Week 24

Moving forward...

Big Question

What should you be prioritising in your off season work?

Feels

My feeling this week is one of energy and determination.

A practice session, some speed work, an icy round and a catch-up with Ryan have left me feeling positive, energised and determined. I spent some time reflecting on my lessons and practice, reviewing each one with a notepad handy. Re-reading the blog entries around practice helped too!

I have ‘4’ feels/drills to work on to improve my swing technique, 3 of which are linked (straightening the trail leg in the backswing, banking the trail foot and the knees kissing). When I reflected on how I had been working on each, I viewed them as separate entities. Realistically, I can treat them as 2 thoughts, the wrist and the trail side. I don’t need anything new! I don’t need more tweaks and changes. I need to commit to working daily on the lead wrist and the ‘banking the trail foot’ feeling. I am determined to do exactly that!

Practice and Lessons

No formal ‘lesson’ this week but I did have a catch-up with Ryan. He also sent me a video introducing a strategy to help blend the technical work with the wedge swing. Included in the unlimited month of lessons, is a 30-minute zoom call. I planned a couple of questions and wanted to discuss and explore my conceptual understanding of a draw! The discussion was great. I felt supported and understood.

Just because I understand the concept, it doesn't mean I can DO it!

I have spent the last two years, trying to manipulate the face at impact. Flipping my hands and rolling my wrists. To hit a draw I have the feeling that I close my face (to the target line) while 'aiming' my body to the right of the target. Having explored it a little more with Ryan, what I have been trying to do and what I should have been doing, didn't quite match.

This is further evidence to support the idea that ‘feel and real’ are very different. Trying to change things yourself without feedback and with your current concepts, could prove unnecessarily difficult! Checking knowledge and concepts is a worthwhile activity and it is something I will be aware of, moving forward.

I have had one full practice session this week along with more work at home.

Practice session

Theme: ‘Draw the wedge’ (2)

Technical

Lead wrist flexion

• No ball

• 1/2 shots x 5

• 3/4 shots x 5

It is clear that the wrist work is a huge part of what happens in the rest of the swing. If there is one thing that I will focus on at the start of each session it is the flexed lead wrist (and also practice the feel in my ‘think box’ during my pre-shot routine).

Variable

Start the ball left, right and over the stick.

24 balls (1 left, 1 right and 1 straight x 8)

I recognised that I was working on starting everything right and wanted to make sure there was some variety and challenge. This variability was demanding and enabled me to feel the relationship between the start direction and the relationship with the face. I was very successful at starting the ball left (surprise, surprise) but enjoyed the level of difficulty.

Play

I played in a Pairs Matchplay competition on Sunday. 2 degrees and frozen greens made for an interesting round. It was great to be out playing but expectations were at an all-time low. I used it to practice my pre-shot routine and set up ideas, mainly.

We lost the match on the last hole after an incredible stroke of luck. I didn’t drive the ball particularly well but approach play and wedge play were solid all day. The strike was good with very few pulls. The low point was solid too. Overall, very happy with the first two rounds after all of the practice around my lessons.

Speed

More speed work with one day’s rest so far. All work so far has been with no ball.

Mike (Carroll - Twitter Fit_for_Golf) shared his swing speed tracker spreadsheet this week. I had been doing 1 block of 15 swings after a warm-up but decided to follow the structure laid out on the sheet and split it into shorter blocks. This has helped with the max speed and the average. The structure I follow is;

• Warm-up (Fit for golf daily mobility/warm-up and a few pogo jumps)

• 5-10 swings gradually swinging it close to max

• 1-minute rest

• Set 1 (8 swings)

• 2-minute rest

• Repeat for 4 total sets of 8 swings

• Record 32 swings in the tracking spreadsheet

  

Max speed came in set 4 with 120mph (up from 113 in session 1). The session average was 113.75mph (up from 110). I wonder how this will translate to the course and how strike will be affected. It is an exciting experiment!

I am pleased with the start and it has added to the energetic feeling I have carried this week! I must begin to hit a few balls with the PRGR this week and see how it compares! Numbers to follow!

Reflective Questions

Do you need to check your conceptual understanding of anything in the golf swing?

Do you ever get stuck in a maze of unfairness?

What does true confidence look like to you?