Completely lost my swing - rant

jimbling

Okay, I don't know what to do. I've completely lost my swing.
Since I came back into golf I got one lesson. The pro told me I was swinging fine, he just changed my grip. I still wasn't happy with it though and spent ages watching videos online etc, changing little things here and there; practising each one individually in the driving range until it settled.

All of a sudden a swing clicked. It felt just right. I wasn't hitting the ball perfect every time, but I was solid and rarely fcked up a shot. This went on for a good few weeks. I made great ground on my short game and started putting in good scores.

Of course I wasn't happy and continued to play with things. Now I have completely messed it up.
It all started with a slight grip change to move the index finger of the right hand down the shaft a bit, separate from the rest of the hand and link the thumb onto it.
This created a huge hook. I thought this was just breaking in the grip so stuck with it for a while... playing with different things to counteract it.
Now I am lost. My swing feels all wrong and I can't get back to where I was. I think I have set everything back the way it was but obviously not.
I find myself opening the clubface and putting in a higher swing plane to try and counteract the natural hook I seem to have developed. This leads to a lot of unpredictability and the ball could pretty much go anywhere.

My long irons are also unreliable… in fact; the only clubs in my bag that are reliable are the wedges. I even seem to be pulling my putts now.

I thought I had gotten passed the massive inconsistency.... I thought I had cracked it, but once more golf has brought me crashing back down to earth and humbled me. This game is absolutely torturous!!!!
/Rant.

Mainly this is just a rant, but I guess a little advice could go a long way. This is the first time in years that I feel I really have no swing.

Should I go back to the drawing board? Start again and build a new swing? Perhaps stay away from the course for a week or two and concentrate on finding my rhythm in the range regularly.

Should I suck it up and go get a lesson? I’ve been thinking of heading down to Fota and checking out the academy there. I was good friends with the pro who works there years ago, he might do me a fair deal for a load of lessons.

Par72

You should get a lesson/course of lessons as soon as possible. After you have had the lesson stop tinkering around with your swing/grip and only follow the advice the professional gives you. This kind of messing around when you don't really know what you are doing is lethal.

jimbling

Par72 wrote: »

You should get a lesson/course of lessons as soon as possible. After you have had the lesson stop tinkering around with your swing/grip and only follow the advice the professional gives you. This kind of messing around when you don't really know what you are doing is lethal.

Agreed. I hadn't really realised that it was so lethal as it had worked so well to create the good swing I had. Thought I had it all under control :rolleyes:

PhilipMarlowe

jimbling - "What am I going to do?"
Zen Teacher - "Give it up for a month jimbling..."
jimbling - "And what will I do then wise master?"
Zen Teacher - "Give it up altogether"

Seriously dude, you have yourself wrapped up in knots.... you're tinkering with everything... you've no belief in anything. You can't stand on the tee thinking "holy s**t, where is this one going to go?". You have to pick the spot where you are going to send the ball to and have some courage to try and belt it there. And such is life if it doesn't go where you wanted it to go... mostly it wont.. that's golf
Whatever about trying out stuff on the range, when you get the chance to play golf you have got to try and enjoy it. Obviously if you play well it's a better experience but don't let playing poorly get into your head so much.

jimbling

Licksy wrote: »

Seriously dude, you have yourself wrapped up in knots.... you're tinkering with everything... you've no belief in anything. You can't stand on the tee thinking "holy s**t, where is this one going to go?". You have to pick the spot where you are going to send the ball to and have some courage to try and belt it there. And such is life if it doesn't go where you wanted it to go... mostly it wont.. that's golf
Whatever about trying out stuff on the range, when you get the chance to play golf you have got to try and enjoy it. Obviously if you play well it's a better experience but don't let playing poorly get into your head so much.

Licksy, cheers for the advice.
I do have to say you are slightly wrong in your interpretation of my issue though. I understand target golf. I am above average in dealing with the mental side of golf. I rarely let bad play in a previous shot effect the next etc.
I only started playing again about 3 months ago. I play 2/3 times a week. Hit the range on other days. I have been gradually improving week by week. I was given a 22 handicap. I’ve gone from getting 20-26p regularly to getting 36-45p regularly.
It is only in the last week and a half that everything has fallen apart. My swing feels all wrong. Even when I hit a good shot it doesn’t feel right.


You have to understand. When I get into something I get into it. I started at 22 and am already playing to about 17 (disregarding the last week). I have every intention of playing to about 14/15 by the end of the summer. This is just a hiccup. But I will learn from it. Learn to quit the tinkering once my swing feels right.

Mister Sifter

jimbling wrote: »

You have to understand. When I get into something I get into it. I started at 22 and am already playing to about 17 (disregarding the last week). I have every intention of playing to about 14/15 by the end of the summer. This is just a hiccup. But I will learn from it. Learn to quit the tinkering once my swing feels right.

Crikey, after reading your first post i thought you were a scratch golfer. relax, it's only a game and supposed to be a hobby. Sounds to me like you know yourself what the problem is... too much fannying about. If you're going out with swing thoughts then you're not going to shoot good scores.

As previous posters say, get a lesson, get all the nonsense out your head, read a bit of Rotella and Robert's your father's brother.

jimbling

Graeme1982 wrote: »

Crikey, after reading your first post i thought you were a scratch golfer. relax, it's only a game and supposed to be a hobby. Sounds to me like you know yourself what the problem is... too much fannying about. If you're going out with swing thoughts then you're not going to shoot good scores.

lol, no not a scratch golfer. Just high expectations of myself. :cool:

Graeme1982 wrote: »

As previous posters say, get a lesson, get all the nonsense out your head, read a bit of Rotella and Robert's your father's brother.

lol, I've read golf is not a game of perfect and putting out of your mind.
As said, when I get into something I get into it

Mister Sifter

jimbling wrote: »

lol, no not a scratch golfer. Just high expectations of myself. :cool:

lol, I've read golf is not a game of perfect and putting out of your mind.
As said, when I get into something I get into it

Rather than 'getting into it', just seems like you're getting in the way of yourself. I'd give those Rotella books another read.

jimbling

Graeme1982 wrote: »

Rather than 'getting into it', just seems like you're getting in the way of yourself. I'd give those Rotella books another read.

The Rotella method is based around the fact that you have a swing that feels right and works for you. i.e. it deals with the range vs course form that that other thread was about.

I cant hit the ball in the range either. My swing feels all wrong there too.

Anyway, it's some lessons I think. Going to give a call down to that guy next week. Maybe join the academy there as well. They have fantastic facilities for practice.
They also have all that swing analysis equipment too. That's something I wanted to get done anyway... for custom fitting etc.

Thanks for listening to my woes

whatawaster

jimbling wrote: »

The Rotella method is based around the fact that you have a swing that feels right and works for you. i.e. it deals with the range vs course form that that other thread was about.

I cant hit the ball in the range either. My swing feels all wrong there too.

It doesn't matter that you can't hit a ball on the range either. That's something to work on at the range. Once you step on the tee you need to forget about all mechanics. No matter how bad you're swinging it, this will only make it worse. I struggle with this myself

jimbling

whatawaster wrote: »

It doesn't matter that you can't hit a ball on the range either. That's something to work on at the range. Once you step on the tee you need to forget about all mechanics. No matter how bad you're swinging it, this will only make it worse. I struggle with this myself

ya, I know. I do try, but when your forget the mechanics and just hit the ball to the target method is producing a massive hook off the tee every single time its near on impossible to not think about the mechanics.
I don't think I will ever get that mentally strong. :eek:

Whyner

jimbling wrote: »

ya, I know. I do try, but when your forget the mechanics and just hit the ball to the target method is producing a massive hook off the tee every single time its near on impossible to not think about the mechanics.
I don't think I will ever get that mentally strong. :eek:

Sounds very familiar. I too have only started playing regularly in the past 2 months. I had a decent swing to begin with, joined a club, got 19, things improved.......then 2 weeks ago, out of nowhere and on my first ever competition I developed a snap hook, duck hook (they're the same thing right?). Every single tee shot and most clubs down to 8 or 9 were like Beckham free kicks, ugliest shots I've ever seen.

I was never so glad to get off a course in my life, it was far from enjoyable. When I wasn't playing golf I couldn't even imagine hitting a sweet shot in my mind. It was a serious affliction. Anyway, I'm rid of it now and got 34 points last night so back on target. Only lasted 10 days so I'm sure you too should be able to turns things round in the same time period. I plan on getting down to 15 by end of summer also but ain't going to hang myself if I don't.

On the mental side of things, I reckon it's Golf 1 - 0 jimbling. Relax a bit more, laugh when you hit a bad shot. I cured my hook by relaxing, both my hands and crept round into really strong positions.

Good luck with it, race you to 15?? :D

jimbling

Whyner wrote: »

Good luck with it, race you to 15?? :D

lol, your on :pac: :pac:

Whyner

ok, what you off now?

jimbling

22
well, my exact is 21.6

PeterJamesDoyle

I went to fota with the wife last year for a break. The wife had spa treatments while I had a two hour lesson. The Pro was great. I'm 35 and playing off 8. He told me to stop being too technical, have a pair of ba**s, and just hit the thing.
If you're going to far down the grip, you'll encourage a hook in all your shots. Also, is your alignment a little out of sync? I pick an intermediate target about 5 feet out, line up the club face with that using only one hand, then move my body and other hand into position. I make certain to have my body as parallel to my target line as possible.
At that point, stop thinking, trust your swing and voila. I do sports psychology coaching and clubmaking, and I can tell you that if this only a recent phase, you will pull out of it. But you need to believe it.
Last resort if the client doesn't have the discipline to work at the mental side, is to consider whether all the shafts in the set have been either pured or spine aligned.
At least this will guarantee 50% more strikes out of the middle of the clubface (based on a handicap of 18).
Best of luck, don't stop believin.:)

PhilipMarlowe

Less of the soft selling please.

villager

heard great things about that pro in fota too. my sister has gone to him a few times about her driving and she has improved drastically losing 7/8 shots.

why does the pro tell you to keep your head down?

so you can't see him laughing at you



i once went to a pro for a lesson. after hitting about ten balls all over the place he suggested taking 4 inches off the length of shafts. i said to him will that improve my game. he replied no but they will fit in the bin easier:D

waterville72

PeterJamesDoyle wrote: »

Last resort if the client doesn't have the discipline to work at the mental side, is to consider whether all the shafts in the set have been either pured or spine aligned.
At least this will guarantee 50% more strikes out of the middle of the clubface (based on a handicap of 18).
Best of luck, don't stop believin.:)

Where are you getting that statistic from?
In my opinion its complete nonsense. You obviously are trying to drum up business for you and your fellow clubmakers. If you are going to make outrageous statements like that at least have the decency to add citations. Sure if that was true every manufacturer in the world would be puring their sets.

stockdam

GO back for a lesson and don't tinker.

You'll get better then worse in phases as your teacher sorts out new problems. You've got to have faith and perserverence.

Your hooks could have come from a strong grip and maybe all you need is to weaken it again.

PeterJamesDoyle

waterville72 wrote: »

Where are you getting that statistic from?
In my opinion its complete nonsense. You obviously are trying to drum up business for you and your fellow clubmakers. If you are going to make outrageous statements like that at least have the decency to add citations. Sure if that was true every manufacturer in the world would be puring their sets.

Hi Waterville, every manufacturer wouldn't because its not cost effective to have Mr Wan Han from Vietnam spining every shaft.:) But thanks anyway.

kagni

sorry wrong thread

jimbling

Took a break for a few days.
Went to the driving range yesterday..... the problem still exists. My swing feels a bit better than it did, but I'm still pulling most shots unless I do an exaggerated slice swing. i.e. almost over my head.
I definitely think I need some lessons all right. I'll keep this updated as to my progress of finding my swing again.

jimbling

Okay, I think I have it figured out.
It was a grip issue that always existed. My recent modification caused the issue to become more noticeable and create a hook by closing the club head through impact.
I tried fixing that sub-issue yesterday and it appears to have helped a lot.

jimbling

Just wanted to come back to these threads.

My swing is back... feels really good again. Not really sure if it was the grip change above, or if it was just a few good confident swings put me back in stride... but it's great to have it back!!! for now

jimbling

Ha, I was about to post a similar thread when I remembered this one. Lol, going through the same thing again now....although my swing hasn't really felt right since I came back this season.

I am getting lessons, but haven't cracked the nut yet.

Whyner wrote: »

Good luck with it, race you to 15?? :D

Whyner.... you there? I got cut to 15.4 last week.... Did I win?

Russman

Don't take this the wrong way, but you have to know that none of us will ever "crack" the nut, nobody ever has or ever will, thats the beauty of it all and why we keep coming back.

Brilliant that you're still on the lessons, very important to trust what you're being told and ignore other advice or you could tie yourself up in knots again.

As Dr Bob says, learn to love the challenge of trying to make a par from the woods, enjoy yourself and practise the short game (lots).

1united

Jimbling, are you me because as i read this it all sounded scarily familiar. My only difference is on range not a problem, but when i step onto 1st tee I just fall apart and generally try to kill the ball which results in a horrible topped shot which barely clears the ladies tee. Even stopped using driver on 1st but to no avail.

jimbling

Russman wrote: »

Don't take this the wrong way, but you have to know that none of us will ever "crack" the nut, nobody ever has or ever will, thats the beauty of it all and why we keep coming back.

haha, dont worry... i know that all right. I just mean the feeling of a smooth swing. With rhythm and timing. When that goes its like you cant play the game at all.

Russman wrote: »

Brilliant that you're still on the lessons, very important to trust what you're being told and ignore other advice or you could tie yourself up in knots again.

Well, not exactly still on. Got a couple last year, and have had one this year.


I did find one of those miracle solutions tonight. Wont go into details, but I tried a few things learnt from shawn clements videos on youtube. Felt great on the range this evening..... ill wait to try it out again tomorrow before getting too excited.

jimbling

1united wrote: »

Jimbling, are you me because as i read this it all sounded scarily familiar. My only difference is on range not a problem, but when i step onto 1st tee I just fall apart and generally try to kill the ball which results in a horrible topped shot which barely clears the ladies tee. Even stopped using driver on 1st but to no avail.

That's a different kind of problem all right. Buy and read Golf is not a game of perfect. It's fantastic for the mental side of golf. If you have a good swing on the range there is no reason you shouldn't on the course.

Whyner

jimbling wrote: »

Ha, I was about to post a similar thread when I remembered this one. Lol, going through the same thing again now....although my swing hasn't really felt right since I came back this season.

I am getting lessons, but haven't cracked the nut yet.




Whyner.... you there? I got cut to 15.4 last week.... Did I win?

Haha, no way. I was looking for this thread recently. I'm sorry to say that unfortunately I beat you by about 2 weeks. I won 2 comps and had 5 consecutive cuts, got down to 15.3 then 0.1 back last weekend.

Very close race, we could continue to single figures but it should take a bit longer, who knows though.....

Congrats to you...it's a good feeling eh...

jimbling

Whyner wrote: »

Haha, no way. I was looking for this thread recently. I'm sorry to say that unfortunately I beat you by about 2 weeks. I won 2 comps and had 5 consecutive cuts, got down to 15.3 then 0.1 back last weekend.

Very close race, we could continue to single figures but it should take a bit longer, who knows though.....

Congrats to you...it's a good feeling eh...

Haha, damn you!!!!!
congrats on the win


Right, let the next race be to single figures then. That is my goal for this season anyway.
When I started the season my goal was 12, but I feel that I'm close to lifting my game another notch, so now aiming for 9. :eek:

Trekker09

I recently had a series of lessons and my game went to pieces for several weeks. I couldn't hit a drive of any description, and my irons were just a joke. I too felt that I would never hit a decent shot again, and even on the range I couldn't get any consistancy at all. It was as if I had never hit a ball before and was worrying about weight distribution etc. I was patient though, and my game started coming back again. I have found that if I can concentrate on rythym then this realy helps to sort me out. I went to the range last week and started off with my 7 iron, disaster!! Then moved to my 4 iron and hit it sweet off the deck non stop. Back to 7 iron and the same disaster. Driver was great as well. I usually hit my 7 iron 150 metres, but shanked every one of them. You have to laugh!!!!

Johnny_Fontane

same problem here.....

booked my first lesson ever for tonight with Deirdre Judge in Kinsealy.

playing jimmy bruen on saturday so its desperation stakes!

jimbling

Okay, that strong grip (also changed my swing a little via another of the videos) definitely had a big impact. Striking the ball very well yesterday again.


Anyway, I must say I am engrossed in Shawn Clement videos at the moment.
I watched a few of his videos last year, but didn't realise how good they are.

Going through them all now and downloading to my iPhone. Will start practising his drills etc later.
What I love about them is that it's the same concepts over and over again, just in specific scenarios and explained from different angles. I really like his attitude, and his responses to questions as well. A great guy.... and we should all be grateful (well maybe not the other teaching pros ) that he's willing to give so much information free. I reckon I might buy his DVD just to support him.


Seriously, for anyone with swing issues.... watch his videos.