Having a nightmare at the moment

[rudebhoy]

Have been playing great (for me) on a consistent basis since lockdown was lifted. We play stableford 95% of the time. Mid 30s is the norm for me, with a handful of rounds in the low 40s.

Then the wheels came off big time. Had a couple of horror rounds up in Scotland a couple of weeks ago where out of nowhere I could hardly hit a decent shot, and it has continued like that. Was either shanking my irons or hitting them about 50 yards along the ground.

After another nightmare, I booked a lesson last Thursday to try to sort it out. Got there 10 minutes early and went for a hit in the net while I was waiting for the pro. To my surprise, I was hitting it well. Started the lesson, explained what had been happening, the pro says let's have a look. So I start hitting balls, and cream every one! The pro says you can either pay me to watch you hitting good shots, or we can stop now and I won't charge you. So we stopped.

Went out on Friday, and you've guessed it, utter muck again. So much so, I apologised to the lads and walked off after 9.

Went to the range Friday night, hitting it badly until I made a change to my swing. Thought I might be over rotating, so didn't turn as much, and voila, I started hitting it well again. Went back to the range on Saturday, and hit every ball well. Was over the moon, thinking I'd cracked it.

Was due to play yesterday, got there early, went on the practice ground, hitting 7 iron, 6 and my hybrid, 95% off them were hit well, so was feeling confident.

Went out, started poorly, shanks came back. Scored 10 points on the front 9. Bad to worse on the back 9, by the end couldnt get the ball off the ground again.

Am totally sick, can't believe the change in my game, and really infuriating that I can hit it fine when practicing, but not on the course. To make matters worse, I've got a 3 day golf trip starting tomorrow which I am not looking forward to, and won't get the chance to practice today.

I'm convinced this is a mental problem but have no idea how to sort it.

 

[Rlburnside]

That’s similar to me had a horrer round the other day 103 I usually score below 90, went on the practice range before round hitting p/w all were good strikes down the middle. Had 7-8 shanks in the round came out of nowhere and it was hard to know what I was doing wrong at the time.

For me I know it’s not a mental thing and definitely something wrong with the swing, played yesterday and slowed everything down and played better.

Don’t know the answer to your problem but hope you sort it out and enjoy your golf trip.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Try feet closer together and a 3/4 swing. That stops you over swinging and invariably gives a better strike. You might lose a few yards but the strike will be clean. If it works then gradually go back to your usual swing.

The above tends to calm the player and their swing down.

Good luck, enjoy your trip.

 

[Sports_Fanatic]

Try feet closer together and a 3/4 swing. That stops you over swinging and invariably gives a better strike. You might lose a few yards but the strike will be clean. If it works then gradually go back to your usual swing.

The above tends to calm the player and their swing down.

Good luck, enjoy your trip.

I was going to suggest playing without practice swings, walk up, see shot, hit it for the same reason that it may just loosen you up when playing. Certainly for the first round - after all you've successfully managed the no expectations element it sounds like.

 

[rudebhoy]

The most galling part is that I am hitting my driver better than ever. Just about every one yesterday was nice and long and down the middle. Only to be followed by duff, duff, shank. It's enough to make a grown man cry.

 

[virtuocity]

Get a playing lesson?

 

[need_my_wedge]

No expert here, but starting to understand what goes wrong in MY swing based on what my pro tells ME. It may not be the same for you, but shanks creep in for me when my hands leave the body in the takeaway, becoming disconnected, i.e. I take away outside and come back with an out to in swing. If I keep the hands close and take away inside, it's not an issue.

 

[rudebhoy]

Get a playing lesson?

Yes did think that last night. Have got 3 x 30 mins lessons left from a package of 6 I bought last year, so might be an idea to convert them into a 9 hole lesson.

 

[rudebhoy]

No expert here, but starting to understand what goes wrong in MY swing based on what my pro tells ME. It may not be the same for you, but shanks creep in for me when my hands leave the body in the takeaway, becoming disconnected, i.e. I take away outside and come back with an out to in swing. If I keep the hands close and take away inside, it's not an issue.

that sounds similar. he told me to focus on getting the clubface square at impact, I don't know if I am overdoing that and closing it on the duffs as opposed to the shanks when it is obv too open.

 

[Chico84]

I had a similar problem recently and I found that one (of probably many) reason was that the mats at the range helped my alignment both with the target and the ball position. Obviously on the course this isn't the case and my swing went to pot as a result. Focusing a bit more on my aim and ball position really helped, as well as calming my swing down a bit. May not be the answer but it helped me strike the ball more cleanly. That said my aim is still awful!

 

[clubchamp98]

That’s similar to me had a horrer round the other day 103 I usually score below 90, went on the practice range before round hitting p/w all were good strikes down the middle. Had 7-8 shanks in the round came out of nowhere and it was hard to know what I was doing wrong at the time.

For me I know it’s not a mental thing and definitely something wrong with the swing, played yesterday and slowed everything down and played better.

Don’t know the answer to your problem but hope you sort it out and enjoy your golf trip.

There’s your answer.
When golfers playing well think “ I have cracked this game” we start to try and knock the cover off everything.
This leads to timing issues and whatever is your bad shot emerges.
So it’s back to basics.
On the practice ground we groove a swing so it’s easy to get your rhythm.
On the course it’s only one go at the shot .
Just slow down a slower swing will hit the ball farther than a glancing blow Will.
I remember Nick Faldo talking about this and he said it happens to the best in the world.
So not mechanics really .

 

[Orikoru]

Then the wheels came off big time. Had a couple of horror rounds up in Scotland a couple of weeks ago where out of nowhere I could hardly hit a decent shot, and it has continued like that. Was either shanking my irons or hitting them about 50 yards along the ground.

.

When this happens to me it's generally loss of spine angle - I saw a Rick Shiels video where he basically said stick your bum out behind you a bit more and keep it there, to stop your hips moving towards the ball, and then make sure you turn through the shot so it isn't all arms. This isn't the same video I saw but he kind of says the same thing at 5:02. Without watching yourself you wouldn't know it was happening, I only clocked it from Rick's video and kind of recognised it as something that could be happening.

 

[Deleted member 21258]

Shanks most of the time are due to a swing fault and sometimes in the mind. So first find the swing fault and sort it out.

Son used to hit loads, with a neutral path, but his impact was with high hands and a bit of early extension(like post above). When I tried to swing like he did, I shanked as well. He changed his swing to get his hands nearer his body/original address position at impact and not surprisingly the shanks have gone(for him he practised swinging straight down from the top, rather than swinging hands outwards. A club shaft in the ground at the same angle as the club will do fairly similar if the handle is near your hand address position or even a block of wood just outside the ball for a foot before, is a good drill). I don't hit shanks with high/outwards hands, as I figured out that moving my hands in a out to in manner though impact, a cutting path meant I missed the hosel, but still hit a load out of the heel and if I swung with a neutral path or in/out I would hit shanks all the time. You can also hit the hosel if your club is wide open for a lot of your swing, pass on that one.

If you return your hands back to impact very similar to the address position(that's with any kind of path), it is very hard to shank a ball, you try it out on very slow swings and you see its almost impossible.

So you need to move the hosel towards your body at impact or the end of the club you are holding further away from the ball/nearer your body at impact, for most people to get rid of shanks. If you cant do that, then learn to swing right across the ball at impact enjoy the fade/slice

Best of luck or give up the game, sometimes its easier than torture or changing things

 

[azazel]

I've been going through a bout of the shanks recently as well. Like you, hitting into the net or at a range I was hitting it great, but on the course everything was shanked or very close to the hosel.

For me, it's coming too much from the inside, exacerbated by having too closed a stance. I reckon, as someone else said, that alignment is easier off a mat and when you're maybe not aiming at a very specific target. I've found that if I slow the swing down and open my stance up a bit on the course then I'm hitting it great. Addressing the ball nearer the toe of the club than the centre has helped as well.

 

[rudebhoy]

Pleased to report I seem to be over the worst.

Decent 33 points this afternoon with the lads, with only one shot which looked anything like a shank.

Am concentrating on hitting my irons out of the toe with the ball well back in my stance, and it is definitely helping.

It's been a horrible few weeks, but thankfully do seem to be getting back to my normal game.

 

[Eagle2]

I feel you mate... got cut to my lowest a few weeks ago shooting high single figures and played 3 comps in a row to 27 or 28 over... soul destroying doesn't cover it.

I am convinced its mental too... and the only way I got through it was going out for a knock with mates and not worrying about the score or how I am hitting it... last few rounds I have been 30-33 points and feeling like half a golfer again.

I don't know about you but after the good performances I started to day dream about how I must be at a level now where my striking is good enough I wont hit many bad shots and its just chipping close etc. I need to master?

Yeah... definitely got ahead of myself!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Pleased to report I seem to be over the worst.

Decent 33 points this afternoon with the lads, with only one shot which looked anything like a shank.

Am concentrating on hitting my irons out of the toe with the ball well back in my stance, and it is definitely helping.

It's been a horrible few weeks, but thankfully do seem to be getting back to my normal game.

Knew you were too good to struggle for too long

 

[Rlburnside]

I feel you mate... got cut to my lowest a few weeks ago shooting high single figures and played 3 comps in a row to 27 or 28 over... soul destroying doesn't cover it.

I am convinced its mental too... and the only way I got through it was going out for a knock with mates and not worrying about the score or how I am hitting it... last few rounds I have been 30-33 points and feeling like half a golfer again.

I don't know about you but after the good performances I started to day dream about how I must be at a level now where my striking is good enough I wont hit many bad shots and its just chipping close etc. I need to master?

Yeah... definitely got ahead of myself!

I also got cut to my lowest h/c recently since then I’ve had 6 rounds of +16, +8, + 12 , +13, + 10 today I had 26 points on a shortened course.

Never had a run like this games totally gone, frustrating and don’t know how to change it.

 

[HampshireHog]

I also got cut to my lowest h/c recently since then I’ve had 6 rounds of +16, +8, + 12 , +13, + 10 today I had 26 points on a shortened course.

Never had a run like this games totally gone, frustrating and don’t know how to change it.

In the same position myself, I realised I was worrying about my lost shots and was trying to hard off the tee to try and compensate. Relaxed a bit more last round and made buffer after rounds of 24 & 21 pts?

 

[rudebhoy]

Bit of an update, not great news unfortunately.

Played 2 weeks ago today, hit it well for 37 points, thought that's it, all sorted.

Since then it's been downhill. Next 2 rounds were awful. Took a few days off as was sick of it. Went to the range last Saturday, couldn't get it off the ground at all. Booked a lesson for Wednesday. Decided on the spur of the moment to go to the range again on Monday. Hit it great, maybe 1 bad shot out of 50. No idea what was different from Saturday.

Went for the lesson on Wednesday and hit every ball lovely, same as the last lesson I had. Pro said it was the best he'd seen me swing. Only change he suggested was to move the ball a touch toward as some shots were leaking a bit right (not much, maybe 5-10% offline at worst).

Suitably encouraged, went out myself first thing yesterday. You've guessed it, absolute rubbish, only hit 2 decent irons in 12 holes before walking off in disgust.

I'm convinced this is a mental issue, but have no idea how to fix it. I'm also massively frustrated that I can't replicate it during a lesson, am sure the Pro thinks I'm either a time waster or a show off!

Playing with a mate later today, fortunately he is very understanding. God knows how it will turn out.