The last couple of rounds have been near to God. The ball is going where it is supposed to. I walk up to a shot and have no wonder just that quiet confidence of someone who has learned his trade.
Well, there was always the driver that decided that he just didn't like to be one of many in the bag.
But let me roll back just a bit.
There is always another YouTube video expounding different aspects of the swing. The video makers that I tend to believe is Athletic Motion Golf, AMG. What separates them from the crowd is that they are detailing what they have learned. They collect data from professionals and good amateurs and discuss and point out the differences between the two. And there are differences.
One of the aspects of the swing is the hip bump. What this is the first move in the down swing is to push the left hip forward and then to rotate. This is a common understanding.
AMG took a look at this. And found that it's not a good idea. It causes a lot of problems. It's not what the pros do.
What they do see and like, is for the entire body to make a first move towards the left side. They talk of it as a slide down hill to get it all started.
What this does is to load the left side and maintain the spine angle and finally provide a solid platform and location from which to rotate.
I've worked with Glenn, a local pro, who wanted me to just take a backswing and then rotate the shoulders. I had trouble with this. It seemed to work, but it just didn't feel right and I was still not hitting the driver well.
The other problem is trying to remember all the stuff I'm trying to do. I long for old days when the memory never slept and it sucked up everything.
So today I'm determined to try this torso glide followed by a rotation.
I shoot one over on the front using the driver just twice. One bogey was a thin shot into a bunker that I couldn't get up and down and the other was a three putt where I ran the ball well past the hole. There was a birdie in there with a nice 10 footer down hill.
Drive one was on the screws and hit the fairway and turned a semi long hole into a birdie chance. The next time was a par 5 where the drive really didn't matter much. I got to the green with a wedge even as the driver was short and hooking.
The back nine started with 3 regulation pars (on in regulation and two putts). Then came the par 5 at 550 yards. I hauled out the driver and hooked it into a bunker. I needed a nine iron to clear the lip and over hanging tree. That left me with 250 yards in and it was too far to get there in regulation.
I got on in 4 and two putted. But I realized what I was doing with the driver. I was not rotating the shoulders properly, but getting shoulders off plane to get the club back. When I came down I needed to make large adjustments to get back to the ball. I needed to take the club back, like an iron, more upright and under the plane.
Meanwhile I'm using the fall and rotate method for everything and I'll hitting the ball like a minor deity.
So on 14, armored with this realization, I hit the driver and it goes well with a touch of push and finds the fairway bunker. "Hit a fade 6 iron," Steve says. He was right, that was the shot. I catch it thin and hit the face of the bunker and it goes 30 yards.
But now I am in my wheelhouse -- 130 out. I don't need all of an 8 iron and hit a little fade in. It runs about 10 feet past as the pin is in a devilish position with a downhill slope. But I put a good stroke on it and in it goes. A par for the story books. Well, not really. Getting up and down with a short iron is not an unexpected event.
The 16th is another driver hole and now I hit it down the left side of the fairway. Good strike, not perfect, but it has a lot of perfect elements in it. We have a short iron in. I hit a thin shot, it goes over the green and I get cute and don't get it up and down.
17 can be a driver or 4 wood. I'm pumped. I've figured this out. I grab the big stick and hit it well. A fat 8 iron leaves me with a challenging two putt but I manage.
Then we are on 18, a par 5. The ball is crushed down the middle with a tiny draw setting up a routine second shot with a great angle to the dog leg.
I hit it too well. It goes through the fairway and into a culvert with really large rocks. They might have been stones. They might have been rejected for paving stones for being too large.
To make a long story short I take a drop and then hit a feeble wedge. On line, but short. It gets messy from there.
I'm shooting my usual 76 with a nasty back nine. But my doubts about the driver are erased. Bring on the next round!
There is irony in the world as we are traveling for the rest of the week. The clubs will stay home and think about prior rounds. I'll be clubless and thinking of future rounds.
Happy Thanksgiving all.
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