Help

[AmandaJR]

In the space of a month I've gone from hitting it great and regular rounds to a single figure handicapper to hitting it like a hacker. Now I have totally lost all self belief and do not have a clue where my swing has gone but can't seem to get it back. Shots are off the hosel, the heel, the toe, barely on the club at all or sometimes flush off the middle and for the life of me I cannot feel the difference.

I have a lesson on Tuesday so we'll see but no real confidence of fixing things.

So a question I wonder if you guys can help with which may help me start to figure out the problem (s).

On the range yesterday I hit some balls with my 7 iron and was all over the place. Something feels vey wrong at the top and I know it won't make decent contact with the ball (those contacts are usually just about on the toe - and I mean only just making contact at all)...

With me so far?!

Then I stand way open and feel like I also open the club face a little and it feels ok at the top (still not where it used to but then I've lost all feel so who knows) and the contact is smack off the middle. No real fade or slice as such but as you'd expect the flight is more like an 8 iron...

It did work on the course for a while so long as I clubbed up but occasionally I totally mis-hit it too. My driving and putting are working really well or I'd barely be scoring. I did hit a couple of drives towards the toe and one towards the heel so that isn't totally consistent but heaps better than my irons and the more loft on the club the worse it feels/gets.

So what does that do? Apart from clear my left hip away what is it doing in terms of the backswing in relation to me? If I square up what do I adjust to make it feel the same?

Any ideas??

 

[bobmac]

Firstly, don't panic, you haven't forgotten how to play golf.
The chances are something has slipped.
You need some lateral thinking.

Your game is divided into 2 categories....
how you hit
Where you hit it.

It looks like a 'how you hit it' problem

Your contact is suspect to say the least.
If you dont return the club to the same place it started, what does that suggest to you?

 

[AmandaJR]

Firstly, don't panic, you haven't forgotten how to play golf.
The chances are something has slipped.
You need some lateral thinking.

Your game is divided into 2 categories....
how you hit
Where you hit it.

It looks like a 'how you hit it' problem

Your contact is suspect to say the least.
If you dont return the club to the same place it started, what does that suggest to you?

Full panic mode I'm afraid Bob!

It suggests I'm not swinging the club back on the same line as the backswing? But what if the backswing is the thing that's wrong and I'm trying to somehow rescue it from there?

Last lesson I was shanking from nowhere and was definitely casting and out to in which is totally the reverse of where I was a couple of weeks before that

Prior to that I was too much from the inside at times and a bit hooky/toe shots...

 

[bobmac]

You're over complicating it.
If the contact has become an issue I would look for any head movement. A little sway off the ball would do it.
Check to see if your head is moving on the backswing and take it from there.
All of this is still guesswork as i still haven't seen your swing.

 

[Heidi]

Full panic mode I'm afraid Bob!

It suggests I'm not swinging the club back on the same line as the backswing? But what if the backswing is the thing that's wrong and I'm trying to somehow rescue it from there?

Last lesson I was shanking from nowhere and was definitely casting and out to in which is totally the reverse of where I was a couple of weeks before that

Prior to that I was too much from the inside at times and a bit hooky/toe shots...

Stop panicking!!!

go back to your set up - check grip - where are ur Vs? your thumb?

aim - are you square to target? one of my friends cant hit a thing cos she goes 'squint'. she reckons the ball is in the middle of her stance but cos her bum sticks out to the right its actually at the front of her stance

stance - has weight moved back - if your weight isnt on your balls of feet and slips to heels then this has one of the worst effects on your swing imaginable. if your weight has shifted back then your swing plane is shallower and gives you all the problems you've mentioned above. I'm putting my money on stance being the problem

posture - double check it

i like to use this wee video as he goes thro GASP and it really helps!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMtQjnsoD8c

best of luck - it will come back!!!

 

[AmandaJR]

You're over complicating it.
If the contact has become an issue I would look for any head movement. A little sway off the ball would do it.
Check to see if your head is moving on the backswing and take it from there.
All of this is still guesswork as i still haven't seen your swing.

Ok. When David is back from the course we're planning to try and video my swing so I'll see if I can work out how to get it on here. I'll start with the head movement as it could well be as simple as that as I can tell my relationship with the ball has changed - like my view of it through the swing is somehow different.

We have some software stuff where you can draw lines, circle head etc (can't remember what it's called) so will see what that tells me.

Have to say this whole episode/blip/crisis is very demoralising

The good news is my putting is awesome :thup:

 

[bobmac]

The good news is my putting is awesome :thup:

Good old V-Easy strikes again

I've never seen anyone's swing change dramatically in such a short space of time unless it was meant so relax, deep breath and pour yourself a large one :cheers:

 

[AmandaJR]

Stop panicking!!!

go back to your set up - check grip - where are ur Vs? your thumb?

aim - are you square to target? one of my friends cant hit a thing cos she goes 'squint'. she reckons the ball is in the middle of her stance but cos her bum sticks out to the right its actually at the front of her stance

stance - has weight moved back - if your weight isnt on your balls of feet and slips to heels then this has one of the worst effects on your swing imaginable. if your weight has shifted back then your swing plane is shallower and gives you all the problems you've mentioned above. I'm putting my money on stance being the problem

posture - double check it

i like to use this wee video as he goes thro GASP and it really helps!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMtQjnsoD8c

best of luck - it will come back!!!

Thanks Heidi. The stance has been my number one choice of culprit through all of this as a few lessons back my coach adjusted that. I have always tended to be towards my toes and he worked on having me a bit more "through my laces". For sure that brought on some shanks and I felt sure I was moving my weight forwards through the swing resulting in the hosel making contact. I have crazy high arched rigid feet so not sure I can hold my weight where he wanted me to through a dynamic movement. I tried to find where I used to be or at least stand naturally rather than think about it and kind of thought that was working when I hit those foam balls for fun rather than the real thing which isn't much fun at the moment. It doesn't seem to have been the cure though but maybe I just haven't found my way back to where I used to be.

I'll check that video now.

 

[Heidi]

I'll check that video now.

Even if you dont get anything out of the vid - he is rather cute

 

[AmandaJR]

Good old V-Easy strikes again

I've never seen anyone's swing change dramatically in such a short space of time unless it was meant so relax, deep breath and pour yourself a large one :cheers:

Cheers Bob. This sport is so tough. When I ran it wasn't like I ever forgot how to do it so a bad run was just an isolated thing that didn't start a downward spiral and total loss of confidence!

 

[SGC001]

Seems like good advice so far, usually when something goes horribly wrong it's a basic or what's often referred to as a fundamental like grip, aim posture and set up.

I like the advice of Harvey Penick which went along the lines of if you play badly once forget it, if you play badly a second time check your fundamentals and if you play badly a 3rd time go see you pro.

With me it's the alignment of my feet which seems to like to creep right over time, I get away with it for a while and then it comes home to roost. As soon as I start hitting pulls or hooks I know it's time to check it.

 

[Mr_T]

I would bet its something simple in your set up, check and double check, I went through a phase where like you everything was coming out the hosel... it was all because my grip had become lazy... I couldn't spot it through self correction but as soon as my pro pointed it out it was like a slap in the face, so it could just be something really simple, so dont panic

 

[Region3]

Firstly, don't panic, you haven't forgotten how to play golf.

^ This was my first thought reading your opening post. It is soooooooo true.

I was awful this morning. I gave up keeping score after about 5 holes but I reckon I might have not broken 100.
I know I've not suddenly got rubbish at the game, it's just one of those days.

Next time might be worse, or it might be fantastic, you just never know.

That's what makes it both great and frustrating at the same time.

 

[AmandaJR]

Thanks guys and trying to keep a lid on the panic but this blip has gone on long enough to really make me wonder if there's a way back.

 

[JustOne]

Even if you dont get anything out of the vid - he is rather cute

I didn't think so................

 

[chrisd]

Take a week off golf Amanda. Knock up a plentiful supply of flapjacks and post portions out to us forum members and then when you come back to golf you will be at ease and hit the ball perfectly.

There is no charge for this advice!

 

[AmandaJR]

Take a week off golf Amanda. Knock up a plentiful supply of flapjacks and post portions out to us forum members and then when you come back to golf you will be at ease and hit the ball perfectly.

There is no charge for this advice!

Thanks Chris and it has got too intense for sure. Hit some foam balls today and it was fine. Then David got the video camera out and I could feel the tension and I fiddled and faddled longer at address and promptly mis-hit half a dozen. We worked on a couple of things and he had brought 3 real balls with him and again I felt tense but hit 3 lovely soft draws right off the middle.

Will try and load the videos but for sure am casting on the bad swings which is a new thing for me but once I saw that I started to feel some control in the swing to keep it inside so progress and at least feeling less like jacking the game in!

Flapjacks or chocolate probably just the antidote to rubbish golf.

 

[Foxholer]

Fundamentals and back to half/three-quarter swings has always been my 'solution' for the odd periods when chaos has happened. In my case, it tends to be down to balance - or lack thereof - and the resulting tension trying to correct.

Does also sound like you could be 'over-golfed' too.

If you have a lesson, Pro should be able to see and correct it in an instant.

Good luck.

 

[FairwayDodger]

Sounds like you're over thinking it. You don't just forget how to play golf.

Go to the range with a seven iron and hit some balls with no swing thoughts whatsoever. Just do it.

Try a drill of setting your wrists before you swing. (You'll think you can't hit a ball like this but you'll be surprised).

Failing that, go with the week off idea - don't think about golf, don't hold a club, don't make any practice swings. When you go back just do it on autopilot, with any luck the kink you've introduced will go and replaced with your more ingrained swing.


Of course, I have no right posting in the experts section!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Sounds like you are out on the course with a hundred thoughts going through your head and one hundred and one of them are negative. You are obviously a reasonable golfer. Take some time out, get a lesson and let the pro see what you are doing. Chances are its minute but with big implications such as the weight moving forward onto the balls of your feet (my favourite trick if I start shanking).

You have posted on here how much you've played and practiced lately and maybe it has just caught up with you and you're thinking too much about what you are working on and what you are doing and then trying too hard to replciate the good scores of late. My advice would be to get out for nine holes and just play. Think about nothing even over the ball and just swing, walk and hit it again. Clear the mind and let the swing flow