Lost my swing / something's gone very wrong! (just had 2 weeks off injured)

[SoapbarSE]

Hi all,

This is the first thread I've posted but I've been looking through this forum for a while now and I've found it really useful. This might be quite a long post so I apologise now but I'd really like to here your thoughts

SHORT VERSION
Had consistent swing going and was shooting below my handicap for 6 weeks, took two weeks off due to injury and now can't get it up in the air - topping, scuffing to right, chopping across etc. Had 3 rounds like this, hacking/struggling, asking if anyone has any tips or things to look at to help me refind swing!

LONG VERSION
I got the golf bug last July and have been working hard on my game since. Things really came together for me a the end of April/start of May, where I had 6 weeks shooting between 88-92. I felt really confident with my long game so decided to devote practice to my short game

Shortly I got a mild, and then severe, case of the shanks and the wheels came off a little. I had a playing lesson to sort this and things were coming together again - but I pulled a muslce in my shoulder the day after the lesson and had to take 2 weeks off. Although I didn't swing a club I practiced putting everyday.

I restarted playing about 4 weeks ago and I've not been near to breaking 100. I shot 101 last Saturday with 27 putts and it was a real battle to do that. I was getting there, refinding my swing, but now I have completely lost my game:

- I've had 3 rounds of just struggling/hacking around, literally not being able to get the ball up in the air, hitting all manner of poor shots
- I've been down the driving range and been very inconsistent - today I had 50 balls, the first 15-20 were fine then I went back to not being able to get it in the air
- even little chip shots with 60 wedge have scuffed

The main 'mis-hit' is topping/scuffing the ball, "chopping" across the ball and sending it weakly off to the right, even on some completely wrapping the clubhead around the ball and hitting it 90 degress left

My old swing thought/set up was L.A.S.H.
L - legs, make sure active and that left leg stays in position (stops me shanking)
A - arms quiet, club feels heavy (stops me 'hitting' rather than swinging, avoids topping)
Then
Backswing S - Shoulders, left shoulder under chin
Downswing H - hips, straightening left leg firing right knee across

This routine gave me my consistent swing when I wa shooting low 90s and I've been trying to go back to it but it's not proving successful.

So I'm carrying on, just trying to refind the rhythm and feel of my old swing. I've made tons of notes and I always make notes on my rounds so I'm looking for what I'm missing but honestly I feel completely lost at the minute - I do the above routine and the ball just skewers off 30 yards to the right!

I usually play with Mizuno MP-30s which are unforgiving, but I switiched back to my old game-improvement MX-19s and there was no improvement (in fact they felt so uncomfortable probably made it worse0

I was hoping that someone might have some pointers (perhaps whose experienced this before, or thinks they know what might be causing these problems) to help me back on my way. This has been going on for a week now. Do you think it's best in this situation to keep going and hit balls until you get it back, or to take time off and wait - I'm going to speak to my instructor tomorrow but know she's really busy this time of year

Again, apologies for such a long post - any replies/tips will be extremely useful for me so please post any comments/suggestions
Thanks
Sam

 

[G1BB0]

sonds like something I sometimes struggle with and my issue is usually being too close to the ball and ball too far forward. I am not good enogh for swing tips etc but maybe try standing a little further back 1st. If still and issue try moving the ball forward/backwards in the stance.

Have you changed anything because of the lesson? grip etc? If you had a lesson then didnt practice enough it will be bad initially anyway (thats what most on here tend to find at least)

Maybe get a video of your swing, post it on here for the better players to give a few pointers

 

[SoapbarSE]

Thanks I'll definitely try that, the lesson was mainly poor alignment because I have a tendency to pull my right foot back too far, she also said I needed mod knee flex, nothing to do with actual swing really. I'm down the range tomorrow so I'm try and get a video sorted

 

[ScienceBoy]

I had 6 months away from golf and lost EVERYTHING in my swing. Had to learn the whole game from scratch almost! I got a series of lessons and we went from grip through to full swing.

My advice is get a lesson, once every 4 weeks and work hard on the stuff inbetween. Two weeks off should then do less damage, golf is like that, you have to play almost every few days or things start to drift!

 

[DaveM]

Not a tip as such. But does sound as if your trying too, hard and over thinking it all. Just relax and swing naturally. Ok you will hit bad ones. Take it easy it will come back. But relax, stop over thinking it. Oh and get back to your coach as soon as you can.

 

[ScienceBoy]

Heck one example happend to me at the range yesterday. Hit 40 balls, pretty much every one near perfect, felt like a pro. I had been hitting chips and pitches for an hour before so was really in the groove.

Then wandered off, had some lunch, coke, cuppa tea and watched an hours golf.

Back to the range and this time no pitching warmup, still felt a little full from the food and suddenly couldnt hit a barn door with what felt like the same swing. I just could not get comfy over the ball (might have been a bit of trapped wind lol).

Lets hope tonight when I go to the little par 3 course I can get my form back, I hope

 

[SoapbarSE]

Thanks for all the comments, really helpful and good to know some others have gone through same thing!

DaveM think that's really good advice, I think I lost my head a little on the weekend which obviously compounded my errors!

I'm fortunate my club has a short 6 hole par 3 course (60-90 yard holes) so I've been spending time round there with my fellow golf mad friend, which has definitely helped to refind some rhythm.

I've grabbed a 7 wood off my dad which I can use instead of my long irons for a while and may use off the tee too, I'm reviewing my fundamentals but resisting urge to think too technically - just trying to be patient and wait for the feel of my old swing to come back!