My Clubs Are Dusty...

6

Posted by Dexter Francois | Posted in , , | Posted on Wednesday, October 26, 2011

...literally. I finally got out to the driving range yesterday. I hadn't touched touched my clubs since my last round on September 28th when I played at San Marcos Golf Club. Nearly a month has passed and when I pulled the clubs out of the garage they were covered with a layer of dust.

It felt good to pick up the sticks again. I wasn't expecting too much out of the practice session, but I was pleasantly surprised when I started hitting good shots. I didn't want to think too much so I only kept two swing thoughts in my head.

1.) One piece takeaway - If you have read this blog before, you know that I have been working hard on the one piece takeaway. It was taught to me by Mike Southern because he noticed that I was twisting or rotating my forearms as I took the club away from the ball during the backswing. This was causing me to start my swing on too flat a plane which forced me to come over the top on my downswing.

2.) The second thought has to do with this image from a recent post that Mike did called The Top Of Your One Piece Takeaway.

Diagram showing what a properly-done one-piece takeaway looks like

The bottom picture is what caught my attention. Although I understand the one-piece move, I sometimes get a little out of whack after the club passes waist high. This birds eye view gave me a good mental picture to take with me to the driving range. Once I was able to repeat this position, the rest of the swing fell into place.

I ended up hitting around 300 balls. The golfers around me would hit half a bucket and leave. I was happy to pick up where they left off and finish the already paid for bucket of range balls. Needless to say, I am extremely sore today. My shoulders, back, and abs feel like I just finished a CrossFit workout. Even my right hamstring is tight from bending over so much to tee up my ball.

Work has still been hectic and a lot of the courses are continuing the over-seeding process. I'm dying to get back out there. It's a wonder that I have been able to survive without playing for so long.  In any case, I am pleased with the way I hit the ball and hopefully it will carry over into my next 18 holes. If not, oh well. At least I'm on the golf course. Have a great round and always hit your target.

Top photo found here.


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Comments (6)

  1. October 27, 2011 at 8:38 AM

    I'm not surprised that you were "pleasantly surprised," Dex. As I keep saying, golf isn't that difficult -- we just make it that way. You don't forget how to shoot a basketball or hit a tennis forehand just because you can't play for a month or so. Your golf swing is no different.

    This just proves that you're building sound fundamentals into your game.

  2. October 27, 2011 at 11:00 AM

    It really did feel like "riding a bike." The thing is, even though I haven't been playing, I still do the drills you give me in my living room. It's obviously not striking an actual ball, but I feel that doing this has engrained the fundamentals and has become muscle memory.

  3. November 6, 2011 at 6:44 PM

    You and I have the same problem.

  4. November 7, 2011 at 11:58 AM

    @Womens Golf Clubs-I'm trying to change that. I started going through golf withdrawals;-)

  5. December 7, 2011 at 12:23 PM

    Great article. I love finding new blogs that offer advice on tips and golf equipment supply

  6. May 24, 2013 at 1:54 PM

    Always a treat to a pro playing the golf. I had a pleasure hosting some of the amazing people from Golf industry at our events and I wish there would be many more moments to host in the future specially at Mission Hill.