S&T 2/27/10

[RIduffer]

Went to the range this morning. It snowed a bit last night, and was a mixture of sleet, rain, and snow today, but the temperature was pretty mild. People are getting pumped for Spring I think (or maybe tuning up for Florida golf trips) because the range has been packed all week. I can't wait for grass tees to be open again...getting sick of hitting off mats.

I warmed up with a 9i, then hit about 10 balls each with my 7i, 4i, hybrid, driver, 3-wood, 6i, and a few more with the driver. Aside from the 3-wood which was a little shakey, I hit everything about as good as I could hope for. The last 10 shots I hit with my driver were so satisfying I just gave my remaining 15 balls to a young kid next to me and drove home.

My S&T swing keys today were "weight forward", "arms connected to torso", and "right leg straight to allow hip turn". I did make one other minor adjustment after watching a Nick Clearwater S&T video, but I wouldn't be able to explain it right.

Maybe S&T is working for me because alot of the fundamentals are things I do naturally in my swing anyway. For example, I have always set-up "on top of the ball" as opposed to behind it, and I have always tended to straighten my right leg on the backswing no matter how hard I tried to eliminate this move. Also, many people have commented in the past to me that my lower body was too active, and that my weight transfer was messed up, so S&T has maybe lessened some of these issues.

Anyway, I'm just really grateful for the S&T swing and the people on this site who advocate it, because I've had more fun hitting balls and playing golf these past few weeks than at any other time in my golfing life.

[RIduffer]

Note to self: Don't forget to let the club close after impact. No active release with the hands--just let the club close as your body turns through.

[parplease]

It's really encouraging to read about your progress. I've recently adopted the S&T, and the mechanics seem so much easier to me than the "conventional" golf swing. My right leg isn't straightening as much as prescribed in the videos, but I'm working on it.

Keep up the good work. Can't wait to hit the range and apply what i've been practicing at home (and work).

[RIduffer]

Thanks parplease. As P&B; mention in the book, you don't have to use every component of S&T to hit the ball better. I have watched alot of S&T swings on youtube, and they are not all clones...some straighten the right leg alot, some to a lesser degree. So I wouldn't worry about doing the pattern perfectly just for the sake of it.