Did your swing ever suddenly desert you?

[McGolf-Doggie]

Did your swing ever suddenly desert you inexplicably, only to return days? weeks? or even a month later?

I'm new to the game -- 3 years -- and a middle-aged hacker with no handicap. I practice a lot but rarely get to take it out to the course.

Things were going great yesterday, then 3/4 way through a range session (half bucket LW / half bucket 7-iron) suddenly I'm repeatedly topping shots, the occasional fat shot, and also hitting a few hosel rockets without a clue as to why.

What's your experience? Any remedy ideas?

Just a few weeks ago I was hitting the 4-iron reliably enough to put it back in my bag with confidence.

I'm just amazed at how quickly things can change with this game sometimes, it's unlike any other sport I've done, and I've done a lot.

[Brakkus]

I feel you buddy just happened,was hitting great up until winter this year,made some small changes which over a course of a few months ruined my ball contact.All I did was move the ball a little forward and also through some trial and error realised my right arm was crumpling through impact due to hitting it too hard.

Put the ball back in my stance a ball width,worked on some tempo drills,the feet together drill very effective,and let that right arm really extend past impact,the divots returned,and good contact.

[Damien45]

I totally know how you feel! My irons walked out like I was cheating on them when I got my driver working.....Hateful. lol

I have decided to take April and hit the range, get the tempo and groove going again. Hopefully it will help. I just want consistancy and a straight driver and decent distance with my irons.

[Dub]

Yes it has....and it is almost always a result of me making two critical mistakes:

1. Swaying verses pivoting
2. tempo changes...usually rush it on the backswing

Everything seems to fall in line when I relax and pivot behind the ball smoothly and slowly and then fire through the shot to a full, balanced finish.

It seems so simple when it's going well and unfathomably dismal when I'm off.

[RocketSauce]

yep, it has happened to me. a few years ago all of a sudden i just started slicing the hell out of my irons.
and just recently my buddy couldnt drive the ball to save his life. 2 months later though and he got it all worked out

[JetFan1983]

Yup! As a 17 handicapper, this is obviously my biggest problem. One round I shoot an 88 and the next I shoot a 107. A lot of it has to do with swaying (as another poster above stated). Mostly it has to do with the fact that my spine angle does not remain constant on my backswing, most notably with the driver. If you can't keep your spine angle constant (aka, keeping your head still for, say, 90% of the swing), you will be plagued by inconsistency day to day.

Just make sure you fill your brain with tons of reliable golf information, whether it be from your teacher or from a book you believe in. Go to the range with the intent of practicing that one specific thing and do it until it becomes engrained into your swing. Keep "adding" to your swing in this way. It takes years. Eventually though your swing will become repeatable, just make sure it's a good swing and not a bad one!

[GaijinGolfer]

I have my days when my ballstriking just isnt very good. I also sometimes catch myself trying to swing harder than I should, which throws my tempo way off and totally messes up my swing.
When that happens, you just gotta focus on tempo and just get back to the basics. You gotta chalk it up to the fact that no matter how good you are at this game, you are going to have your good days and your bad days.

[Guest]

Here is an idea that I think will help.

As soon as you get to the range, take half shots with a 7 iron and concentrate on hitting the ball with the sweet spot of the iron. Only concentrate on that for about 10 to 15 shots.

That should help out a lot. Don't ever get to the range and start hitting full shots right off the bat. Even the best players start out hitting small wedge shots and work their way to the longer irons.

If it helps, just start out chipping the ball about 20 or 30 yards with the 7 iron, but keep your concentration on hitting the ball with the sweet spot.

If your swing deserts you during the practice, immediately go back to this drill. I think you will find that it works and will make you a better golfer and help you practice more consistently.

[jojoampt]

Oh dear god yes! I played baseball all the way up through 11th grade, so when I took up golf I had a REALLY bent knee stance when hitting my driver. I could seriously BEAT the ball though (260-280 yards on average) Well, about two months ago I wanted to get away from the bent knees, not because I wasnt hitting it well though... I wanted to change because I just felt like I looked ridiculous! I committed to making the change, and tried and tried and tried. I couldnt hit the ball for crap standing upright. About two weeks ago, I said screw it, im going back to the bent knees! Huge problem! Since I had been trying to stand upright for the last month and a half, now I didnt feel comfortable in my old bent knee stance. So basically, no matter how I stood, I didnt feel comfortable. I was really stressed because I had a trip to Bandon Dunes planned (just got back yesterday) Well, we literally pulled into Bandon Oregon at about 7 oclock and it was almost dark. They have a little public course right as you roll into town, so we stopped to hit a quick bucket before dark. BOOYAH! All of a sudden something just clicked! I was standing straight and BEATING the ball! I drove sooo good the entire three days at Bandon. Whew, just in time! I feel soo confident over the driver now. Ive just been using the swing thought, "compact, compact, sit down on the ball" and it works amazing. Sometimes I think thats all it takes is a good swing thought to have in your head to cure things. THANK GOD!

[Chilli Dipper]

When I lose my swing, the result is a dead hook. It happened to me on the back nine of a round I was walking last week. I have come to realize that the process is caused by muscle tightness and fatigue, coming from either not stretching prior to a round (when I start terribly but come into form over the first few holes), or losing energy over the course of the round (such as walking 18 holes without packing something to eat). Either way, the result is that I rotate my upper body through the ball on the downswing without clearing my left (trailing) shoulder under my right, which shifts my weight too far forward and closes the clubface at impact. It's hard to correct during the round once it sits in, because it's hard to get loose again once your body gets tenser as you realize what's happening.

[clubhousehero]

Yep. Yesterday i was killing the ball with my irons at the range. Today i played a round and just counld not hit my irons at all but i think i figured it out and by the 12th hole. My irons weren't great after that but much better. I even had a birdie on a par 3 thanks to a great first shot and a pretty nice putt.

But yea the first 11 holes were reall ugly, like 58 on the front ugly. Thanks mostly to my irons.

[McGolf-Doggie]

Thanks for all the advice and support. Relief to know I'm not alone on this one.


Here's the irony: I had recently begun to concentrate on my short game, which had been putrid and neglected.

So I've been concentrating a lot on wedges, in particular the lob wedge. Things really improved there dramatically, but when I went back to the irons (which had been good) uh oh, things were no longer happy.

Played a quick nine hole course today (45) the wedges again went well, putting too, but the irons — not so good still — topped a few too many, even off the tee. Whiffed twice !! which was hard to believe.
(Just had to get an all-too-rare trip around an actual course before going on a business trip.)

Came home and took some divots in the back yard with a 4 iron afterward. The divot angle looked good and things seemed back on track.

I'll be going over the thread a few times again, for sure.

[jewestcoast]

I am going through this also and it is painful, very painful. Because I am not a student of the golf swing (admittedly) I am not sure where these horrible misses come from.
An example: I am going along fine, like yesterday, even par on the back and stand on the tee to hit a 5 iron on a 185 yard par 3. I cold shank it dead right, it hits a tree and travels about 35 yards. I walk up and hit an 8 iron to 12 feet, right on target. That makes no sense.
As much as I would like to blame it on my new iron set I know this isn't the culprit. It is me. And my crappy, irregular swing. The piece of this that is worst of all is the implosion of my confidence ....
I can't seem to get that shank out of my mind, even after it is followed by some pure shots. This game provides some real time entertainment, that is certain.

[JetFan1983]

I am going through this also and it is painful, very painful. Because I am not a student of the golf swing (admittedly) I am not sure where these horrible misses come from.

A few possibilities for the dead shank to the right:

1) An uneven tee-box, ball below your feet. You lose balance a bit, causing your body to stand upright so you don't fall over. Shank right. 2) You hit the ball with the hosel or close to the hosel, maybe too steep of an approach on the down swing? Hmmm, what else causes that weak dribbler to the right? You're a 4 handicap so whatever the problem is, it's going to be very subtle and always simple- something you won't have a problem fixing once you pinpoint it. So, I think you are very much under-estimating your ability to play this game at a high level! Keep that confidence up! Wanna trade handicaps? Didn't think so! Get back to that tee-box and take a couple practice shots there to regain that confidence.

[MiniMoe]

it happens to everyone even pros. But when their swing goes bad, most people don't notice because they are very good at using what they have to get the ball in the hole. Don't think too much about it and use the time to work on fundamentals and short game and see how well you recover from bad swings. Work on course management and picking the right shot to minimize what kind of trouble a bad swing will get you into.

[NickB]

I've had my swing desert me in the last week or so. I was hitting my irons so consistently but was hitting 300+ balls a day for like a week. Well this week my hands feel weak, tired, and I feel uncoordinated to be honest. Its almost as if my hand-eye coordination is gone and now I have the shanks BADLY, I'm talking, no matter how hard I concentrate I am shanking it dead right and if not, I'm topping. Basically it is impossible to get the ball in the air. My wedge play has been superb through all of this and my putting as well. I really can't put my finger on it. Maybe just take a rest? Maybe arthritis? I am only 22 but hadn't been playing after a 2 year hiatus only to come back and hit things a little hard. When I clinch my right hand, I can feel almost some popping in my fingers, nothing really painful, just something that was never there before. Any ideas?

[Zeph]

Some years ago at hcp 36 I lost it completely. Didn't play or practice much at the time, couldn't hit anything. We visited a new course, I left it at hole 17 after hitting my second ball out of bounds. I had some good shots, but no way near consistency.

Today it's turned around, I usually hit it good, but have some bad shots that give me blow-ups on a round. My knowledge of the swing is also much better today. I know my swing better. By analyzing the ball flight I can tell what I did wrong. It's primarily one of three things. Hitting it fat, pull-hook it or push-slice it. The first is just a bad swing, the last two is a result of an over-the-top swing or trying to prevent one. If I come over the top I push it to the left, if I try to fix it and fail, I push-slice it. Primarily with the driver, the irons are a lot more consistent, though some struggling with a pull, again a result of coming over-the-top.

[ZaPPPa]

Happens to me every once in a while. Through all my practice sessions I have found several solutions that often work quite well:

A) If short on time, forget about the full swing and finish the bucket with just pitches.
B) Really focus on the long swing. Check every single aspect of the swing, from grip to finish.. Keep getting new buckets until I start hitting it right again.
C) If all fails, give up trying. No kidding. Accept the fact that you hit bad shots. Relax your arms, wrists, back.. everything. Try a smooth 3/4 swing at 10 yards less of your normal distance.. No swingthoughts! Just swing. Last time I did this my shanks disappeared immediately and didn't come back. (I was tensing up without realizing it). My PW or 9I are best for this.

Most importantly I want to leave the range/course with a good feeling. If I leave with a crappy attitude I'll just eat myself up for the rest of the day and beyond. If it takes an extra bucket or two, so be it. My fiancee would rather see me come home late but happy than early but upset.