After lesson 16

[Cassi]

Back when I had just finished the session where the “punch” was first introduced (12?), I began to integrate that move into my swing and found I had more distance at the range. For some reason that didn’t really stick – probably because I was applying it to my existing swing (at the time) which actually served me fairly well in the past but was somewhat inconsistent and eventually got maxed out on distance.

I just finished session 16 yesterday and today went to the driving range. I noticed something interesting is happening with my golf swing – not sure I can even define it but it feels very different. And while I’m not really getting more distance, the action itself feels, how should I say…more true. The part of the lesson that I believe made such an impact on my swing was the discussion about keeping the right shoulder close to the chest in the downswing, keeping the hands close to the body. I could feel that there was more power involved; that my body – not just my back and arms – was involved in producing the swing. At times I did achieve some more distance, but most notably, the ball was going straight at the target without having to “hood” the club head before my take away as I’d been told to do by a former golf instructor. The trajectory of the ball flight was pretty awesome, too. But alas, I was not able to keep this up – probably just got tired after hitting 2 1/2 large buckets of balls, and every so often, I would hit the ball right (which was why I was told to hood the club head in the first place.)

The “push down” and “punch” have made a huge difference in getting the ball up and out of bunkers – even the ones with a very high lip.

I also want to say that on finish, my hands and arms do not tend to be in front of my face as recommended in lesson 16 but rather more like the example on page 27 of the chapter 2 assessment form – hands and arms routine image – only with my arms bend a bit.

Finally, I’d like to share that I have only been able to fit in 2 – 3 sessions per week but hope to do this more frequently. Mysteriously, I sometimes actually experience resistance to taking the next lesson even though I love the martial arts approach and totally believe in what is being taught. I really look forward to more improvement and increased confidence. I have some resistance to the mental training aspect of this course but am hanging in there just out of sheer trust.

I welcome comments and encouragement!