I’m camped out in Drills 2 and 3 in Get out and Go Play course. I’ve been there for about a week hitting a few times a day into the net. The major change I have made is the right arm. The video Hand and Arm Placement really hit home for me with the right arm and what I was never able to do before. Using the check in the video I’m getting the right elbow tucked. And doing drills 2 and 3 has felt really weird. But over the week I’m getting more comfortable hitting the ball with those drills. I can actually get some punch just in the half swing and really feel the ball compression. It really feels amazing and doing this keeps the arms straight through to the end of the half swing. The wedge seems to be there all on it’s own and the arms are staying together. It really does feel weird but I’m seeing and feeling results with the half swing and doing those drills.
My question is for those who have done this and made it through to the full swing. I have not ventured to the next drills, yet, so I’m hoping the answers lie there. But, when you did this, how or when did the full swing start to occur? As of right now I’m feeling really comfortable with this half swing. But I have no idea how to get to finishing the full swing - I feel like it’s getting stuck with the club straight out. (I do see in other videos that the wrists re-hinge and just kind of roll up – but it feels too weird right now to try) And doing a take away to a full swing – how the heck do you get the right arm to fold and then keep that position of nice and tucked so it stays together with the lead arm in the down swing? As of now I can’t feel or see how either is going to happen. So I’m just working to get even more comfortable with the half swing as it’s such a new feeling. It really changes the swing compared to what I was doing before which wasn’t this. I now see why I was so hot and cold all of the time. Again, hopefully the questions are answered in the next 5 drills coming up or further in the course but I thought I’d ask for some feedback on those that have been able to do this. What was your experience? And does this kind of sound right? As of now the ball is just smashing off of the club face. It’s quite amazing. But this is going to take time to get to a full swing and I’m not going to rush it. Kind of hoping it’ll start to happen as I practice more and venture into the other drills and further into the course.
Update. I stayed camped out in drills 2 and 3 for awhile and then started to do a full swing. That in and of itself is not as easy as one might think. To keep it short I'll just say it's been a lot of trial and error. The biggest changes as of late are arms together and the 2.8 drills. My short game has really improved. And through the process I looked at myself at address in a mirror and I noticed I haven't been stacked over the ball for a long time. I put too much hip forward at address trying to keep the weight forward. I moved the weight back to about 55/45 as prescribed. Funny how we get numb to things. That felt weird. Went and played 9 holes and saw some improvement. My clubs were going farther and a couple we played with even commented on my draw. Played another 9 and it fell apart but not as destructive as usual - I've played better and I've played worse. I realized I went too far the other way and didn't have enough weight forward through the swing. Last night, I seemed to have found the balance of weight on lead leg, increasing weight in the back swing while still staying stacked. Have to stay stacked. Typically if I play 18 holes I'm still shooting around 110. Still pathetic. Last night - played 9 holes and shot a 44. My best 9 holes ever. Did not lose a single ball. I still have a long way to go and who knows how I'll play next time. But last night the ball flew how I always knew it could. I've been here 2 years and 2 months and every so often I look back and see how much I still did not know and why I was so inconsistent when I felt I should be better. In a few months from now I'm sure that will happen again. Before I started Tom's classes I never had a lesson in my life. I could play - sure - but I had no idea what I was doing. And I got a lot worse making all of the swing changes with Tom's classes before ever getting any better. I have learned so much. I watch other golfers and can see what they could be doing better. But teaching myself has been the biggest challenge. :) So, pushing on. More to do and learn to get more consistent. But, darn, If I could play the way I did last night all the time I'd be extremely happy. Hopefully, maybe for once, this is a stepping stone to finally getting better. Thank you, Tom. I hope to have more and better improving updates in the future.