Day 49: Put Your Back In To It

Today I went back to the range to see if I could pick up where I left off yesterday.
I hit balls pretty well - not great, but not poorly.

Nearing the end of my bucket with my hybrid, I noticed that when I played the ball off my front heal coupled with bending my knees a little more (pooching out my butt a la Ernie Els), I could really make solid contact creating a straight flight path with a hint of a draw. I hit the last 5 or so balls on a rope while taking, what I consider to be, a more athletic stance. The balls were flying about 210 yards with about a 2-yard draw.

When I was done with the bucket, I thought about this for a moment and realized that I was probably standing too upright with all my clubs. I also thought that I was playing the ball too far back in my stance. When I play the ball off my front left heal, I think the club head has enough time to square itself up at impact creating a well-struck shot. When I play the ball further back in my stance, I think my timing is late on squaring up that club head, so I hit the ball with a more open club face which can push or slice the ball.

Instead of having this sit in my mind all night, I got another bucket of balls (something I rarely do) and tried to apply this same set-up and stance to my irons. Lo and behold, it worked. I was hitting my 8-iron and 5-iron on the screws with a great, consistent ball flight. I went back to the hybrid and hit that well, too. However, when I tried to have this same swing transfer over to my Driver, I had some difficulties. Nonetheless, if I can get to the point where I can hit 12 clubs in my bag with consistency and accuracy, then my big worries are over.

As I continued to hit balls, I kept thinking about the Ice Cube song 'You Can Do It (Put Your Back In To It).



This got me all jazzed up to return to the range tomorrow and pick up on where I left off. I will also continue to hit my Driver and find out what kind of swing is needed with that same athletic stance and that same ball positioning and get that all squared away.

It was just 3 days ago, when I thought all was lost. Fast forward 3 days and I feel like I am back on the right track. More than ever, I think I have made great progress. In the wise words of Ice Cube, 'You can do...put your back in to it.' Thank you, Ice Cube.