46

Have been going to the range five days a week, but today was only my second time on the golf course this season. I almost quit after four holes: double bogey, bogey, double bogey, double bogey, and two lost balls. Plus it was a damn hot day; sweat was pouring off me and stinging my eyes.

Waiting for greenskeepers to clear the sixth fairway gave me a chance to take several extra practice swings. That's when I had a revelation: I've been over-rotating my hips through the backswing. In the last two weeks I've adopted a new stance that facilitates a proper weight-shift, but I now realize I've been overdoing it. Simply put, the backswing is a sequence of two motions: a turning of the hips (about 45 degrees), followed by a full shoulder turn. The key is that the upper body turns against a more or less static (once the hips stop turning) lower body to create the dynamic tension that drives a truly powerful golf swing. Over-rotating the hips made such a "coil" of kinetic energy impossible and forced me to compensate by lunging at the ball and swinging harder with my arms and wrists, usually with disastrous results.

I parred three of the last four holes, including two of the toughest holes on the course. My caddy, who had previously been too scared to approach me (and my foul mood) actually applauded my last four drives.

BTW, I think it's clear now that no serious golfer can be without The Golfer's Elbow.