Today was a very good insight into what typically occurs in lessons. Adam has been working very hard to obtain his new swing path. I have avoided as much as possible to give Adam the next step too soon. As you know I have been trying to get Adam to swing more on an In-Out Swing Path (7-1) to overcome his slice. Adam has done very well in trying to insert the new path even though it is expected that he will also regress sometimes and fall back into old habits. As he gets more lessons and practices though, his regression will become less over time.
In this lesson it was important to teach Adam the next step. Adam has been hitting some shots right with the new path and he has been wondering if that's him falling back into his over the top swing which caused a slice. This is where it's very important to diagnose the issue correctly. In terms of swing path what we look at is initial direction and then eventual landing area. If you are doing the traditional slice then have a look at where the ball starts in relation to where you were intending the ball to start. If the ball is starting left of the target and then slicing back to the right then yes it is a traditional slice caused by coming over the top.
Adam though replied to me about his shot shape that his ball was starting right of his target but was just staying straight with no turn in ball flight. This would be considered a 'block'. I said to Adam that no this is actually a good sign because it means that your swing is now working on an in-out path which would invariably make the ball start a little right of the target. Now the fact the ball is not turning back to the target after the ball starts right is now a clubface issue which means we need to move to step 2.
As you can see in the video, I talk about now forgetting about the path and just focusing on clubface. This won't mean that all of a sudden when you don't think about path that it will go back to where it was. This is because you have done so many reps that it shouldn't drift back just because you are attending to another aspect of the swing shot term. But even if it does don't worry about it as you can attend back to it later. The most important step now is to make sure the clubface is working properly.
Now with Adam successfully hitting his shots on the in-out path, all we have to do is to make sure he turns the clubface left so the ball turns back to the target. This would mean a 'draw'. What I say in the video is to feel that the clubface is turning before you hit the ball. I say this because I want Adam to exaggerate the feeling. I actually say to students while they are doing this to feel as though you are hitting a 10m hook to the left. It's important to not even care how far the ball goes left. We just want the clubface to turn.
I had Adam do this 15-20 times without thinking about path to ensure his mind was focusing on one step at a time. After 5 or so shots, he started to hit some 'hook' shots. After 20 shots I then told Adam to focus on swing path as well as the clubface to see if he was able to put them both into practice. I said to him that to know it was a truly successful shot, the ball should start right of the target and then draw back to the target.
I told him to then repeat this procedure by only thinking about clubface and then after 20 balls, thinking about incorporating both. This is what I advocate for anyone making a change. Master every step at a time by segmenting your practice by dividing your bucket of balls into different steps. For eg. you have 80 balls roughly in a bucket. Focus on 2 steps maximum and for every 20 balls, you should change steps or have a try incorporating both when you feel you are ready.
This was another successful session for Adam for not only his golf knowledge by learning how to practice.
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