Striking a balance between rhythm & technique (lesson - swing changes)

[LCW]

I have been having some lessons for a good couple of months and its sort of not going as planned for me. The coach is a great guy really knowledgeable, I am not knocking him in this post.

For context if it helps I wasn't happy with my swing, the misses it was giving me and my general play on the course. I have always been someone who slightly goes inside on the takeaway and leads me to be "cross the line" or long at the top. I fortunately don't go steep (over the top) from the top so my tendencies from this swing trait is that I suffer from coming massively down inside which can lead to hit raking hooks/blocks and the odd shank. The GCquad used can pick this up at 12 degrees into out sometimes. Like most golfers, on the day I "time" this all well I play good and I am not short of speed at all so I can go fairly low everyone now and then, but its becoming less and less frequent.

The lessons are an effort to just be better get myself more neutral if that's a thing and have less of a destructive miss but at the moment I am in a slight weird phase and am struggling to get out of it. The changes we are trying to make leads to my golf swing being completely robotic looking and more importantly moving. My friend recently said it looks quite painful to watch, its robotronic in its nature and looks like each piece of the swing is being done independently of each other but I am getting close to the "desired" positions. I must saying having had videos before and after; my "old" swing is completed by the time the new one is at the top of the backswing. Even though I am really trying my hardest to make the change/s its causing me different faults like the fats and thins (low point control) because I am just not moving properly in the swing.

When I try to add some flow and rhythm back into my swing I just go back to my old ways pretty much immediately. I know this means a I don't own these changes yet but its been a good couple of months of trying and I am actually regressing.

Anyone had anything similar and any tips of trying to make changes whilst for lack of a better word keeping the flow in the golf swing?

Cheers

 

[RichA]

I've struggled over the last 6 months. A lesson worked wonders, but only while the pro was standing watching me - back on course I still struggled.
I'm just starting to recover now by trying to channel players like Morikawa and Finau - methodical shortened backswing, slight pause, stable balance, loads of turn and concentrating on hitting the ball with the centre of the club face. As long as I get the rotation, I don't have to try to hit the ball too hard, which I believe was the root of my problems.
I'm not good enough to be giving advice, but can empathise with your struggle so I'm just describing what's working for me.

 

[Deleted member 3432]

How often are you playing and how much time are you spending in the practice ground?

Easier to play golf swing on practice ground, it can take ages to get comfortable with new bits of a swing on the course.

 

[LCW]

Decent time doing both.

My robotic swing happens on the practice area/range as well as I have been filming it to monitor progress.

 

[Bdill93]

It took me about a year to engrain the swing my pro had me doing and make it feel fluid.

There were times I was all over the place, doing all sort of weird things to engrain the "feel" of each individual part of the swing - but finally now I do see the overall benefit.

Not saying im perfect - far from it - and certain lies out on the course make it easier for me than others - but thats golf!

Overall though, if youre not enjoying lessons from this pro, have you considered a change of pro to see if they provide any different insight?

 

[Deleted member 3432]

My advice would be to relax, it's easy to start strangling the club and tense up when you are doing something that feels uncomfortable.

Coming from 12 degrees out to in you will be making a significant change to your swing so stick at it and in time you will see the benefit.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

As I am completely changing my swingpath I have had to break the flow of my old swing and must never simply swing it. When I do that I immediately revert to my old swingpath. And that is bad, bad, bad. And I must not spend any time over the ball in address before starting backswing. When I do I start to tighten up as I am allowing my head to get in the way of my hitting the ball. As soon as I notice me too long at address I walk away.

I have for months been focussed on swingpath at strike, not putting any real thought into making my ‘full’ swing feel smooth. I have to get myself striking the ball as I want, and once I am confident that that is working reasonably I can allow myself to swing longer and fuller. It can feel chunky at the moment, but I am confident that in time a ‘smooth’ swing will evolve without my having to work too much on it.

 

[Doon frae Troon]

I have been having some lessons for a good couple of months and its sort of not going as planned for me. The coach is a great guy really knowledgeable, I am not knocking him in this post.

For context if it helps I wasn't happy with my swing, the misses it was giving me and my general play on the course. I have always been someone who slightly goes inside on the takeaway and leads me to be "cross the line" or long at the top. I fortunately don't go steep (over the top) from the top so my tendencies from this swing trait is that I suffer from coming massively down inside which can lead to hit raking hooks/blocks and the odd shank. The GCquad used can pick this up at 12 degrees into out sometimes. Like most golfers, on the day I "time" this all well I play good and I am not short of speed at all so I can go fairly low everyone now and then, but its becoming less and less frequent.

The lessons are an effort to just be better get myself more neutral if that's a thing and have less of a destructive miss but at the moment I am in a slight weird phase and am struggling to get out of it. The changes we are trying to make leads to my golf swing being completely robotic looking and more importantly moving. My friend recently said it looks quite painful to watch, its robotronic in its nature and looks like each piece of the swing is being done independently of each other but I am getting close to the "desired" positions. I must saying having had videos before and after; my "old" swing is completed by the time the new one is at the top of the backswing. Even though I am really trying my hardest to make the change/s its causing me different faults like the fats and thins (low point control) because I am just not moving properly in the swing.

When I try to add some flow and rhythm back into my swing I just go back to my old ways pretty much immediately. I know this means a I don't own these changes yet but its been a good couple of months of trying and I am actually regressing.

Anyone had anything similar and any tips of trying to make changes whilst for lack of a better word keeping the flow in the golf swing?

Cheers

I am a ex decent golfer who took up bowls about 5 years ago.
I was very competitive at golf and won a lot of matches I should have lost.
Staying 'in the zone' is my advice. trust your swing and 'just do it'.
When I play badly at bowls I am usually thinking about technique and have to force my mind to clear technical thoughts.
I very much realise that when I am playing well at bowls I only have line and pace in my mind and not how am I physically moving to deliver the bowl.

 

[Hobbit]

I’m with Doon on this one. If your old swing was repetitive, just trust it and go with it. About 20 years ago, whilst off 5, I decided to push the boat out and booked a series of lessons with a top pro - he was also (successfully) coaching a couple of tour players at the time. It destroyed me for most of the year. Cost me a fortune in lost balls and the handicap climbed.

After a terrible start to a round, 7 off the first tee, I decided on no more lessons and just to hit the damn ball. Handicap dropped back to a very competitive 5, oscillating often between 4 & 5.

Sometimes, with the best will in the world, you just need to trust yourself & develop a repetitive swing. You might never reach scratch but there’s no need to get down on yourself if you don’t.