Desperation

[CMAC]

when I get a lesson to fix an issue I cant see or feel I expect the fix to work immediately, why shouldnt it as long as I understand and do what he says.

FD whats the common bad shots just now apart from a high weak fade with the driver? are Irons predominantly pulled with thins, fats and occassional glancing blows to the right?

 

[AmandaJR]

Not my regular, unfortunately. Championship week at the club so no chance of getting him at short notice in an evening. Plus I really want to see the results of any tweaks and we don't have space to hit driver on the practice ground....

Well that's a good thing as a fresh pair of eyes is just what you need :thup:

I WILL find the positives in this and you WILL get it sorted or at the very least improved and manageable

 

[FairwayDodger]

when I get a lesson to fix an issue I cant see or feel I expect the fix to work immediately, why shouldnt it as long as I understand and do what he says.

FD whats the common bad shots just now apart from a high weak fade with the driver? are Irons predominantly pulled with thins, fats and occassional glancing blows to the right?

Short irons I'm hitting fine, mid and long irons tend to have the same high weak fade albeit less pronounced, as do fairways woods at the moment.... it's seeping into all aspects of my game. Most noticeable with the driver though - I can just about combat it with irons and fairways (although hit a lot of pull-hooks if I overdo it) but seem unable to do anything with the driver. And, yes, a lot of pretty poor contact sclaffs and duffs. A sad state of affairs really.... lots of it in my head I fear, not swinging freely due to shattered confidence.

 

[FairwayDodger]

Well that's a good thing as a fresh pair of eyes is just what you need :thup:

I WILL find the positives in this and you WILL get it sorted or at the very least improved and manageable

I'm optimistic. Even if I can consistently hit it 200 yards up the fairway that gives me enough to be competitive. If this doesn't work I'll be 3 wood off the tee most holes.....

 

[Moquillo19]

I feel your pain!!! My game has just gone!. I can shoot my handicap or one under but that's no good at my course due to low CSS so the .1s are just piling up. I think desperation is creeping in now and I'm trying to make things happen instead of just going with the flow. I'm thinking of changing my regular playing partners and mixing it up a bit to see if that helps (grasping at straws! LOL), not that they're to blame in any way for my loss of form. I hope your 30 mins lesson works. We've got big comps coming up too so I might need the same myself.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Not my regular, unfortunately. Championship week at the club so no chance of getting him at short notice in an evening. Plus I really want to see the results of any tweaks and we don't have space to hit driver on the practice ground....

On this point you are way ahead of me. The Assistant who'll give me my half hour lesson later this week has never played golf with me or even seen me swing a club - none of the pros have as I've never played even one hole with any of them or had a lesson at my club.

My desperation is that I can tick along very nicely for say 8 holes - level par - then out of the blue - BANG - double Lucy Locket. Card messed up a bit but head messed up a lot

 

[lyden]

It takes months to create a good swing and the same to lose it. It will be something in your setup..... grip, posture & ball position. It could quite conceivably be rectified tonight but might take some time to trust it.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

It takes months to create a good swing and the same to lose it. It will be something in your setup..... grip, posture & ball position. It could quite conceivably be rectified tonight but might take some time to trust it.

Which mayh well be right - but I had 10 yrs with not a lot of golf and then the last 5 yrs trying to recover past glories - probably embedding loads of bad stuff. But it might not be that bad - I might well just be suffering from a seriousd dose of Doon's 'low links hands' combined with aging and having a body less flexible in the hip turn department.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

If you explain to the pro you are looking at this with a view to the weekend and don't want too many thoughts, I'm sure they can do something for you that at least gives you something to work with and a bit more confidence. Good luck

 

[Hobbit]

If the Pro is your regular, you'll need to consider how you are going to use him/her for the other 28 minutes!

It'll be a minor issue and all you will need is a single 'thought' to return to normal service.

Good Luck in the CCs

Sounds good to me...

 

[duncan mackie]

I feel your pain!!! My game has just gone!. I can shoot my handicap or one under but that's no good at my course due to low CSS so the .1s are just piling up.

so you aren't really 'shooting your handicap'

I suspect you would benefit most from reassessing your objective

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I am a big fan of lessons and the majority of PGA pros will give a good service and I wouldn't be too worried about it not being the normal pro for a one off "tweak". I am sure he will spot the flaw, fix it and give you a drill or two to ingrain the change. The important thing for me would be to get sufficient practice time to trust the change so come the championship you can stand there and swing. It is something I really struggle to do and even though I am better than three or four years back where I'd have a million thoughts going through my mind I can still get caught up with technical thoughts over the ball instead of just swinging

 

[FairwayDodger]

Dashed clever these PGA pros..... Don't want to speak too soon but I appear to be sorted, or at least well on the way.

I went to Sandy Stephen at braid hills. Gave him the tough remit.... Fix my driving but don't do anything radical I have a match in club championship tomorrow!

Anyway, he watched me hit a few with my seven iron to start with and straight away made a change to my posture. Next thing was the release.... I just wasn't releasing the club properly so was hitting everything with the face open. Quite awkward but I was quickly hitting the 7 iron straight although not well and not far.

Switched to the driver and I just couldn't get the release right. He had me try to over exaggerate it and try to hit some hooks but it wasn't happening.

So next thing was a wee tweak to my grip. Very interesting - I was gripping quite far into the palm and I would have sworn I wasn't until it was pointed out.

So back to the 7 iron, trying to hit hooks and eventually got it going. Back off from the over exaggerated release and started hitting some nice shots with a bit of draw. Still wasn't quite getting it with the driver but was getting a more solid contact and less drastic slice.

Lesson over I went and hit 100 balls with 7 iron, 3 wood and driver. I started hitting some really good iron shots and gradually got it going with the 3 wood and even the driver although with plenty bad ones still in the mix.

So I was pretty happy when I left the range and decided to play a few holes before going home. Hit a cracking 3 wood at the first and then a really solid driver but missed the fairway left (not something I've done recently!). Played a good few holes and a few balls; just tee shots and approach shots. I was hitting it really nicely - good distance and decent accuracy (I'm now missing left more than right). Quite possibly striking my irons as well as I ever have.

Still not totally there with the driver but back to solid strikes and narrowly missing fairways. Definitely something to work on.

Hopefully I'll manage a range session before the match tomorrow. If I can recreate tonight's form I might just be back in the game!

:whoo:

 

[rickg]

Great news Karen.....good luck in the club champs.. :thup:

 

[AmandaJR]

Excellent - now go win today :clap:

 

[FairwayDodger]

Excellent - now go win today :clap:

Well, I managed to win.... By the skin of my teeth after 19 holes!

Haven't quite "grooved" things... so it got a bit dodgy under pressure; still spraying some both right and left. Also hit a lot of good shots so probably moving in the right direction. Lost two balls tonight though but pleased to come through after being two down with three to play....

Semifinal on Friday..... Will need to play better to make the final!

 

[sydney greenstreet]

Well, I managed to win.... By the skin of my teeth after 19 holes!

Semifinal on Friday..... Will need to play better to make the final!

Well done Karen, I'm sure you can pull of another win this Friday.

 

[AmandaJR]

Well, I managed to win.... By the skin of my teeth after 19 holes!

Haven't quite "grooved" things... so it got a bit dodgy under pressure; still spraying some both right and left. Also hit a lot of good shots so probably moving in the right direction. Lost two balls tonight though but pleased to come through after being two down with three to play....

Semifinal on Friday..... Will need to play better to make the final!

Great news. Practice range today to gain some trust in the tweaks and you'll be on fire :thup:

 

[FairwayDodger]

Ok just in case anyone wants to follow this......

Took a different tack for the semifinal tonight. Didn't go to the range, just hit about half a dozen shots in the net to warm up, not thinking about it. Then just went out and played.....

.... Won 5&4; best I've played in weeks. Hard to tell with gimmes but I was about 1 over par through 14 holes and really enjoyed it... I almost feel like I know what I'm doing again.

Final tomorrow..... Fingers crossed I can pick up where I left off tonight!

:thup:

 

[Iaing]

Good stuff Karen. All the very best for the final.
Sometimes less is more! :thup: