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Old dog -- new tricks


RC
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Among the members here, it is likely not too many have played golf longer than I've been playing the game with a relatively low handicap, so one would expect basics to be fairly normal. During all that time there have been countless times of slumps, coming out of slumps, and a few shining times when the game seemed in hand. So imagine my surprise to find yesterday that a slow, gradual change in my golf grip was the main source for a recent slump that has been driving me crazy. It was not a plane problem, nor a turn or timing issue, nor any of the things I thought it might be... it was a simple grip problem.

Here's my point... Hogan started with the grip as the key, and most teachers do as well, so even those of you that have been playing for decades, do you need to check your grip and see if over time you have allowed something to creep into it you really don't want. I'm not suggesting this is something for everyone but going back to basics surely produced a more solid shot after some recent bad ball striking. I had let my left hand get so weak the Hogan crease of the left thumb and forefinger was actually pointing left of my chin... just too weak. Like many things is golf, a little of something might be OK temporarily, but if you do it even a little more (if it is outside the agreed fundamentals) it eventually leads to problems. I can think of a half dozen errors of this nature, e.g., lining up open, hitting a few good shots, so line up a little more open -- pretty soon you are just too open, or same thing starting closed, etc.

Anyone else fall into these kinds of traps or am I just dim witted and fall into a bad habit through lack of thought?

RC

 

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I have many more issues than you probably do, but I was letting my grip get just a wee bit progressively stronger through the summer last year, and it was causing problems. I really didn't catch on, but two things seemed to help, for whatever reason. First, watching while hitting range balls as my daughter was taking a lesson, the pro noticed she had been letting her grip get a little weaker, which got me taking stock of where my grip was at the time. Second, when I went to slightly larger grips, it seemed to help, and I have no idea why, maybe easier to put the strong, death clutch on the grip with the smaller grips.

Frankly, the other "little" thing from which all starts to go wrong for me is simply not getting lined up, I really have to pay attention to that. Who knows, maybe one of the ways I was compensating for lining up too far right was strengthening my grip. When my grip and alignment are good, things seem to go well.

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This game can drive you crazy.

Those little things that creep into your swing start a chain reaction of other things and before you know it, you've got a real problem. You make some other adjustment to compensate and that works a while but sooner or later, you know you are not hitting solid shots. The alignment problem you mentioned is one of those things. You pointed out lining up closed, I tend to line up open, so I started hitting push balls with a weaker grip. They go pretty straight but not as flush and start landing a little short. Soon there was the occasional pull, and then the scores start going up -- but no matter the case, we always find a way to do something else to compensate, and it will catch up with you.

I finally figured out the "grip creep" and made the correction and it was like magic -- one small bucket balls was all it took, solid shot after solid shot, face on plane, full release, and it seemed so much easier to line up at the target. Now I am excited to play as soon as possible and we have an ice storm predicted tonight... bummer. I can barely wait to get back out. This game really is a life time of craziness.

RC

 

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Life time of craziness, yeah... I haven't been at it that long, but I can tell that's the lure of the game. I'd like to believe that Fred Shoemaker and Tim Gallway are right, that the golf swing can be an unconsciously directed act and we don't have to observe all the little details, but I think it that is only part of the truth.

I have noticed so many times that some part of the swing is dead on for months. I begin to monitor it less carefully, or not at all, or I monitor it but my perception of correct gets distorted (either more of the correction that was needed so long ago, or less) and I begin to execute that part of the swing poorly. As you describe, swing goes to pot, but the part of the swing where it feels wrong is usually not where the problem lies. Common faults are the ones that have been mentioned, grip and aim. Also spine angle, degree of knee bend, a little give in the hands at the first few inches of takeaway... And then there are the new faults that creep in that had never been a problem before.

But that is a big part of the fascination of the game, the challenge to be cognitively aware of all of these parts, and then to put aside cognition and let a more primitive part of the brain execute. What fills me with awe of the game is that you are not the first 2 handicap to tell me this challenge never goes away.
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Great post.

I find that I sometimes will inadvertantly change my grip to correct......maybe mask is a better term.....other problems that creep into my swing. The root issue might be alignment, a plane issue, or just laziness (it's hell to get old ), but it's easy to make a subtle, unconscious grip adjustment to "correct" the problem without even realizing that I'm doing so. When I do notice a change in my grip, the first thing that I do is to look for the root cause that prompted my subconscious to make it in the first place. I'm seldom unable to find one.

In David's bag....

Driver: Titleist 910 D-3;  9.5* Diamana Kai'li
3-Wood: Titleist 910F;  15* Diamana Kai'li
Hybrids: Titleist 910H 19* and 21* Diamana Kai'li
Irons: Titleist 695cb 5-Pw

Wedges: Scratch 51-11 TNC grind, Vokey SM-5's;  56-14 F grind and 60-11 K grind
Putter: Scotty Cameron Kombi S
Ball: ProV1

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Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

This whole topic reminds me of something like a bunch of guys sitting in a bar late at night, discussing how we understand women. Golf is that complicated at times, and other times it seems so easy.

Reading each of you tells me that these little balancing acts are universal and we are usually always somewhere along the spectrum of moving upward, moving downward, or gloriously, but temporarily, balanced on the pinnicale of the pyramid. I truly admire those that never slip that far from the top and can rebalance quickly -- to me that is the greatest of golf skills and why the best teachers always say knowledge and being your own best coach is so important.

No matter the golfer, you know down-inside yourself when a score or your ball striking is "disappointing." We have a number or a level of play and when we don't get there -- and handicap is not really important in this observation. It is a personal thing. So, the enitre point of this post is just to remind myself and others it is the little things that we need to check -- before they become big things.

Yeah, the game is crazy, but it is a great quest.

RC

 

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Note: This thread is 5485 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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