About to give up - seriously!!

[Lazienki]

After being a reasonable junior (down to 4) I stopped playing for many years and came back to the game a few years ago - I am now 53. I have struggled to get down to 11 and despite lessons, thousands of balls on the range I seem unable to achieve any consistency. The reason? According to both pros I have been to, I have a tendency to "throw" my hips laterally at the ball on the way down rather than turning and clearing my hips. I know I do it - I just CAN'T stop it. After a couple of rounds in the last two weeks where my ball striking was absolutely dire I am now seriously planning to give the game up for good - which of course I don't really want to. But then neither do I want to experience the frustration. Can anyone suggest a way of avoiding this hip-throwing action? My sanity may depend on it!!

 

[USER1999]

Can you post a video? It sounds weird.

 

[Lazienki]

Will try and get one sorted - simply a case of my hips sliding towards the target rather than turning.

 

[USER1999]

I think video would help. What ever it is, shouldn't be that hard to cure.

 

[ADB]

I had a similar problem, i.e sliding not rotating my hips. Our resident PGA Pro Bobmac gave me the following advice:

It's not so much rotating your hips as firing your right knee.
Think about firing your right knee as the club shaft passes it.
A drill I use is to get into the impact position you want but at address ie. hips turned, right heal off the ground, right knee turned in etc. Then do a half backswing then swing through to a full finish. This should give you the feeling of turning through the ball, not hitting at it.

It has really helped and I find I am more consistent.

Have a look at the thread:


web page

Hope it helps

 

[Smiffy]

After being a reasonable junior (down to 4) I stopped playing for many years and came back to the game a few years ago. I have struggled to get down to 11 and despite lessons, thousands of balls on the range I seem unable to achieve any consistency.

This all sounds very, very familiar.
You didn't use to sell Mars bars did you?

 

[Lazienki]

No, but have eaten a fair few of them over the years!!

 

[Smiffy]

No, but have eaten a fair few of them over the years!!

Apologies then.
When I heard "lessons" "thousands of balls" and "inconsistency" I thought you were someone else.

 

[ADB]

Nice one Smiffy, that made me chuckle

 

[Smiffy]

Nice one Smiffy, that made me chuckle

Don't know why. I was being serious.

 

[ADB]

It was the fact you though he was 53...

 

[Lazienki]

I'm new to the forum (today) but clearly need to learn a lot more about the regular posters. There again, if I give up golf I will have lots more time to stare at a computer!!

G

 

[Basher]

You'll never get to grips with Smiffy mate, he's an enigma!!!

 

[Smiffy]

It was the fact you though he was 53...

Who?

 

[robbest3offthetee]

we ve all felt like giving up at some point,you just have to work through it and come out the other side, best of luck mate.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Don't fret. It happens as I know only too well this year. I went through a patch where I played so badly it got to the point I wanted to walk in during several rounds and couldn't find any grain of comfort afterwards. I took a week off (along time for me!!!!) and didn't touch a club. I had a lesson and carried on.

I have a unique action in my swing and sometimes I get the hips through way to early and hit big cuts right. I can tell I've done it because the right foot slides through impact instead of just rotating up. Have a chat with your pro and see if he can give you a drill to work on. You clearly have the potential still and you know it will come back so lets have no more silly talk of giving up

 

[Smiffy]

I went through a patch where I played so badly

I've seen smaller commercial cabbage patches

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I went through a patch where I played so badly

I've seen smaller commercial cabbage patches

I know - we've spent ages looking for you balls in them

 

[Ethan]

If you played off 4 once, back in the days before 460cc drivers, presumably(!), you have some natural ability. When the games goes bad, it sometimes goes spectacularly bad, but it is often one or two things that just get stuck.

I would suggest that thousands of balls don't help unless you are doing the right thing, so maybe you have been reinforcing the hip throw, or at least, not managing to use drills which may reduce it.

I would consider signing up to a good pro in your area and starting to rebuild your swing from basics. You know you are throwing the hips. That is the symptom, but what is the cure? Have you any drills designed to reduce that, or do something different? It may be that some drill which involves standing with your feet together and your knee pointing at your left kidney, or something, may reduce the tendency and you can start to get a half shot with good form again. Or crossing over your feet, or hitting from a sitting position. Who knows, but I bet a decent pro has seen something similar before.

 

[Region3]

The drill I was given by a wise man was to put an obstacle (golf bag, garden chair, putting aid) on or in the ground level with the outside of your left foot, and swing without your hip hitting the object.