Well, no clipboard needed for today's daily. This is a pure case of "Physician heal thyself" where I need to perform some "Surge-ery" on myself. Let me start by telling you about a nagging swing fault that has crept into my game since my heart surgery last year. I haven't played many full rounds since then. In fact, with my busy teaching and video production schedules, I am lucky if I can sneak nine holes in here and there. Usually, I'll go out and walk three or four holes at the end of the day when the course is uncrowded just so I can work on my swing.
Over the last six months or so, I've been hitting too many hosel rockets for a player of my skill level. For those of you who are not familiar with the term, here's what it means:
Hosel rocket- A slang term for a shank. And a shank is a shot in which the point of contact between the golf ball and the golf club is the club's hosel. A shank will veer to the right for a right-handed player and often has a very low trajectory.
Recently, when I did manage to play with DJ and my brother, Kenny, they both felt that I was drifting forward a bit as I neared the top of my backswing. This was before I bumped to initiate my FUS. Upon thinking about why I was doing this, I found that I have been letting my ball position get too far forward in my stance causing me to slide a bit forward during the backswing. But even moving the ball back to its proper spot didn't completely cure my problem. I was still hitting the occasional shank, even with my long irons which is not an easy thing to do, believe me!
What cured my problem completely involved keeping my right leg and foot more firmly connected with the ground until impact. Getting into a PLHR position and staying there throughout the backswing is essential. I was letting my right foot come up off the ground too much during the backswing and that was what was pushing me forward before I initiated the FUS. Staying more firmly connected with the ground will also help you keep your head behind the ball until impact and it will also improve your finish. Watch the video for all the details.
Keep it vertical!
The Surge
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