Just a little background. I've always been an inconsistant ball striker but for the most part I could at least play the game decently. My main faults were always fat shots with my irons and pushing my irons out to the right. Driving the ball was not as much of a problem for me as I could do that pretty well. I was getting frustrated with my lack of consistant contact so I took some lessons from a well respected pro in the area about 3 months ago and he had me hitting my irons better than ever. Fast Forward about a month and I noticed that I started topping my irons hitting them thin but still for the most part hitting better than I ever had. But now I'm a complete disaster. I can barely make contact with my irons as they just squirt off the face and roll about 50 yards if I'm lucky. If I hit 300 drivers 300 will fade off to the right and about 190 yards. When I attempt to hit a fairway wood off the ground I pretty much completely miss the ball. For whatever reason i can not get back to even my inconsistant level before lessons. I would kill for pushing every iron to the right with the occasioanal good shot at this point. Anybody have any experiences with this and how do I get out of this Hell?!?
What do you do when you totally lose your swing?
- Thread starter chewitt23
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Richie3Jack
New
For me, I try to not lose my swing to begin with. Sounds sarcastic, but I think what happens with a lot of people that put work and effort into the game is that they start hitting it well, but they forget about the mechanics and stuff that they worked on that got them hitting the ball well. They'll start using their timing more and more and eventually it catches up to them and they get into more trouble than ever before. Then it takes a lot of hard work to get out of those things.
So for starters, you need to find a good instructor. Somebody that can get you out of the problems you are having. Then I would recommend getting a camera. That way you can keep tabs on the stuff you're working on and making sure that you do it. The latter is really hard because it's easy to start hitting the ball pretty well again and then get on the camera and see that you're not doing what you have been working on and say to yourself 'screw it, I'm hitting the ball well.' But, that is probably only temporary.
Certainly, I think Trackman can help. That gives data as to what is going on at impact. Even if you're hitting it like crap, go on a Trackman and you'll see the data of what's going on when you're hitting it like crap.
But, my belief is to get a good instructor that can help you get out of hitting it like crap and get a decent camcorder so you don't fall back into your old, bad habits and if you're motivated enough, use the camera to progress your swing and go back to the instructor to add new pieces to your swing.
3JACK
So for starters, you need to find a good instructor. Somebody that can get you out of the problems you are having. Then I would recommend getting a camera. That way you can keep tabs on the stuff you're working on and making sure that you do it. The latter is really hard because it's easy to start hitting the ball pretty well again and then get on the camera and see that you're not doing what you have been working on and say to yourself 'screw it, I'm hitting the ball well.' But, that is probably only temporary.
Certainly, I think Trackman can help. That gives data as to what is going on at impact. Even if you're hitting it like crap, go on a Trackman and you'll see the data of what's going on when you're hitting it like crap.
But, my belief is to get a good instructor that can help you get out of hitting it like crap and get a decent camcorder so you don't fall back into your old, bad habits and if you're motivated enough, use the camera to progress your swing and go back to the instructor to add new pieces to your swing.
3JACK
hp12c
New
Hey chewitt23,
What I do when my swing feels off, I take my 7 iron and and hit shots to the 100yd, 120yd and 130yd flag. This forces me to use a small swing and also slows down my take away and my contact and direction improves almost immediately. These shots are not high usually low runners, but Im looking for contact and direction. I will also use longer clubs and do the same up and including the driver. Sometimes I get some looks when I chip my driver to the 100yd flag. Mind you its on a tee. As your contac and direction improve aim for you usual 7 iron target and see what happens, if its not your usual shot, start over.
Art
TROYNYGOLFER
New
Che, hard to diagnose anything from the description, but you may be flipping the club. It would explain most of what you have experienced. If you had satisfactory results with your previous instructor, why not see him again? Furthermore, why has it been 3 months since you last saw him?
Let me echo Richie's suggestion to get a good slo-mo camera such as the Casio. What I "feel" I am doing is often a very different thing from what I am actually doing.
Let me echo Richie's suggestion to get a good slo-mo camera such as the Casio. What I "feel" I am doing is often a very different thing from what I am actually doing.
Erik_K
New
Maybe check low point with the bunker drill (old Ben Doyle line in the sand drill). If low point is inconsistent, everything will be off.
As others have suggested, take the 7 iron and make half swings out to the 100 yard marker.
CHIPPING - hit solid chips around the green. This reinforces good contact. Good players know what good chips feel like.
As others have suggested, take the 7 iron and make half swings out to the 100 yard marker.
CHIPPING - hit solid chips around the green. This reinforces good contact. Good players know what good chips feel like.
Jim Kobylinski
Super Moderator
You are underplane and swinging too far inside/out.
I'm thinking of ordering the NSA video to maybe help with this situation. The only thing that worries me is that I feel part of what is going on is that I have way too many thoughts in my head and I'm scared that this will just add more thoughts. I'm sure it will be recommended on this site to order the video. Would it be a good time to get it?
Richie3Jack
New
I'd like to see what Trackman sez or see video of your swing as far as if you are underplane or not. My belief is that there's no 1 thing that automatically causes 1 type of bad result. Usually it's at least a handful of *possible* issues that can cause 1 bad result.
The question becomes if the teacher can identify those handful of possible issues. Then drill down and determine which 1 of the handful is really the culprit. The being able to prescribe the best remedy for that golfer.
It's like the prescription for a 2-way miss. Yeah, I can certainly see why getting underplane can cause a 2 way miss. But I can also see why a golfer who comes OTT and has bad clubface control issues would have 2-way miss issues.
Anyway, if you're looking to eliminate too many thoughts from instruction, I would recommend that you just take one of the things that you were told to work on that you are confident that with some work, you can get down pat. I would get the video camera out and tape yourself every time you hit balls on the range. You probably won't get it down pat at first. But, if you can make progress towards getting it down pat, that's what matters. You may have to tell yourself 'I don't really care what the result is or what I do, as long as I do that 1 thing I'll be happy *for now*.'
Then once that gets down pat. Move on to another part.
3JACK
The question becomes if the teacher can identify those handful of possible issues. Then drill down and determine which 1 of the handful is really the culprit. The being able to prescribe the best remedy for that golfer.
It's like the prescription for a 2-way miss. Yeah, I can certainly see why getting underplane can cause a 2 way miss. But I can also see why a golfer who comes OTT and has bad clubface control issues would have 2-way miss issues.
Anyway, if you're looking to eliminate too many thoughts from instruction, I would recommend that you just take one of the things that you were told to work on that you are confident that with some work, you can get down pat. I would get the video camera out and tape yourself every time you hit balls on the range. You probably won't get it down pat at first. But, if you can make progress towards getting it down pat, that's what matters. You may have to tell yourself 'I don't really care what the result is or what I do, as long as I do that 1 thing I'll be happy *for now*.'
Then once that gets down pat. Move on to another part.
3JACK
Jim Kobylinski
Super Moderator
Yes, you are 100% correct BUT you are a numbers man and you know that while many reasons can be the cause of anything in life each one of those reasons has a certain probability attached to it. My response to his post is based on my experience, his description and those probabilities.
When teaching you won't really need to drill down more than 1 or 2 items, you should be able to know by looking when they hit a few balls to "warm up" what the problem is; essentially narrow it down to the most probable reasons why and go from there.
See my first comment at the top.
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Now could i be wrong and be giving him bad information? Possible, but not probable. Based on what he is describing and what his recent lesson did i made a reasonable recommendation.
Just a little update from the range today. I hit the ball much better than I have been. Just concentrating on slowing down my backswing and keeping my head still helped a lot. One thing I did notice and have noticed in the past is that when shooting at targets on my left I can get through the ball easily but when I'm aiming straight its a little tougher and then aiming right I have no chance. What could this be a product of?
And Jim you are correct, the first thing my teacher noticed in my swing is that Im too flat on the backswing and it results in too much inside out.
Thanks for all the responses guys
And Jim you are correct, the first thing my teacher noticed in my swing is that Im too flat on the backswing and it results in too much inside out.
Thanks for all the responses guys
Frans@France
New
Thank you! Very good advise, tried it and I can agree with it.
Thought I may have turned a corner during the week but went play Saturday and never have hit the ball worse. I basically had to quit after 11 holes. My swing has gotten so bad that a guy in our group that I never met before felt so bad for me that he filmed my swing on the 5th hole and tried to help me mid round. I think the game has just gotten in my head and it's become time to walk a way for a bit and hope that I completely forget everything with hopes to start fresh in a few months. It's heartbreaking but I have no other choice at this point.
Jim Kobylinski
Super Moderator
send me the video
Kevin Shields
Super Moderator
Have you considered going back to the pro who had you hitting it better than ever????
duckjr78
New
I had a moment myself this weekend. 2 under after two holes and by the time I had gotten on the 18th tee, I was laughing at how uncomfortable the club was in my hands. I had gone from "I'm going to shoot a nice round today" to "I don't want to play again for a while." I had totally lost my swing.
Here's what I've done. I only play every other weekend and I get to practice even less. There just isn't a lot of time or money to put into golf right now. So, I've decided to accept how good (or not) I am at the game and work on what will make the most improvement and give me enjoyable time on the links until later in life when I will have more time to devote to the game.
I made a commitment to fix the clubface first and then fix my flip. If I can hit the ball solid, with good impact alignments, I will be happy. Some days, the ball may go left, other days, it will go right. But if I can keep the clubface from being wide open, and keep the shaft leaning forward at impact, I will be happy.
Here's what I've done. I only play every other weekend and I get to practice even less. There just isn't a lot of time or money to put into golf right now. So, I've decided to accept how good (or not) I am at the game and work on what will make the most improvement and give me enjoyable time on the links until later in life when I will have more time to devote to the game.
I made a commitment to fix the clubface first and then fix my flip. If I can hit the ball solid, with good impact alignments, I will be happy. Some days, the ball may go left, other days, it will go right. But if I can keep the clubface from being wide open, and keep the shaft leaning forward at impact, I will be happy.
Now could i be wrong and be giving him bad information? Possible, but not probable. Based on what he is describing and what his recent lesson did i made a reasonable recommendation.
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softconsult
New
I have a couple of observations. First, how old are you? How many years have you played golf? What is your typical score?
To me this is important because the words, "play decently, inconsisently" seem contradictory. If you are shooting 78-85 they mean something different than when they describe someone who can't break 100.
For any of the advice to be useful, you will need to do some homework. Scan down this thread and write down every term you don't understand. For instance, underplane, or axis tilt. Also maybe thin, or topping it. It's obvious that you aren't the lone ranger, so do some searching on this site. It's hard work, but you must learn more about the swing, if you intend to improve based on written advice.
Quitting for awhile, won't work. Your problem is not that you know too much. It's that you know to little. The videos are dirt cheap. They can help. You need to watch each them over and over for it to sink in.
To me this is important because the words, "play decently, inconsisently" seem contradictory. If you are shooting 78-85 they mean something different than when they describe someone who can't break 100.
For any of the advice to be useful, you will need to do some homework. Scan down this thread and write down every term you don't understand. For instance, underplane, or axis tilt. Also maybe thin, or topping it. It's obvious that you aren't the lone ranger, so do some searching on this site. It's hard work, but you must learn more about the swing, if you intend to improve based on written advice.
Quitting for awhile, won't work. Your problem is not that you know too much. It's that you know to little. The videos are dirt cheap. They can help. You need to watch each them over and over for it to sink in.
I will eventually but the prospect of spending $85 to hit the ball well for two weeks then go to the worst I've ever played for 3 months isn't very appealing at the moment.
I don't think I know too much, but I do think I have too many things going on in my head when I stand over the ball when before I really cared to get better I could just get over the ball and swing and seemed to have better results.
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