12 April 2014 - Great practice session

Today's practice was by far the best this year... I think I just turned a corner.  At this point in the year i'm hitting the ball much better than years past all based on fundamentals.  Driving the ball well, solid irons with no pain in my elbow (i've shallowed out my swing, I think the left side pulling noted below helped with this)

The big improvement today came on adding a little more spine angle at address.  I've been hitting my long irons and hybrids weak and to the right and feeling stuck.  The key to making adjustments is don't make more than 1 or 2 at most in a single practice session or you might over-think the golf swing.

Wow, what a difference that made.  It got me behind the ball more and I felt more free to release the club.  My shots started perfectly on line only drifting right due to the strong breezse out of the east.  Every club in my bag was tracking.  With my wedges I was working on distance control by narrowing my stance to control the length of the backswing and found that with a narrower stance the move through the ball felt easier and the balls were still flying as far as my wider stance.

My swing queue's: (1, 2, 4 & 8 were developed/engrained this year between January and April using the new instruction techniques my partner and I are developing for our book)

1. Grip more in fingers with VERY lite grip. 
2. Stand taller by stepping in but hovering the club above the ground behind the ball
3. Proper spine tilt to the right at setup.  I need to incorporate this into the setup routine so that it's ingrained and not an afterthought
4. Square up my rear foot a bit (my right toe had flared out a bit causing my right hip to pop out a bit on the downswing)
5. 1 or 2 "Mike Weir" style pre-swing takaways.  Do the pre-swing takeaways as slowly as your planned backswing.  The backswing should be very slow to setup tempo 
6. Little pause at the top before rolling the right foot onto the instep to start the weight shift to left side to start downswing.
7. Turn your chest while delaying the hit to create lag
8. Pull the handle through the hitting zone.  This is important... I have found that my left hand is just riding and my right hand was dominating the swing. Essentially the right hand was releasing early shutting the club face.  Now, as my chest covers the ball and keeps turning I am pulling through with the back of my left hand through the hit.  It's keeping my hands ahead and really compressing the ball.
9. Retain my posture after the hit while following through

PUTTING: I've been working to increase my visual accuity and green reading now that my stroke is rolling it on the line I want. 

1. To control speed/distance I'm not looking at the hole to determine the feel/length of putt.  I'm looking at a spot either short of or past the hole depending if it's downhill or uphill respectively.  This gives my mind a target to feel/putt to instead of the hole which could produce too firm or too soft a roll
2. When picking a line focus your eyes on the smallest spec you can focus on.  This allows your mind to have a very clear target. When you look back at your ball/putter you will feel the direction of the putt and have that in your minds eye as you make the stroke

This week will be all about getting that spine angle incorporated more naturally but being sure not to over do it.