling. Chipping and pitching at the western range practice area went well. I still had confidence with shorter shots and very little elbow discomfort.

• Since pitching, chipping and putting have been pretty good, we concentrated on longer shots at the driving range for the lesson.

• First I re-learned how important it is to hold the club handle in my fingers.

  • This is something I’ve lost track of before, ending up with the club too deep in my palm, gripping too tight and therefore unable to manipulate the club with any dexterity.

  • My body then does all sorts of things to manage the clubface through the swing leading to tennis elbow (and, in the past, other issues).

• We did an exercise that helps with feel and trust of this finger grip.

  • Hold the club in front of the body, swinging the clubhead around the hands clockwise in a vertical circle.

  • Only a soft grip with the handle in the fingers accommodates this motion without getting stuck and, in my case, raising the left shoulder to try to complete the circle.

• Second, I re-learned how to feel the natural swing rhythm of the club (only possible when gripping the club as practised above).

  • Holding the club vertically with head up in balance in front of the body.

  • Use the arms to move it back and up to begin a swing but let the club drop and propel itself, taking your body and arms with it down and around to the finish.

  • This can also include a step drill. Begin with feet together and then, as the swing begins, step with front foot into your stance. (Take care if you have no ACL in your left knee because too much of the stepping and twisting can make it feel a little unstable!)

  • This helps get a feel for the swing timing and sequence in the swing movement.

Competition round the next day (Wednesday)!

• Warmup at western range.

  • First circling the club to get the feel of the handle in my fingertips.

  • Then the natural swing feel from balance in front of the body with and without the step element.

  • Then just chips and short pitches to feel the swing timing and sequence in action.

• I hit some excellent shots during the round.

• I also missed contact on quite a few as the swing feel was new to me again.

• Driver was still problematic (lefts and rights).

• Shot of the day: 28 degree hybrid to back pin at 13 into the wind. Lovely penetrating fading shot to pin high. I should know the exact distance for this shouldn’t I?! I clubbed up because it was windy and the pin was at the back. It felt like the right shot. It was the right shot.

First practice session (Thursday)

• Range practice was difficult. Stuck with the program, ie the exercises, but had issues with left misses in the main. Not committed, because of discomfort with the range as a space leading to pulls to the safe side left.

• As I was leaving I decided this was not really an issue. I’d practiced the drills. Contact was better. Some shots were good. I knew it’d be different on course where each shot has to be thought through in the moment.

• Western range practice was better. Had fun chipping from difficult positions. Moved around a lot developing skills and trust in my ability.

Competition round (Friday)

• A lot of good shots. Some poor putting (but I reset my stance on later holes and improved a bit).

• Shot(s) of the day: tee shots on 3 (19 degree hybrid) and 8 (28 degree hybrid). Nearest the pin (but A grade on 8, so no credit for that). Both nice penetrating straight fades to back pins.

• Best shots feel balanced all the way through. Speed works towards the bottom of the swing at the ball, then simple deceleration to a natural finish arms back to the body as you watch the result. Almost impossible to explain, but I can see the rhythm in others when I’m watching golf. It just feels right - the timing of the swing, movement of club and body working together.

• Driver feels were all about not rushing the club. Don’t pull it around, because your hands get ahead and you can’t recover from that to make good square contact. Let the club move itself. Release through the ball. The best swings feel slow… but the speed is still there at the bottom.

• Don’t grip too hard. Make sure the handle is in the fingers. Don’t ring the neck of the club too much, maybe needs a bit more “wringing the towel” feel for irons and hybrids than driver and fairway wood.

Second practice session (Saturday)

• Western range for pitches. Circling club, then natural swing feel practice before taking shots. Feeling the club handle in fingers, club head in motion. Getting more comfortable again with the feel of not gripping the club too hard. Just 51 degree wedge.

• Chipping practice all around the lower green. Just 56 degree for all sorts of shot shapes, high, low, soft and runout. Fun. Learning all the time, but mainly gaining confidence in what I can do (so I can take this on course).

• Putting practice. Two balls. Different lines. Each time had one ball about 1-2 metres away from hole with the second 3-4 metres from hole on the same line. Putt shorter one first, then longer. Getting a feel for reads and weights. This drill works well with the way I putt by seeing a line and “feeling” the weight as how I would roll the ball to the hole without a club. Then longer putts with some on upper green across the slopes for reading practice. Fun.

What have I been feeling and thinking?

• Golf is fun again.

• Very little elbow pain (just for a few saved shots, recoveries and sometimes in bunkers).

• Feeling the clubhead in the backswing can get distracting. It can feel like it’ll never come back to square at the ball, but then it does (mostly ;) ).