Should I maintain the things I learned from my first lesson?
I recently got my first lesson and it's kind of the opposite of what I always see online. Somehow, it kinda worked for me.
So there were a few things the coach changed, most of them worked, with one or two things that isn't working at the moment.
What worked for me: 1. Changing my posture and stance. The coach asked me to widen stance, stand taller over the ball, and lower my arms so they "dangle" naturally. Another change in terms of posture is to shift my weight/pressure towards the balls of my feet instead of my heels.
Changing the start of my backswing. So to prevent (too much) hinging, I now need to start my backswing outside (away from) my body. It didn't make sense to me until he explained that I still need to combine that movement with my current body rotation. Hard to explain in text, but hope you guys get what I mean.
Change my club path. This was what really confused me. Everything I learned and read about is to have an in-to-out club path. But the coach asked me to swing to the left (I'm right handed), which if an out-to-in swing if my understanding is correct. However, it kinda worked for me. It's lessened my slices to where whenever I do slice, it's now a baby fade instead. Now I mainly hit the ball straight or draws. So kinda working out for me in the short term.
What I'm still hesitant about: 1. Ball position. Or should I say club position. He mentioned the club should be the focus, not the ball. For example with short irons, usually the ball is in the middle of the stance, but he told me to move the ball a bit forward so the club is in the middle. This means the ball is just a bit more forward through the "ideal" ball position based on the club length.
- My grip. This one brothers me most. He didn't change my left hand grip. Instead he just asked me to the fingers of my right hand down so that my ring finger doesn't overlap with my left hand. I have an interlock grip, and usually overlaping my right ring finger to be more comfortable. Now with the change, both my right pinky and ring finger feel super sore. Basically, it just feels super uncomfortable.
The lesson went great, as I seemed to hit the ball great during the session. My swing now felt more effortless compared to the old one, which is what I strive for at the end of the day. However, when I tried to implement the changes on my own today, it didn't go as well as during the lesson. Not sure if it's the soreness of my fingers, my problem with retaining the info from the lesson, or if I'm just doing something wrong. But I'll let the soreness subside for a bit and try again later.
What do you guys think? Should I try and maintain it or what? Need your guys' opinions.