Lesson of the Week: Rick B

Rick is a long-time friend and my business partner at waynedefrancesco.com and wdglc.com. He runs a software company that produces ease of access programs for major online gaming companies. He is also an avid golfer, and I have been helping him with his swing off and on since we met, although never for any extended period of time. It was happenstance that I mentioned my desire to start a website to Rick a few years ago, and when he said “hey, that’s what I do for a living: we should do it together”, the website was born. Rick was the first person to send me a video, and we have watched his club shut down and steepen in transition from day one. The truth is that his particular problem is an extremely difficult one to change, especially when it is as chronic and egregious as his.
 
I introduced Rick to the use of video way back, and you can imagine his frustration at knowing how screwy his swing was no matter what he tried or thought about. I figured that he was a litmus test and that if I could figure out how to change the pattern of his swing that I would have discovered something important. Well, I finally have a complete enough view of the swing and how it works that our last session, documented here, was the breakthrough we’ve been looking for. The key is the overall concept of sidearm throwing, combined with the specific and unconventional idea of having the pivot motion catch the left arm and move the hands outward toward the ball while the shaft leans back on the right forefinger. It took a few tries, but the stop and go drill from the left arm parallel position allowed Rick to focus his attention on the transition, and he was able to put the necessary moves together in proper sequence and finally got the shaft to shallow and the upper right arm to move in front of his chest instead of burying itself against his side. He described the general effect as “totally bizarre”, which is, of course, why he would never get it on his own. And now that he knows not only what to look for but how to think about it and feel it he should be able to reproduce that in practice and, with the help of the video (looking at it himself and sending swings to me every few weeks) we think he can re-wire the thing and turn into a good player.
 

Join the forum discussion on this post