I might be the luckiest guy around. My new best friends in our retirement destination are Lenny (capable of repairing any mechanical issue ranging from a garage door opener to the space shuttle) and Francis (a lifelong golf swing coach/teacher/encourager; see “Francis We Just Met,” February 2018). These are two individuals that I truly need in my life, possessing marvelous dispositions, attitudes and endless patience. There may be a time when I will write about Lenny however, he is a bit too busy running an impeccable household with his wife Diane, maintaining his immaculate yard, landscaping and automobiles and taking care of the majority of the mechanical and maintenance issues at our home to bother with golf!
We met Francis nine months ago by shear happenstance. After our initial conversations and our initial two-and-a-half-hour lesson, we became friends and are we are always anxious to visit with Francis during our infrequent visits to our southern home. As mentioned previously, Francis has spent his life studying, learning and teaching the golf swing. For some reason, he has been willing to invest a significant amount of time addressing my issues and has become my golfing mentor/instructor. To date, we have visited the range a half a dozen times, often for two to three hours at a clip. His flat-out commitment, dedication, dare I say obsession to “fix” me is beyond comprehension. In addition, Francis routinely shares videos, articles, specific exercises and training aides to assist the process.
Anyway, the other morning Francis visited with a new training aide, his iPad loaded with countless videos displaying the swings of touring professionals and a sure fire “swing thought”. He suggested I immediately fold my right elbow at take-away to prevent my club from getting stuck (behind) in the wrong place which has created all of my issues/antics (“Wizard of Oz thing going on back there”) post take-away. After delivering the swing thought, Francis demonstrated the concept with the training aide and gave me an exercise that will allow me to self-correct the new methodology.
Then a shoe fell, followed by yet another shoe:
- Francis has many golfing friends, and has forwarded videos of my swing to one, or possibly a few, of those friends. Francis shared my video with Dale (an accomplished player/golf addict, right here in Pennsylvania) and then shared the details of their recent conversation about my swing. At the conclusion of their conversation, Dale asked Francis the following question, “Hey, you’re not taking any money from this guy, are you?” Okay, a body shot but at this point I was still standing.
- Shortly after the body blow, Francis delivered the knockout punch; “You know, if you can’t get your club in the right place at take-away, I am not sure I can help you!”
I knew the diagnosis was bad however I really thought my condition was improving! As Francis said his good-byes, walking away with my medical chart, he suggested (with his kindest bedside manner) that it would be wonderful to have this situation squared away before our next visit in late May.
Dizzied, reeling to get up off the mat, I staggered to my corner (well not exactly my corner, more accurately my beer fridge).
Having downed an early morning Pabst (by the way, you know they won a “Blue Ribbon”) I reflected on our conversation. The prognosis was accurate, honest and direct, not to mention he wrote a prescription for cure. What more can you expect from your medical professional!
We may need to suspend our weekly posts for a month or so as I have business to attend to, not to mention I do not want to lose our friend. I will be sure to keep you updated on my condition!
Thanks for following Bad Golf Guy.
The back nine can only get better!
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