Monday, September 28, 2009

Lesson No. 2 - The Divot

I arrived at the PGA Golf Superstore for my second lesson about 15 minutes early so that I could warm up in the state-of-the-art hitting bays. I hit a few 7 irons to warm up and then pulled out my Ping G10 driver flexing and expecting to have gained at least 10 yards from the previous week because I was now loading and releasing the club properly. To my chagrin, each drive was still about 235 to 240 yards, including roll. When Bob videotaped my swing, there was no difference to the naked eye from the previous week (but to Bob's well-trained eye he thought that I was making improvement and I took him at his word). I was still not loading the club correctly and I was coming over the top and releasing the club way too early and pulling through with my right elbow. After watching the videotape, I was happy that I was able to hit my driver 240! Bob gave me a couple of drills, including the one where you beat the club against the ground from your knees and the David Leadbetter three-finger load and swing (page 14 of Leadbetter's bible).

After this disappointment, we spent the rest of the lesson working on my irons and trying to drive down into the ball and compress the ball against the clubhead instead of picking the ball off of the turf. When I "picked" my 7 iron, I was hitting it about 140 yards, including roll, but when I started driving through the ball, I hit the 7 iron 150 to 155 yards. Bob gave me two exercises that really seemed to help. First, he put a ball marker a few inches ahead of the ball and told me to make sure that I hit the ball marker, simulating a divot in front of the ball. I immediately got the sensation of driving the club into the back of the ball and compressing the ball on the clubface. Second, Bob had me stop or hesitate at the top of my swing to set and allow my body to start moving forward before my hands and the clubhead. Once I got the hang of this movement, I started driving (instead of picking) my irons and hitting them further (and reasonably straight). Bob is a genius!

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