Joey's Golf Bag

This morning, I practiced at the Golden Bear Golf Center on a warm, blustery day. I started out running the Jim Flick drill that I learned at the Swing Master clinic last Saturday, using the pitching wedge. I hit the ball pretty straight, so I moved on to the 8-iron, with which I started hitting hooks. I soon figured that out, but not before getting pretty frustrated. I finally started being able to distinguish when my swing was being afflicted with the reverse pivot.

I then started hitting iron shots normally, trying to keep the reverse pivot out of my swing. It was difficult to get the proper swing grooved, but I continued to work at it both with the irons, and later, with the driver and 5-wood. Whenever I hit a shot when the reverse pivot reappeared, I went back to the drill and hit a few balls. This was a long and painful process, but I was finally rewarded near the end of the practice, hitting long drives right down the middle. My final ball was a perfectly struck drive that followed the exact line and trajectory that I desire.

Since the short game area is still closed (due to reopen on April 1st), I went to the putting green and practiced putting, making sure to follow my routine exactly each time. I putted pretty well today, first hitting several short putts, then working my way out to 18, 24, 30 and 45 ft. I didn’t have any really poor putts today, especially, none of those inexplicable putts that are well short or way long.

My practice today started out really poorly, but I eventually figured out how to feel when I have reverse pivot in my swing, and how to correct for it. I think my ball-striking will be much improved once I get used to the correct swing.