Hip Turn, Redux
On Sunday, John and I managed to get in 9 holes before yet more crappy weather moved into Texas. We met on the range at Coyote Ridge around 2PM and hit a few balls to warm up. The weather was pretty nice at this point, low-60s and partly cloudy. I didn’t play particularly well, but I did manage to win a couple of skins off John. My drives tended to go right and my pitches tended to be long. The good weather didn’t last, though, on the 4th hole we had some cold rain come down for a few minutes. Fortunately, it didn’t last, and though the weather continued to get colder, at least it didn’t rain and we were able to finish up our 9.
On Monday and Wednesday after work, I managed to hit a few balls at Hank Haney (I had to put on my long underwear as the weather was quite cold, though sunny). My irons are gradually improving, but my driving wasn’t. This afternoon, after work, I considered hitting balls, but the clouds were rolling in and a few rain drops threatened. Instead, I decided to see if Mike Murray could fit me in. He could, so I went over to Golf Galaxy to get in a lesson.
I warmed up in the simulator, as no customers were using it. I stretched and then hit a few balls, poorly, with my 6-iron. I then switched to the driver and hit a few balls. Mike walked up just as I popped one off the heel. Oops. He had me hit a few more and all of them went left, which is unusual for me (I usually miss right). We went back to the instruction area to see what problem I’m struggling with this time.
Well, the problem was immediately obvious: poor hip turn. I thought I was turning my hips well, but the video clearly showed I wasn’t turning. Instead, I was moving my hips toward the ball instead of turning my hips properly. He had me hit short shots with my 6-iron. He showed me where the clubhead should be just after impact; I had the clubhead much too far around. We worked on those short shots for a while, concentrating on getting the clubhead into the right place just after impact, with my hands clearly in front of the ball at impact, and also making sure my head remained behind the ball at impact. We then worked on getting a proper hip turn. He wanted me to force my belt buckle toward the target after impact and to let the club release properly toward the target and not so much around my body. We worked on this for several more shots and the video showed great improvement. I then got out the driver and hit a few balls with the same swing thoughts and I hit the ball much more solidly.
We went back to the simulator, and hit some drives. My distance was considerably improved and the majority of my drives were nice draws. I was extremely pleased and happy with my progress in this lesson. The key will be can I get this swing to work once Mike is not watching me. I’ll find out soon enough, as I have a tournament this weekend in the GGA.
I’m looking forward to it.