NO
YES
In her old swing, Portyrata really had to work to keep
the golf club square through impact. Most notably,
her glove hand was pointed up following impact and
her back was arched on the follow-through.
After revamping her swing, Portyrata learned how
to release the club correctly and improved her
distance control.
THE FLAW
THE FIX
In the spring of 2011, Abby and I began
working together at The First Tee
Chesterfield. She was playing to about
a 6-handicap at the time, but when I
videotaped her swing for the first time, we
mutually agreed on the need for an overhaul
to advance her game to the next level.
She had an unusually strong grip, the
clubface was shut at the top of the backswing
(the grooves of her iron were pointing
skyward), and her swing was quite upright.
These issues led to several compensatory
moves on her downswing. Abby was forced
to deliver the club sharply from inside the
target line to counteract a closed clubface.
As her club approached the ball, she had
to work upward with her left hip and lead
arm through impact. All told, those moves
were an attempt to keep the golf club from
flipping over too early and causing a repeat
of the dreaded hook.
Her stock ball flight at the time, a
15- to 25-yard push-hook, would shoot
to the right of her target and sling back
toward it. Though it would work a fair
amount of the time, when it didn’t, there
was no telling where the ball might travel.
Also, her swing was placing a lot of stress
on her body; Abby tended to finish in a
pronounced ‘reverse C’ position, with a lot
of her weight still on her right leg.
Her misses “were a little more than
excessive,” Abby recalls. “They were
atrocious.”
At the time, all of this added up to Abby
being a rather one-dimensional player
who was not fond of holes that doglegged
to the right.
Golf is the only game where you are trying
to play toward a target you’re not looking
at, so one of the areas we addressed initially
involved a philosophical discussion. Such
modern teaching concepts as ‘turn the
left shoulder under the chin,’ ‘load up t ??)????????d??????a????????????????d????)??????????????Q?????????????????????)?????????????????????????????????????)???????????????????????????????????)???????????????????????????????=??)???????$???????????????????????)????????????????????????????????????)????????????????????????????????????)???????????????????????)$??????????????????????????????)????????????????????????????????????)??????????????????????????????)????????????????????????????)????????????????????????????5?)???????????$???????????????????????)???????????????????e????????????????)?????????????=??????????e????????)?????????????????????????????????)????????????????????????????????)??????????????????????????]?????)??????????????????????????????????)?????????????????????????????????)??????????????????'?e??????????????)???????????????????????????????+?q??????????t????????????????????)??????????????????????????????????)????????????????)Q??????????????????????????)???????????????????????????????????)??????????????????????????????)???????????????????????????????????)????????????????????????()????????????????()Q!?MQU9P?()????A??????)??????)!???????5??????????Y??)!????M???????M???????
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