Posted by Dexter Francois
| Posted in
Mental Game,
Mike Southern,
Swing Mechanics
| 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.
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.
Posts
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.
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.
You and I have the same problem.
@Womens Golf Clubs-I'm trying to change that. I started going through golf withdrawals;-)
Great article. I love finding new blogs that offer advice on tips and golf equipment supply
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.