What I'm working on right now

I read a golf instruction book in which the author, a teaching pro, said he always told his assistants, you're not allowed to teach students the thing you're working on right now.

We tend to get that way. Whatever we're doing now is the key to the kingdom, whereas it is really a way of correcting a flaw in the swing that is peculiar to ourselves and might be irrelevant to anyone else.

I, however, feel no such constraint. So here goes.

I am working on two things -- making sure my hands get back to the ball before the clubhead does in the downswing, and making sure I continue turning through impact.

The first one I have down pretty well. I started out with the swing thought of pulling the handle of the club through impact, which served as a reminder. I did that often enough that I don't need that thought any more. The feeling of the correct movement is familiar enough that all I have to do is think of that.

Hopefully, there will come a day when the move will be automatic and I don't have to think of anything.

Turning is one of the weak points in my swing and is one of the reasons why I hook the ball. When I stop short, (or slow down, actually) I have to save the shot with my hands, which closes the clubface.

The swing thought I'm using now to remind myself to continue turning is to imagine that the butt end of the club extends and pushes my left thigh to the right as I swing down. It doesn't want to turn on its own, so my mental golf club pushes it around. Seems to work.

The task is, as before, to learn the feeling so the swing thought is unnecessary, and keep going until the movement is automatic.

It's a lot like training a dog. You have to give them a treat after every success until they figure out what the reward behavior is. Then you gradually withdraw the treats as they learn to perform the expected behavior on command. Here, swing thought = treat.

And I must say, when these two things work together, I hit highly playable shots.


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