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Working on fundamentals
Posted: Wednesday July 05, 2000 10:11 AM
Leta Lindley, 28, is in her sixth season on the LPGA Tour. She had her best year in 1999 with a tie for second, as well as four other top 10 finishes. In 1997, she finished second at the LPGA Championship, losing to Chris Johnson on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff. She was a four-time All-American at the University of Arizona and set an NCAA record for lowest 54-hole score (nine under par). Check out Lindley's diary each Wednesday on CNNSI.com.
July 5, 2000 This past week was my first week off in five weeks. But I don't feel like I got any R&R. I was in California visiting my teaching pro, Lud, and we worked on a lot of things. It was a long week. I guess you could say we worked on fundamentals. It's difficult to explain all the things we were trying to do. We had to go back and work on simple things like posture and plane (which aren't so simple). We also worked on a move on my downswing, which is so complicated I can barely explain it to myself. Imagine how difficult it was for me to try to comprehend what Lud was saying!
I was really frustrated at how far I had gotten off track. I knew things weren't right in my swing, but when you're on the road you can't really focus on it. It isn't always pretty when you're on the road. When you go home is when you try to iron out the kinks. At the end of seven days of two-a-days with Lud, I definitely feel like I'm more on track. We started with how I was standing over the ball -- even the pros have to go back to the basics. From the very beginning, it was like, "Okay, one day down? How many more to go?" Then I moved on to plane, then on to downswing. The trouble is I couldn't work on the downswing problem until I was in the right position on the top. It all has to go in order. I think I was a difficult student to work with -- basically because I was extremely frustrated with the state of my swing. It wasn't like I was just coming home to tweak a few things. I know it happens to everyone, we all get off track, but that doesn't make it less frustrating. I'd hit one left, two right, then I'd chuck one. I was just hitting it horribly. I saw it on video and I was even more disgusted. But on Sunday, we had a bit of a breakthrough with the move he was trying to work with me on that I swore I couldn't do. At one point I said I wasn't talented enough and I couldn't do it -- how's that for confidence? And then I finally got it. It was like a little light bulb going off. It was an amazing feeling -- it was so cool. I was afraid to leave after that. I was afraid I was going to forget. I wish I had one more day to work with Lud; I literally "got it" on the last bucket of balls we were using. I wish I could explain what we were working on. It's a lot about getting the right sensation. As frustrating as this week was, I needed to do it. This change is going to be a really good thing for me. I don't want to go back to where I was, and now that I have the feeling, it won't be such a big battle. I think this will make a difference. It's such a big thing, but in the same time it's so small -- I don't think you can even see it with the naked eye. It's a feeling. But what I get from it will be more power, more distance, and I think I'll be a little more consistent. I should be hitting it better, but my scores may not be any better -- that's just the way golf works. But the swing will be where I want it to be. Lud is amazing. I've known him a long time, probably since I was 10. He's a student of the swing and the game and the body and how it works. He continues to blow me away with his knowledge. I realized after this week with him that I need to get back to see him more often so I don't get so far off track. It's been difficult since I moved away from California. Matt knows my swing, but he's not my teacher. And he can't say too much in the middle of a tournament. So I've already decided that I'm going to go back to California after the Open later this month to make sure I'm grasping this. So for this week, I'm back into the same old routine, but I'm excited. I think I'm going to play well. I don't anticipate having a huge setback after making these changes. I think I can play well. I'm excited to show Matt what I've done. I'm really focused on this golf thing right now. You have to go through weeks like this to go to the next level. It's all a progression. It's not a change really -- it's just the next step to hopefully what will be a higher level of play. Time will tell? -- Leta
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