Hello (and inconsistency blues)

[upinsmoke]

*Waves at Aztecs*

Hello All, (And sorry in advance for the long post)

Been lurking for a while and just realised I had an account here.

Any way, a bit of background. I got back into golf about 2 years ago, played quite a lot for a year and then rarely in the last year but now I really want to improve.

I have given myself an unnofficial handicap of 23 which I used to play to fairly often but these year I've been posting scores of 100-105.

I had a golf day last week and in the run up I started hitting the range a lot and my swing was becoming very consistent and repeatable. Distance was improving also.

I then got out for 18 holes and shot a 94 and left 4 easy shots on the course in that. Then I played the front 9 of a reasonably challenging 2x9 (Par 35 going out) and shot 43.

The golf day last week was a nightmare. Maybe just down to the pressure of playing with new people but it was fairly easy going and I didn't feel stressed at all. Although in amongst the dross I managed to get par on a couple including the SI 1 Par 5.

I hadn't picked up a bat since that round last week and I went to the range tonight. Seriously WTF. I couldn't hit a shot. My first 10-15 were tops, slices and 1 or 2 hooks. My hybrid off the deck is usually the 'go to' 200yd shot and I was all over the shop with it.

I managed to hit a few decent drives and the rest were mahoosive slices.

With the irons I seemed to be hitting the mat very heavy behind the ball even if i put it back in my stance a bit. I can only assume I was bending the knees too much but couldn't seem to correct it.

I reckon out of 120 balls I was happy with about 10 full swing shots. Chipping, short wedge and open-faced wedge shots seemed OK though.

I pretty much know the answer is lessons but how can I be so inconsistent??


So erm, hello again and I'm not always this depressing...honest.

 

[Aztecs27]

Alright chief! Glad to see you decided to post.

Sounds exactly like me a few weeks ago. Couldn't hit a thing, then I went out last week and shot 87.

Stick at it and go back to basics. Could be that your tempo is off and you'll start hitting it fine next week.

This game is utter pish sometimes!

People more knowledgeable than myself will be along shortly to give you better and more specific advice.

 

[upinsmoke]

I reckon out of 120 balls I was happy with about 10 full swing shots. Chipping, short wedge and open-faced wedge shots seemed OK though.

I read that back and suddenly think, the shots you change your stance for were OK...it must have been the stance.

Didn't feel any wider than normal but it's definitely got me thinking.

 

[chrisd]

For what its worth, almost every beginner/high handicapper I see at the range or playing, tries to hit the canvas off the ball.

I recently started to swing at a speed that feels about 70% of power and also use the same swing tempo through the bag and, I have to say, I have never hit better shots in my life.

Swinging within myself hasn't lost any distance as the contact is almost always sweeter. I played yesterday afternoon and on the first 9 dropped 3 shots and 2 of those were a putt and chip that wasn't good enough.

A good tempo swing is generally shorter than full and I find now that I can start to draw/fade the ball when I want as there feels to be so much more time through impact

So, my suggestion would be to practice trying to hit 50% power at first and the slowly build to where it goes well of the club face with the minimum of effort


By the way, welcome to the forum


Chris

 

[Imurg]

tries to hit the canvas off the ball.

Blimey Chris - no wonder you're still in double figures if you're using canvas covered balls.......

 

[G1BB0]

well said Chris, heres a little exercise my pro gave me for finding my best swing speed (for consitency through the clubs)

'1 purely for tempo was same speed for backswing through all and full follow through. 1st 10% swing speed, 1 ppractice 1 with ball, then 20% and so on and so forth upto 90%, never 100. apparently we swing different each time due to fatigue, aches or the opposite feeling zesty and fit as a fiddle. this helps find your ideal comfortable tempo and can be used before a round or just for practice. Not so much a game but a good little exercise'

when I did it the 60/70% swings yielded the most consistant results and its a good exercise to do imho (apparently Tiger uses this but due to his recent form or lack of dont let it put you off haha)

 

[Region3]

Welcome to the forums

 

[upinsmoke]

Thanks all. I was definitely guilty of swinging harder as I got more and more frustrated but I did realise what I was doing and slowed/shortened the swing a bit.

Ball striking was still rubbish though.

 

[chrisd]

Blimey Chris - no wonder you're still in double figures if you're using canvas covered balls.......

You have to have something to keep the feathers tightly packed in!


Chris

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Welcome along. Short answer - get a lesson or two. Get the basics sorted and it makes it easier for everything else to slot into place

 

[sawtooth]

Thanks all. I was definitely guilty of swinging harder as I got more and more frustrated but I did realise what I was doing and slowed/shortened the swing a bit.

Ball striking was still rubbish though.

I think sometimes we are all guilty of hitting at the ball (and then quitting). Swing through fully and try to imagine the ball getting in the way of a good swing, it might help worth a try.

 

[upinsmoke]

A bit of an update to this. I went to the range at the end of last week and it was better but by no means great. I decided to give S&T another go (tried it last year with OK results quite quickly).

Watched the 1st DVD again last night to reacquaint myself with the basics and headed to the range tonight to try and rebuild the swing.

Stretched out and just hit a few 7-iron shots to loosen up and bingo. Swing felt great; distance and accuracy back up and down through all the clubs. Even my slightly off shots were just slight thins that went straight.

There were still a few sliced drives but only really because I was testing how far I could go and I could feel myself getting a bit out of shape. The rest were much straighter and good distance.

I reckon there were 3 things that changed;

Increased the wrist cock on the back swing

Relaxed my right hand a fraction (I used to point the thumb/fore-finger V-line straight down the club. Now trying to get the top of the V pointing to my right shoulder.

Not sure about this one but I was almost zoneing in on the ball...it's like I get my eyes on the ball as usual but then my eyes settle in and the matt goes out of focus slightly. Could be nonsense or someone might have spiked my diet coke.

Loving the game again at any rate. Can't wait for a round at the weekend now.

[Edit]And as a side-effect, my distances seem to have gone up 5-10 yards on each iron at a guess.