Today is known as "Golf's Longest Day" as many pros and amateurs across the country try to secure a spot in the 2012 U.S. Open. Eleven different 1 day, 36 hole qualifiers are being played today with nearly 800 golfers all trying to get an invite to The Olympic Club for next week's major championship. DJ is playing in this week's FedEx St. Jude Classic in Memphis, so he chose to play in today's qualifier at nearby Germantown Country Club. You can check out the latest scores here.
Before he left for Memphis, DJ and I played at his home course in South Carolina. We worked on some things with his game, but then he decided to take a closer look at some of my swings. Whenever my swing needs work, I usually have the same problem. Instead of hitting shots dead solid straight, I sometimes hit the old hosel rocket to the right. DJ quickly noticed that my back leg was too far underneath me, which was in the way of my arms getting to impact. It was also inhibiting me from turning my hips at all or setting into my right side. Even though we use a limited turn, there still needs to be a turn. Yet, because my back leg was essentially misaligned, I felt as though I really wasn't turning at all.
I really harp on alignment a lot because the setup determines the motion. In my case, my alignment had a domino effect on the rest of my swing because I physically had to alter it because of my setup. Needless to say, after a few swings using DJ's tip I started hitting a nice draw again. Not only that, but the height on all my clubs increased. I was hitting my driver nice and high with a slight draw, instead of hitting short, low fades. It's really got me excited for the rest of the summer.
So remember that sometimes it may take an outside viewer to help you discover a swing fault. As long as they are well versed in the PPGS (like DJ), than it is a great resourse to use when you're working on your game.
Keep it vertical,
The Surge!
Don Trahan
PGA Master Professional
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