Help! I have gone massively backwards.

[Blackdog67]

Hi All, I am quite a newbie. I played a couple of times last summer with workmates and have spent the winter on the range and thought I was improving. However my colleagues and I went for 9 holes after work on Thursday evening and I feel that my game has gone massively backwards. I barely hit a decent shot all evening and it got so bad I stopped counting shots after 6 holes!!

One question I have is whether watching too many YouTube videos and listening to too much advice could actually make me worse?

I didn't think my game could get worse but came home thoroughly fed up on Thursday.

Maybe it was just a bad day but I have to say it wasn't enjoyable at all.

 

[louise_a]

Don't worry too much about it as you are quite new to golf, it happens to us all from time to time. I am having a nightmare with my woods at the moment but it will sort out one way or another before to long

 

[Blackdog67]

Thanks Louise. I was really expecting to have improved over the winter but it was awful on Thursday evening. I'll just relax and hopefully it was just a bad day at the office.

 

[jusme]

Almost never watch tutoring videos or read such articles. Used to buy the magazines and was amazed that within the same magazine their were so many different (sometimes polarised) opinions on how to do the same thing. I get that there is more than one way to execute a type of shot, however it can be damaging to a new golfer if they are reading/watching them all. Either pick one tutor - online/real world and stick to that one method. You stand a better chance of grooving some consistency to your game that way.

Oh and be patient. It is a very difficult game that can go wrong on any given day.

 

[ScienceBoy]

too much info can be an issue.

I play with a guy who had a hole in one last year but goes around in about 20-30 over for 9 holes, I was 3 over for the same 9 as him yesterday!

Simplist fix for over thinking is to have a handfull of basic drills to go back to. Just so you can get the feeling of hitting the ball again, then build back up to a full swing.

I always go back to doing a 9-3 swing with the club face vertical at either end.

Then I build up to the L-L swing shape, which is 9-3 with a little more swing distance.

I find going back to an L-L swing can at least get you round a course. You end up taking 3 to reach a par 4 green but at least you get a par putt.

One thing I found was that I got more "heroic" the worse I got so I "invented" my three goals method, check my sig

 

[Blackdog67]

Thanks ScienceBoy, that sounds like a great plan. Being on the green in three would have been a massive improvement for me on Thursday.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

The problem with watching too many videos is working out what to take for your own game and more importantly incorporating it correctly. Personally, I'd invest in a lesson or two and get a pro to look at your swing and give you the fixes specific to that. Don't worry, going backwards is a recurring theme in golf. There will be good shots, bright days and moments you think you have it sorted and then it'll disintegrate again

 

[Blackdog67]

Thanks to everyone for your responses, they have made me feel a bit better about my game. I think the idea of having a fall back 1/2 swing when I'm struggling will really help. I will also get a couple of lessons sorted to help me get the basics right.

As I think back to Thursday evening I think another factor that didn't help was that one of our group was rushing to get round as he had to go somewhere afterwards and it did seem a little rushed, when things started to go awry I would have liked to slow everything down and take more time over my shots but didn't feel able to.

Your comments have helped me enormously and I'll keep it all ion perspective and just focus on the basics.

 

[guest100718]

if you have a shocker then just forget it, we all have them, you only have to look through the your clubs results to see some of the scores that even the best golfers put in sometimes.

 

[Huwey12]

Speaking from a bad experience yesterday, my front nine was terrible but managed to correct on the back nine. It was all down to one bad move, a fast takeaway and downswing from the top
I really slowed my takeaway expecting my playing partners to comment like I'm in slow motion, this together with a nice pause at the top got me back on track
Try this I'm sure it will help
Things go out of kilter all the time when playing golf without you knowing about it, going back to basics will always help

 

[BrianM]

Try and slow everything down, I find it helps you focus as its a conscious thought, this is just what I do and find it helps.