Wow!

I had a lesson the Thursday before last (21st October) but hadn't managed to hit any balls or work on any of the drills as there were darker and more serious issues to attend to. However, looking out of the bedroom window at the heavy drizzle, the proposed round of golf was quickly substituted for a range session and a chance to put some serious time into the drills and working on the swing changes.

Those of you who follow the Golf Monthly Forum (and if you don't get yourself signed up and involved - it is THE best golf forum out there) or have been with me so far on my journey, you will know that my swing is idiosyncratic at best and a blur of flailing limbs on a bad day. I have a real tendency to lift my body into impact and lose my spine angle. The plan for the winter is to stop that as much as possible although I doubt we'll ever eradicate it completely.

The teaching pro I saw, Paul Harrison down at Maidenhead Golf Centre, wanted me to try and turn with the hips on a more level basis as opposed to a lateral slide and to feel as though the chest was more on top of the ball at impact. I have to say doing it again ten days after the lesson felt really strange and totally alien to everything I was use to. Early signs with the wedges weren't great and I was in Shanksville (population 1). However by breaking it down and rehearsing in slow motion without hitting a ball (but probably looking a right idiot) it started to make sense.

When the eureka moment came it was like a smack across the chops with a wet haddock. Suddenly I was compressing down on the ball at impact and they were fizzing away high and arrow straight. When the old habits crept back in I could really feel the difference. I'm a bit gutted that I couldn't have worked on it more before going out yesterday and gotten the feeling. I knew what I was searching for on the course but not how to accomplish it.

I've got a video of the swing. It isn't perfect by any means but I'm a lot more over the ball at impact and the club halfway back and halfway back down towards impact are pretty much on a perfect plane. It was a great shot in the clip and is a real improvement on what I'd been playing with.

Plenty of positives then and hopefully something to work on over the Winter. It's the monthly stableford next Saturday so I think it'll be interesting to see if I can finally take some range form out onto the course.