The Epiphany: having a strong right side (I'm a lefty) and getting there.

[DON SVO]

I've been having fits with my driver the past couple of months. I'll think I've found something and have a week or two of nice, manageable drives in the 260-275 range. Then everything goes down the drain and I'm hitting 220-230 with about a 30 yard slice. I feel like no matter how hard I work to close down the clubface, it still pushes left and keeps on going. Another thing, my impact position and finish are solid, which only adds to my frustration. I hit some drives like this at Golfsmith, and the launch monitor said my club face was open, I was swinging out to in, and my SS was only 97-99mph. Way down on speed, way up on slice.

 

I realized I was cupping my right wrist (lead wrist: lefty) at the top of my backswing, and started with that. It helped the slice a lot, but the direction my drives would take were somewhat unpredictable since I was having to focus on maintaining a flat right wrist up and through the swing.

 

Of all things, watching an episode of Playing Lessons With The Pros (JB Holmes episode) gave me a different idea of getting to that impact position in a smarter.

 

He said something very close to, "I'm not swinging the club... basically I feel like I am pulling the club down, and as it passes my hips my body follows to impact" and "I keep my hands way ahead of the ball even at impact" and his driver doesn't pass his hands until it's past his hips on the upswing.

 

I went to the range and focused not on my wrist at the top, or getting the clubface closed at impact, but bringing the butt of my club down and almost trying to 'stab myself' in the right thigh. I "stuff" my left hand into the ball and make sure to keep everything ahead of the ball when I do it, except the clubhead.

 

Well well well... so THAT'S what lag feels like in the driver! It took a dozen or so swings to get the timing down and readjust my stance. After that, everything felt so... right :) Once I figured out where it was going (baby fade), I could put the ball within 10 yards left or right of the line I targeted.

 

I went to Golfsmith and hit some off the launch monitor... 103-107mph swing speed, 149-158mph ball speed, in-to-out swing, 350-700 rpm side spin, 2400-2700 rpm backspin, 0.5*-2.0* open clubface for a very, very predictable baby fade.

 

Hopefully, someone can chime in with another way to word it... I am trying to find a way to phrase it for soeone else who might have that "I feel like I am just throwing my arms as hard as I can at it" and can't hit the driver. It was a HUGE leap for me to just try this "pull the club down" thing... everyone wants to swing for the fences... and I'll be damned if this doesn't feel slower, smoother and produce 3 mph more clubhead speed than I am used to (typically 101-104).

 

So what do I need to do to start getting a baby draw???