Ever "Lost it" ?

WideEyedFox

WideEyedFox

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A little history...

I returned to golf in the summer of 2011 after a 25 year break, muddled along to 2012 and then leading up to Christmas I had 10 private lessons. My last visit to the range resulted in 99 good shots out of a basket of 100 balls. Drive's were pretty straight, wedges to 60, 80 and 100 yards OK, and my 7 iron was landing around the 140 mark... I was happy, maybe even a little smug. :D

Over Christmas break, no chance to play golf. We had planned to play 9 holes but a family commitment came up and scuppered that. The closest I got was playing Tiger Woods on the iPad.

Friday afternoon a work colleague and I usually call in the driving range after work. January 4th was the first chance I had since pre-Christmas and it was a disaster. Topped, fat, left, right, shanks, bouncing off the bay wall, you name it, and I played it.
I "reset", then I tried starting with short wedge shots, I tried half swings, I tried almost everything! Nothing I tried worked. Everything felt "alien". From my grip to every little detail of my swing - it all felt just wrong.

Even my colleague cannot believe it. Right now my kids hit the ball better than I do! :rofl:

I'm not distraught or p'd off as I know if I did it before I can do it again. I've even got some more 1-to-1 lessons booked with Gary Alliss this time, starting Thursday (he'll need shin guards!). My biggest concern is the Forest of Arden meet on the 17th. I need some sort of method of getting the ball more than 50 yards away from me in a straight line!

So, has anyone else lost it completely?

Success stories appreciated.
 
John Jacobs (everyone will know this Golf Guru) once called this "total swing disintegration".......it can happen to anyone, it happened to me hence coming across his quote.

The solution? no magic wand I'm afraid, it's almost like rebooting a pc, you have to go back to basics with the grip, stance, posture, alignment, slow half swings (slow as in really slow- 4 to 5 seconds for the full half swing-had that from a tour coach) and you will retrain your body to accept the 'new' way again....then you can welly it again :eek:
 
just remember, you can't do worse than I did on the Dukes at Woburn at a forum meet! So whatever swing you have will be ok and just enjoy the day out :)

your old swing may even be back well in time :thup:
 
Yes - sadly. Usually you then try harder, grip harder, clench jaw harder and on it goes. Best to walk away with insanity almost intact when it's one of those days. I posted on here and Chris suggested feet together, half swings to start to feel some sort of rhythm again and it worked.

Your coach will get it sorted in quick time too. Good luck.
 
I am currently in the middle of a 'lost it' phase. I'm a bit like the French rugby team in that I just don't know which version of me will turn up. And there can easily be a 15 to 20 shot difference in my score depending on if it's good hacker or bad hacker.

And unfortunately there has been a lot of bad hacker recently. As an example I have just about lost the ability to hit anything below a 5 iron from the tee. Which is not great. Where as in the past I could hit drivers, woods and hybrids relatively well.

The other day I got invited to a very good course near me which I have played before with the member. It's one of those where you need to clear a lot of gorse off the tee to reach most fairways. Last time I went I was having a good day and shot 90 (which for me on a challenging course is very good). This time I had to turn him down as I fear I would be well into the 100s now and I would just embarrass myself. Oh well, I hear it is supposed to be an enjoyable pass time and I am doing my best not to get frustrated.

So you are not the only one Mr Fox.
 
I seem to lose mine every few months. When I start playing well I try to avoid tips, videos etc so that I dont tinker with things. Eventually though little habits and mistakes creep in and before I know it my swing is completely different. I have a word doc on my laptop which contains all sorts of thoughts/tips videos and notes. I will read that and realise I am doing nothing that I was doing when I was playing well :)
 
As a newbie, I've never had anything worth losing!!!

However, now I'm swinging well and making good progress. As such, I have worked hard (on the advice of JO) to develop some key swing thoughts so that if my swing blows up, I have basics to go back to!

Left shoulder DOWN
Commit to backswing and wrist cock
Swing out to the ball

:D
 
After an away match where I sh4nked my way round to a dog license defeat, I tried to discover some sort of swing by going back to the range at my home club. I promptly continued to hit what felt like most of the bucket off the neck - a dangerous experience for anyone on the practice green. Feeling completely disheartened and having earnt a nickname that has stuck (that I'm desperately trying to get rid of) my only recourse was to hope that it would resolve itself with a few days off followed by a couple of lessons. The break and lessons worked but it still sits there in the back of my mind, that horrible question "When is it going to happen again, please not on this shot....". Sometimes it goes as quickly as it came. Fortunately it did this time.
 
Lost it at Camberley last summer at the GM meet. One of those horror days and just tried to keep smiling and carry on. Wanted to walk off at one point but clearly not the done thing so kept shanking, topping and slicing my way round. Cest la vie. Had range sessions as well where I've hit more off the bay wall than straight. I try and go back to basics, work on my drills and hope I can find a spark. If not I'll leave the balls and walk away
 
Played at St Kittocks last year and on the range before play I found myself totally out of sorts. Hit a warm up bucket of about 25 balls and every one was a howler. Could not even get a ball out of the practice bunker.
My playing partner was close to wetting himself in laughter whilst I was just greatful that the range was tucked away and we were the only ones on it.
Never happened to me in 50 years of golf at a decent level.

What made it even stranger was that after a bit of a scramble over the first couple of holes I played really well.
 
I lost it for about 3 or 4 months once. Ended up hanging up my clubs for over a year, vowing never to play again. Got talked in to going out for a game at Royal Eastbourne by a mate who was a member there at the time. Really didn't want to go, but to shut him up I tagged along. Played out of my boots and that was it...I was back. That must have been about 20 years ago or more now.
Had just returned from a week in Scotland with some mates. I was hacking around off about 24 then, and could do nothing right. Ended up with a dose of the shanks. Nothing I tried could get rid of them. I was getting more and more annoyed with myself.
Put a pine cone or chestnut shuck down in front of me, and I swung like a pro. Put a ball down in front of me and I became a gibbering wreck. Came back from Scotland determined to sort myself out. But to no avail. Ended up with me playing at East Sussex National with some mates, I think I scored about 8 or 9 points all the way round, and I shanked on almost every bloody hole. That was it. A nightmare.
 
I have been there and understand the frustration.

Here are a few tips that I found helped when all had gone:

Stand with your feet together and hit balls with a 9 iron, this keeps you centered as if you sway you will fall over. Pick up on this feeling and the steady tempo it gives.

Make sure you make a proper shoulder turn so your right shoulder gets right under your chin. It is easy to start swinging with your arms only and this will create many problems.

Make sure you take the club back without pulling it open and to the inside by rotating your forearms and wrists. Imagine the shaft tracing down the extended ball to target line as far as possible before pulling back up along the plane.

There is a good drill to ingrain the correct feeling of the takeaway and keeping the arms and torso connected. place the butt end of the club into your belly button, grip down on the shaft like you are addressing it and take a stance. Now take the club back halfway with it still pulled into your belly button. Now turn through to face the target with the same connection. This will give you the feeling of keeping your arms infront of you.

Finally. make some half swings with a glove tucked under your left armpit so the glove stays there.


These drills will soon get you striking the ball well again.
 
I lost the ability to hole out from inside 4 feet without fear over 10years ago.

If I ever manage to average less than 34 putts a season I might get somewhere.
 
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