Ive lost my swing completely

[bobmac]

Have you ever been for a lesson when the pro changes something very small. Maybe a tweak to the grip, more/less hip turn, different follow through?
How difficult is it to make such a small change and how different does it feel?

So how is it that most golfers at some stage claim they have lost their swing completely?
It would be impossible to lose all idea of how to swing a club, especially when it feels as if you are swing it in the normal way.

If you have an off day, don't panic. Don't start changing everything, because everything isn't broken.
The chances are it's a very small change that has occured, more often than not a timing issue.
None of us have a perfect swing so when we play well, our swing quirks work together, when we play badly the balance has gone.

There's only 2 things to worry about in golf.
The contact and the direction.
If something has gone awry, try and work out what it is and seek help. Don't spend ages trying to fix it with half a dozen cures.

And most of all, don't panic... you haven't lost your swing completely.

Golf mental guru to the peasants

 

[timgolfy]

If something has gone awry, try and work out what it is and seek help. Don't spend ages trying to fix it with half a dozen cures.

If the fault occurs on the 2nd hole, where is the help?

Bob, surely the disadvantage in over-using a pro is that it's easy to become lazy and let him/her "own" your swing? If I don't own my swing then, when it's broken, I have to return it for fixing.

How much, would you say, should be self-help?

 

[USER1999]

What if I didn't have a swing to start with?

 

[bobmac]

What if I didn't have a swing to start with?

You could borrow Smiffys.
No wait, that would be worse

 

[timgolfy]

There's only 2 things to worry about in golf.
The contact and the direction.

...and the power.

 

[DCB]

Been there, done that, got the tee shirt

Suffered greatly from the 'paralysis by analysis' disease and completely lost my swing at one point.

It's not a good feeling to have I can tell you.

I just have to concentrate on keeping it simple now and letting the club get to the ball and release. At least doing it that way I can actually hit the ball

 

[chrisd]

Quite correct Bob

A week ago I was striking the ball better than ever after slightly slowing my swing down and then at the weekend I played comparitivly cr*p. Halfway through the second round at the weekend I realised it was just that I had speeded up the swing and was reverting back to my biggest fault - the slight over the top move.

I slowed the tempo down and everything got better

I think that the problem is that we have all had lots of faults during our golfing life and that when you slip back into one of those faults you dont even realise your doing so as it just feels normal


Chris

 

[bobmac]

If something has gone awry, try and work out what it is and seek help. Don't spend ages trying to fix it with half a dozen cures.

If the fault occurs on the 2nd hole, where is the help?

Bob, surely the disadvantage in over-using a pro is that it's easy to become lazy and let him/her "own" your swing? If I don't own my swing then, when it's broken, I have to return it for fixing.

How much, would you say, should be self-help?

A good pro wont just give you a quick fix.
He or she should work WITH YOU, helping you understand your swing and work out what has gone wrong.

I call it "Self analysis"
Knowing your swing and it's characteristics and being able to recognise and fix any faults that may occur on the course.

Self help is all very well, as long as you know what to fix.

 

[bobmac]

There's only 2 things to worry about in golf.
The contact and the direction.

...and the power.

There's absolutly no point in having all the power in the world.....unless you have good contact.

How far are you going to hit it on full power if you hit the ground 6 inches behind the ball. Not very far.

How far are you going to hit it on full power if you snap hook it or slice it?
You'll never know because you'll never find it.

 

[timgolfy]

So how far we hit the ball is totally irrelevant?

 

[bobmac]

So how far we hit the ball is totally irrelevant?

I don't think I said that.
What I did say was if you dont have good contact, your power is unused. And if you cant find the ball power is pointless.

Power is only useful if you can transfer that power to the ball and you can find it.

 

[timgolfy]

What use is contact and direction if there is no power?

Not wanting to put words into your mouth, but are you saying that power will remain roughly constant because it is dictated by the natural timing and swing speed?

 

[ScienceBoy]

Had one of those days on the range once, shanked my way through a bucket then went out on the course, no expectations of anything.

Shot an 86 and came about 9th in the stableford

 

[bobmac]

If you compare two golfers who both hit it well and straight but one has more speed, then he/she will hit the ball further.
If by increasing the speed, you sacrifice contact or direction, you will also sacrifice distance.

 

[BROOKIE]

Is that the "whole" point of golf then,to hit it further,
more power,better player?

 

[Imurg]

What use is contact and direction if there is no power?

At least you'll be able to find the ball......

All 3 elements are required to hit the ball a long way and straight. If you're missing one of them , it won't happen.

 

[bobmac]

Is that the "whole" point of golf then,to hit it further,
more power,better player?

Sadly, no

 

[haplesshacker]

Simple choice, 220 on the fairway or 250 in the rubbish or even worse oob. Ball striking has surely got to come first and foremost?

Okay, admittedly, length off the tee does make life easier for your second shot as you can use a short iron rather than a mid or long iron. But I'd rather have a clean 6 iron into the green than hacking a ball out of the deep rough.

The problem comes when you still tee off with a 'safe' 5 iron and it still goes in the rough! Comes down to ball striking again.

I don't know if Bob will agree with me, but a lot of golfers seem hung up on distance, when in fact they'd be better off improving their ball striking.

 

[timgolfy]

Sorry Bob - I'm not (trying) to be deliberately argumentative. My point is not about distance off the tee, etc.

I'm just curious as to why you don't think that distance control is not relevant to golf, but contact and direction is?

 

[G_Mulligan]

Driving is not about distance control it is maximising distance without jeopardising accuracy too much. Distance control takes finesse and timing and is more useful in wedge shots and putting.