C ROC N said:
What's your 8 iron loft? These power spec modern lofts are equivalent to the traditional 6 iron lofts of the past. I play a 48 degree PW, 44 9, 40 8, and so on down the bag. Really have to watch the actual lofts when trying out new clubs.
It's a P790 (2021), so 35. I think that's stronger than standard. Then you got all the speed foam and blah blah blah. I don't really care about how far it was going. I've always been able to muscle the ball out there. The odd thing to me was that with the new grip and takeaway, i was able to find the face much easier with a smaller swing. The coach kept saying "I know this feels like a mini swing, but it's all you need." The ball was going farther with less effort.
As for the session itself:
The lesson was inside in the bay for 30 mins on video locking in the move, then outside at the range for about 20 so the coach could see the ball flying, then back inside for 10 to follow up on video and planning the practice and next session.
For the record, my problem was left pull with the occasional pull hook. I was also off the toe more often than not.
After hitting a few, he set me up with a new grip that feels weird but is more neutral and has less shaft lean.
OLD
NEW
For takeaway, I was sweeping it back under the swing plane instead of up. We talked a bit about how golf is a game of opposites. I was trying the take the club back low, thinking it would help me stay inside on the way back through. He showed me how to shallow, saying that I actually have to take it back up and higher with the clubhead almost on a loop, making a reverse C shape to the ball. Still have work to do here, but you can see the difference is pretty dramatic. To be fair, I had heard this from my old coach, but I had always thought about it as my hands. This new coach spent a lot of time talking about manipulating and moving the clubhead and face. I don't know why it didn't click before, but this guy spoke my language.
OLD
NEW
I was also taking it back with my arms instead of setting my wrists earlier in the swing. He said it was because I was too under the ball, but if I'm being honest, I thought locking my arms into place was what I was supposed to be doing. But I was hinging at the top as opposed to early, so I was getting a lot of momentum that was carrying the club head back too far, and my grip was keeping it closed. Consequently, I was fighting to keep it open on the downswing. You can see the crazy difference in the top position of the "mini swing" compared to my old top position.
OLD
NEW
The trick now is learning how to be more handsy/wristy. It's more akin to hitting a topspin in tennis than anything. I have to drop the clubhead and start working my wrists over to square the clubface on impact. Previously, I was just trying to hold it as much as possible and not using my hands or wrists at all. I think that was also making me swing with my shoulders more, and it was locking me up on my follow through.
Anyway, turns were good. Weight transfer was good. Swaying was good. This manipulation of the clubface is going to take a lot of practice to get comfortable with, but I went from pulls and pull hooks to pushes, straights, and draws over the course of the session. It was absolutely incredible when I connected well.
Honestly, kind of embarrassed that my fundamentals were this bad after so long on video at golftec, but I think I had so much to fix with rotation and sway and all the other stuff that this wasn't the focus yet.
