Hey guys, sorry it’s been a while since I have posted on here. I’ve been really busy working hard at both my golf game and fitness. In a few days I am going to send Chuck a write up of some of the workouts I do so that he can post them on the homepage so you guys can get an idea of what I am doing. My trainer Andrea is awesome, she kicks my butt and I can definitely feel the results, especially in my core. There have been a few days where I haven’t been able to move from being so sore, but no pain no gain.
I have been making steady progress with Chuck on my game. We’ll start from the bottom up:
Putting – Chuck hasn’t done much with my putting lately because it’s been pretty good. I fiddle around sometimes with my grip, but I’ve been putting very well both on the practice green and on the course. Occasionally I will have streaks where the ball bounces a lot on the green, but I usually figure out what is causing it. In the future I’m sure I’ll have Chuck look at my stroke to make sure everything is right. I think where I get the most off is my alignment. I have trouble sometimes setting up square, erring both ways (open, closed). Also, The putter I use isn’t fit right for me, so I need to look into a new one. It’s too long, and I already had it cut down once, so anymore will make it too light, so I think I just need to get one that comes stock at about 34 inches.
Chipping – My chipping has been taken to a whole new level. I am learning how to control the spin and trajectory very well. I still have my days where I struggle, and still don’t have a lot of shots. Today on the chipping green I really struggled on a shot where there was a lot of grain growing toward me. I chunked all the shots out of there. I also struggle with what shot to play at the right time. I tend to try to throw the ball most of the way to the hole and spin it on every shot. I need to learn when to play the correct shot.
Full Swing – We’ve made a ton of progress here. We are intertwining a few things right now. Swing Plane, tempo/rhythm, and width. As you all know, I tend to swing the club very flat and inside and probably will fight that for a while. It all starts at my takeaway. I turn my body a lot right from the start and swing my arms along with my body, making me swing very inside. Right now I am trying to feel like I start my swing with just my arms. Then comes the width. I get my right arm moving behind my body, making it very easy for the club to go inside. I need to feel like my arms are staying in front of me during the whole swing and have them stretched out for maximum width. When I do this, it feels very upright and very odd, but after doing it for a while I started to get used to it. When I don’t do this, I get very collapsed at the top of my swing and my swing gets very long. Lastly is tempo. I have always had a very fast transition, which has always thrown me way out of sync. It also makes me get collapsed at the top even worse because my arms are left behind as my body turns. Chuck is having me feel like I pause for a full second at the top of my swing. A visual I have been using is Vijay Singh, because he always looks like he pauses at the top for so long. I also use one of Vijay’s techniques of “seventeen” during my swing. As I get halfway back I start saying “seven” and at the moment of impact I should be saying “teen”. It’s just a mental way of getting in rhythm.
Just to let you know how the progress is coming, during today’s nine holes, I was 2 under par through three holes and missed an easy birdie putt on the fourth hole. I finished up at even par, but made a lot of good swings. I’m excited about the future of my swing, I’ll keep you updated.
If you want to see what I mean by collapsed, just look at the picture for my video “Pats Swing Down The Line”. At the top of both of those swings my right arm is very low and close to my body. That’s what I am working to get rid of.
I just wanna say, I admire what you’re doing. I’m a beginner right now, but I’m also harboring hopes of going pro someday, so good luck. Just wondering, how would you consider yourself as an athlete?
Thanks for the well wishes. I am also somewhat of a beginner, 2 1/2 years, so give it a go, you have little to lose and a lot to gain if you are successful. I consider myself a pretty decent athlete. I think I just have really good hand eye coordination. I can play pretty much any sport decently just for that reason. A good example would be Ping Pong. I play ping pong maybe twice a year, and I played with Chuck, who is a really good ping pong player, and I kept up with him pretty well. He still beat me, but I did all right. I was a pretty good basketball player, baseball, soccer, so on and so forth. It certainly helps to be athletic, but it can be overcome. Good luck.