I Need to Do Drills and I Hit My Target at the Range

Written on 7-24-2020.

        I am in bed, and I am all ready for sleep.  Because of the oxygen, the blood thinner, the teeth brushing, the flossing, and all of the other twelve steps I do every night, it takes a while now.  It feels cool in our bedroom due to the rainstorms we have been having.  The red curtain that covers the sliding glass doors keep billowing out like Santa’s belly due to the breezes.  Kody just came out of the bathroom, leaving the cooler tile floor to be with his “girlfriend” (his lambskin-like dog bed) directly below Santa.  We call it his girlfriend, because they became very close when he was younger.

On to golf…

I know that using video to record my swing has helped me to “match the model.”  Luke concurred that I am on the right track whenever I am trying to do that at the end of our lesson.  I have done so much to change my swing already, but I fear I have so much more to accomplish.  I recently watched a YouTube video with the title Modern Moe Part 3 with Todd Graves, and I watched Todd help the creator of the My Swing Evolution change his swing with a quick lesson, and what I learned was that my impact and follow-through are still not where they need to be.  Todd showed him

that his follow-through should not go past a certain point, and he had him stop it before it wrapped all the way around his body.  In my videos, my arms go all the way around!  Hmmmm.

With my first view of video analysis, one of my first big takeaways was my head was moving way too much.  Now, it is better.  I also learned that I don’t keep my trail foot down long enough.  That’s better now, too.  I saw that my left knee is not quite getting to that stable, fixed position, and now that is coming along and getting closer to the model, too.  

What I didn’t see was that lower position, or what Todd calls “staying in the bends,” but watching Todd helping that guy in the aforementioned video helped.  I watched two more videos tonight, and I learned some more things from them, too.  

First, I watched a video where Todd talked about his last round with Moe, and it was rather touching.  He choked up at one point, nearly crying, but not quite, when he remembered hearing that Moe had passed, and he remembered calling his wife to tell her.  

The second one was shorter, and it focused on instruction.  It is called Rethink Your Golf Swing and Get to Perfect Impact with the Single Plane Swing.  I want to watch it again tomorrow, but it really explains the legs and their relationship to impact.  I love that there are absolutes in this golf swing.  Hold that trail foot to the ground.  Brace into that lead knee, and make it stable, immovable.  He is actually going over the book I bought, and some of the drills that are in there, and I realized I am at a point where it would really be beneficial to do those drills.  He demonstrated the one where he folds his arms across his chest and he simply goes through the backswing and the forward swing, and that really helps the lower body.  I need to do that.  I see I am not doing it right.  I contact the ball and bounce up immediately after impact.  It doesn’t look like Reed Howard, Moe, or Todd.  So, that’s where I’m at.  Lots of work still to do.

Until next time…

Written on 7-29-2020.

I am sitting in my computer room, and I am watching (big surprise) another Todd Graves video.  Hold on.  I am going to restart the computer, so my wireless keyboard will work better.  It’s lagging.

There.  Much better.  It’s been a great day.  I went to the range at Pinon Hills again, and I noticed that I am one of several “range rats” who come regularly.  I didn’t see anyone else hoarding golf balls like I have done in the past (I did it today, too), until today, but then, sure enough, one of the regulars did it as well.  And, that was after he had hit two large buckets!

I recorded my swing again with the Swing Catalyst app, and I uploaded the videos, so I could see them on my iPad, and then I saw that I didn’t have to e-mail them to view them on my computer.  I could just send them over using AirDrop.  Much faster and simpler.  What a process to get to this point.  

I compared my swing to Todd’s again (I start his slow motion swing on YouTube and put my Quicktime video right next to it), because I really worked today on keeping my trail foot down throughout the swing, and keeping my body “in the bends” for the follow-through.  That was what I saw that I was missing, I thought, from my last version of my swing, and it really helped.  My swing looked more like Todd’s today than it ever has before.  I need to keep doing that, but I discovered two other things today.

The first one happened at the range when I was finishing up.  I hoarded/gathered up another large bucket’s worth of balls from the small practice green to the left of the range before lunch, and I kept them with me while I ate (I didn’t want another hoarder to get them).  I chose to eat lunch at the Grill on the Hill today, and it was a super way to cool off and take a break between sessions.

When I got to the last four golf balls, I decided to line them up and work on rhythmic swings.  I chose my pitching wedge, and I went down the line.  Here’s what I discovered.  I reached back on my back swings (it felt like I was getting my hands as far away from my head as I could), and it made a tremendous difference with compression and distance.  I was like, “Wow!  Why haven’t I done this before with this new swing?”

Unfortunately, I was at the end of my bucket, but I can try that even more next time.

Before I talk about another thing I learned today, I want to tell about something remarkable that happened at the range today.  I was going through golf balls with my gap wedge, and I was trying out my new goal to graduate from the range.  I was picking out different targets, and because I was at the far right side of the range, I decided to aim for the pole that has the lights on it over there.  Well, my golf ball hit it!  It was wonderful, but I was a little embarrassed, because it made a loud clanking sound, and the guy who was closest to me asked, “Were you aiming for it?”

I said, “I actually was aiming at it.”

He said, “That’s just like hitting a flagstick.”

Well, a large flagstick, but I wasn’t lost on the moment and the significance.  I was thrilled that I was able to pick out a target and hit it.  It was just so cool!  I saw it as a bright spot during this whole swing change.

One more thing before I go…  

What else did I see that is still different from the master and the model, Todd Graves?  I even asked Belinda to come look at both swings to help me notice differences.  She even left her cozy position in bed to come look!  

She agreed when she saw it.  He stands much farther from his golf ball, and it looks like his arms are a bit straighter than mine.  So, besides keeping my trail foot down (still don’t have that down) and staying in the bends better, I need to back up and straighten my arms a little more to make more space. 

Okay, that’s enough for tonight.  I plan on going back to the range tomorrow.  What else is a range rat going to do?

Until next time…