Context
First lesson in about a month after missing the last one because of a calendar error. Worked with just an 8-iron today, mostl. Started with a warm-up while Chris finished with another student.
Feeling good coming out of this lesson — Chris is encouraging and I can see real glimmers of improvement, even if there’s still plenty of work to do.
What We Discussed
Current misses: Mostly pulling shots to the left, which seems to be a side effect of the swing changes I’ve been making.
Wrist position: Starting to feel like I can actually get my wrists in the right position on the downswing— something that never clicked before. Still inconsistent, but the awareness is there.
Sway: Still an ongoing issue. The fix is to focus on turning the shoulders rather than swaying back. Key cue: point the left shoulder down when hitting chunky/fat shots caused by swaying. Getting shoulder under my chin.
Weight transfer: Need to keep moving weight forward through the swing.
Key Issues Identified
- Hunched over at address — I’m bent over too far. Partly a “short arms” problem (Chris confirmed this once I mentioned it), but something to actively work against. Focus on not pinching/bunching the shoulders — stay loose.
- Hands too low on the backswing — This was my big question going in: should the backswing be higher or flatter? Answer: higher. Getting the hands higher on the backswing is a major swing thought to take away from this lesson. Hands need to be higher than the shoulders.
Swing Thoughts & Mental Game
Pre-shot routine (new focus):
- Think through your swing thoughts before stepping up to the ball.
- Once you address the ball — just swing. Don’t think, just do it. (Justin Rose as someone who does this well you will notices if you watch a lot of golf like me.)
Post-shot routine:
- Finish in a pose and make sure weight has moved forward. Keeps me from hitting off my back foot and hitting the big ball before the little ball (earth before golf ball)
- Pause at the top. Really feeling the pause helps with tempo and gives all the moving pieces time to sequence properly on the way down.
Next Thing to Work On
Drop the hands, bring the elbow in, then turn and release — this sequence is the key to getting more distance. Focus on the elbow coming into the side as the hands drop, then letting the turn and release happen naturally.
Also discussed wrist cock/reflex — the idea is to use more active wrist cock rather than just keeping the hands passive/straight on the back swing.
Summary of Key Takeaways
Focus  | Cue |
Address posture | Stand taller, don’t hunch — stay loose in the shoulders |
Backswing | Get hands higher |
Sway Fix | Turn shoulders, point left shoulder down |
Tempo | Pause at the top |
Pre-shot | Decide swing thought before addressing the ball, then commit |
Post Shot | Pose and shift weight forward |
Distance | Drop hands → elbow in → turn and release |