A Sign Of Things To Come

I hit the range again last night for day two of the rebuild. I'd forwarded the video clips from the initial session to Rhys ap Iolo for his comments. Now I'd thought for a first session it had gone well and I'd been pleased. Rhys on the other hand wasn't overly happy. Yes he could see progress but there were still a number of faults. As these faults have been ingrained with surgical precision over the course of the past thirty years I knew it wouldn't be an overnight process but hey, cut a bloke some slack.

Still, I'm built of firm stuff and can take the knock backs. It just makes me more determined to get it right, not only for the benefit of my game but some intrinsic desire to prove to Rhys I can do it. As part of my course, Rhys has set me up on the Plane Truth website which has access to numerous drills and instruction to work on the back swing, downswing and impact. I'd been studying the moves for the takeaway diligently and felt confident I could recreate it and improve from the initial session.

http://www.planetruthgolf.com/TheInstitute/WhatisThePlaneTruth.aspx

And so to the session itself. I was under strict instruction to work on drills and not be tempted to try
and hit full shots. Work on the takeaway, into a good position at the top and then just try and exit better and not get too far on the inside and get the club too far down the line. Try and feel as though I'm hitting it no more than twenty yards (from a full turn). I took some more footage (apologies for the quality but it was just the camera phone and with poor range lights) and will continue to do so as this particular leg of Homer's Odyssey moves forward.

I have sent the footage to Rhys and he is actually a lot happier. I still have an annoying habit of the club wanting to twitch back across the line born from the old swing going too far, too inside and with too much arm rotation. However it is better. One thing that is clear to see is there is far more retention of spine angle. If you look at the video of the swing (as it was) in my previous post you'll see how much I lose the angle and lift as I get to the top of the swing and even more as I have to find a way to get back to the ball. Clearly a big plus point.

All well and good I hear you say but how did you hit it. Well in truth not great and I checked into Hooksville with everything heading left. Fortunately Rhys was expecting that and told me not to be overly concerned. Apparently the next phase once we get the takeaway perfect is the really scary bit! You may or may not be able to pick out an alignment stick on the ground to the left of the ball at a 45 degree angle. I had been trying so hard to exit lower and left as per my instructions and the drills.

Cest la vie. It is a sign of things to come and has given me some comfort that I am moving, inch by inch, towards something better. Don't tell Rhys but I hit five balls at the end of the session with a full swing. Apart from the glorious shank with the first the others were actually rather pleasing. I did capture them on film, and it shows that at full pace and not in slow motion as per the drills, the club still wants to go across at the top. However it was not as pronounced as it had been so I'm chalking it to 1-0 to the good guy.

The plan is to get some serious work in at the weekend, and maybe take it to the grass practise area at Royal Ascot Golf Club. It will be good to see a few familiar faces again. It might also be a chance to try and get some short game work in. I've neglected this facet for far too long and if the full swing has mistakes, then the short game is riddled with errors and is the real achilles heel. I don't want to get too bogged down in the pursuit of my swing revolution and so this will provide a welcome distraction.

That's the second session done. Better in some aspects and still a shade disappointing in others but onwards and upwards. The next lesson is in the diary for Friday November 2nd and so until then I'll keep working on my drills and hope Rhys can provide a tip for changing the path on the way down. Maybe he's got that up his sleeve for the lesson. If he says the phase is scary then it will be major. He has certainly got my attention!