Day 63: Monumental Day

Today was a monumental day at the range. All the pieces of the puzzle came together. The beautiful thing about the puzzle coming together is that I know for certain that they are the correct pieces and are all in the correct place.

Before I went to bed last night, I watched video of Ben Hogan's swing. I wanted to know how he moved his club away from the ball. He moved the club away to the inside. I move the club away straight back. He also keeps his left arm perfectly straight and then hinges his wrists near the top of the swing. He starts his downswing by turning his hips towards the ball and uses the strength of his core to bring his shoulders, arms and hands through - creating a tremendous amount of club head speed. Here is a quick little video by him showing how vital the hips are to the swing:


That video and the fact that he brings the club around his body vs. me who takes the club back and outside my body made me think that I need to make a big change.

So today when I got to the range, I made sure that I was good and loose. I stretch out my legs for a long time. I also took 2-club warm up swings for a long time - very slowly, making sure that I was good and loose.

I knew I had to adjust my grip, so I decided to go strong-left, strong-right. I now have my left thumb resting on the right side of the shaft. I place my right two middle fingers under the club and roll my hand over making sure that the 'v' by my thumb and index finger were pointing almost outside my right shoulder. My left thumb is resting comfortable in between the two big pads on the butt of my right palm. Feels good - like a good grip should.

I started with my 8-iron and had a little difficulty keeping my balance at first while bringing the club around my body. I then made sure that I flexed my knees and took what felt like an athletic stance. I also made sure to keep my left arm really straight as I swung the club back around my body. I found good balance after a few balls. The ball flight was from right to left and noticed that the more I lead with my hips on the downswing, the more club head speed I could generate.

With this swing and my irons, I have to make sure that I keep my head completely steady all the way through the swing - especially on the down swing thru impact. It almost feels as if I am staying behind the ball when I make contact. It also allows me to have that club back around from the inside and apply a descending blow to the ball.

With this swing and my driver, I have to focus on staying behind the ball - but when I unleashed my hips and my body, I was absolutely crushing the ball. This lead to pushing it to the limit while trying to maintain my balance. At the end of the session, I was swinging as hard as I could with my driver and the ball was starting to the right and landing right where I was aiming. If my timing was a little late with my arms and hands, I would hook it - and it wasn't even what appeared to be a dangerous hook - that was the worst outcome, even when I was slamming the ball as hard as I could. It felt liberating to whale on the ball like that and watch it go farther than I knew was possible. There is a 200-yard marker and what looks like about 20 or 30 yards past that to a 40 or 50 foot mesh wall. I was hitting the mesh wall on the fly about 20 feet up - amazing. I have no idea how far that would be, but after a roll it's got to be nearing 270 or more - incredible.

The swing coach was watching me hit and told me that I am 'getting it' - that was encouraging. After I was done, he told me how important it is to warm up extremely well prior to hitting my next ball. He stated the importance of being as loose as I was when I finished as I am the next time I start. He even said, if it takes 30 to 50 swings before even hitting a ball, do it.

This swing coupled with this grip are, what I believe, the final pieces to the puzzle. It is this swing that I need to groove in. If I swing the club on Saturday, the way I swung the club tonight, there is no reason I can not break 80. I feel that good and confident about my swing. I think it is all finished. I think I am done tinkering with this, that and the other. It is this swing that I need to groove in. I took 63 days of farting around, but now I am sure that this is the swing I need to use from here on out. Amen.

Here is a video showing Hogan's swing in greater detail: