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When it all goes down the tube...


mmoan2
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Sand Trap Nation-

I need some help. I've been playing for about two years pretty regularly and I'm getting much more consistent. I just invested in a few full swing lessons about 2 months ago, have greatly improved such things as my tempo, grip pressure, swing plane, forward hip action, etc. However, today I had a major setback that I thought would never happen again. I got about 90 balls at the range, was planning on warming up with about 20 half-3 quarter iron shots and then concentrating on my driver because it doomed me on Saturday's round. My first shot was a half PW that I hit high and right. No biggie. Then I hit a few better ones, and then a few full shots right down the middle about 135-140 which is my normal PW full swing distance. Great. Then I pulled my 7-iron out. Hit one or two cleanly, but right. Then another right. Then I shanked one totally right. I straightened a few out but just didn't have the "feel" for my irons that I've had for several months now. Then it got worse. Much worse. An hour later, I was raking and beating balls, which I promised I'd never do again, hitting one 7-iron after another about 110 yards high in the air way right. Worse, yet, a storm was coming and there was about a 25 mph left-right wind at my back, so the slice effect was multiplied. I pulled my trusty hybrid out and was doing the same thing, only they were going even higher and further right. I knew consciously I was hitting way over the top, so I kept concentrating on trying to make an inside-out swing, but it made things worse. I shanked more balls today than I have in 6 months. It's like my muscle memory totally disappeared from my body and I was swinging a golf club for the first time. 2 weeks ago I was hitting my 7-iron one after the other to an 180 yard green like it was easy. Today I actually broke down and started hitting 1/2 shots with a split-hand baseball grip just to remember what clean contact on the club face felt like. I must've looked like Happy Gilmore.

Anyway, my question is this: has anyone else with pretty decent experience ever experienced this phenomena like a "golf vampire" has snuck up on you and sucked all of your game out of you? This used to happen to me once in a while when I had no clue and had been playing for 3 months, but now? If so, what are some tips you have to get the groove back? I tried calming down, backing off and taking practice swings, relaxing my forearms and hands, swinging with my Medicus, praying to the Almighty, hopping around on one leg while patting my head... Help! If this happens on Saturday when I play a full round, I may get arrested!

Thanks anyone...

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Two years? You're still beginning. Here's the bad part: this will happen to you over and over throughout your golfing career unless you become a sub-par golfer. Even the single caps that I know enter into an ocassional stretch where they feel like they've forgotten how to hit a ball.

Here's the good part: there are actually ways to get out of the funk. Usually these take the form of certain drills you use on the practice range. Coming over the top? Use the water bottle drill where you put a plastic (1/3 full) water bottle about 10" behind and 2" outside your ball to force an in-out swing. There's also a device instructors use that consists of a horizontal rod positioned directly behind you that forces a flatter plane (look it up - you can probably build one). Another thing I will do when I'm skunking is, as you hinted, go back to basics and hit ONLY 1/2 swing punch shots. DO NOT go to full swing. Hit punches for two weeks straight.

The point is, you have to be pro-active and have a purpose, not just beat balls aimlessly. If you take a few lessons (or watch Michael Breed on Golf Fix) you will learn more of these drills I am talking about, and which ones fit which situation. Good luck!

dak4n6

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Thanks for the vote of confidence. Golf is the only sport I've ever played that makes you feel that helpless. I've seen the drills you've mentioned and I check out the Golf Fix once in a while. It's just funny how you can make progress, progress, and then BAM! You feel like a first-time hack. Tonight it's back to the range with a new purpose...

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I've considered doing this as well (switching to half swing punches when I'm not hitting well).  I'm just getting to the point where I make consistent, ball-first contact, without hitting thin, but everyone once in a while I'll have a range session where I feel like I'm hitting every other shot fat.

Do you think limiting to half-swing punches is a good way to fix this?

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Wait till it happens to you on the course, that really sucks!  I've been playing for thirty years and it still happens, thank God not that often but it happens. I tend to come over the top (outside in) so I purchased the "Slice Eliminator". I take it to the range and it really works. It forces you to use an inside out swing, otherwise you hit the darn thing. I'll hit 30 to 40 balls with the irons, then go to the hybrids and up to the fairway woods and driver. It helps you get in that groove and stay there. Like someone said earlier, you can probably make one but for the $30 bucks or so I found to be worth it.

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I can totally sympathise as I have this happen to me all the time. I have been playing and practicing 2 years now and can for no reason loose the feeling of how to strike the ball. This happens out the blue and I cannot fix it. Then all of a sudden it comes back.

I am at the stage now were I think I will never get a consitant strike. Its a mistery as I feel Im doing the same but it does  ot happen

Only grace is Im glad its not just me as I was begining to think i was abnormal

I dont even know anymore what is right or wrong about my swing

Pete

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Sand Trap Nation- I need some help. I've been playing for about two years pretty regularly and I'm getting much more consistent. I just invested in a few full swing lessons about 2 months ago, have greatly improved such things as my tempo, grip pressure, swing plane, forward hip action, etc. However, today I had a major setback that I thought would never happen again. I got about 90 balls at the range, was planning on warming up with about 20 half-3 quarter iron shots and then concentrating on my driver because it doomed me on Saturday's round. My first shot was a half PW that I hit high and right. No biggie. Then I hit a few better ones, and then a few full shots right down the middle about 135-140 which is my normal PW full swing distance. Great. Then I pulled my 7-iron out. Hit one or two cleanly, but right. Then another right. Then I shanked one totally right. I straightened a few out but just didn't have the "feel" for my irons that I've had for several months now. Then it got worse. Much worse. An hour later, I was raking and beating balls, which I promised I'd never do again, hitting one 7-iron after another about 110 yards high in the air way right. Worse, yet, a storm was coming and there was about a 25 mph left-right wind at my back, so the slice effect was multiplied. I pulled my trusty hybrid out and was doing the same thing, only they were going even higher and further right. I knew consciously I was hitting way over the top, so I kept concentrating on trying to make an inside-out swing, but it made things worse. I shanked more balls today than I have in 6 months. It's like my muscle memory totally disappeared from my body and I was swinging a golf club for the first time. 2 weeks ago I was hitting my 7-iron one after the other to an 180 yard green like it was easy. Today I actually broke down and started hitting 1/2 shots with a split-hand baseball grip just to remember what clean contact on the club face felt like. I must've looked like Happy Gilmore. Anyway, my question is this: has anyone else with pretty decent experience ever experienced this phenomena like a "golf vampire" has snuck up on you and sucked all of your game out of you? This used to happen to me once in a while when I had no clue and had been playing for 3 months, but now? If so, what are some tips you have to get the groove back? I tried calming down, backing off and taking practice swings, relaxing my forearms and hands, swinging with my Medicus, praying to the Almighty, hopping around on one leg while patting my head... Help! If this happens on Saturday when I play a full round, I may get arrested! Thanks anyone...

You left out the part when you got struck by lightening...... I have some days where my body is sore and won't work for me and every shot is crap. Except I don't feel that bad. Usually I go a day or two without playing and reset myself. I need to hit the range today to sort out my driver. :p

"My ball is on top of a rock in the hazard, do I get some sort of relief?"

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Thanks for all the replies everyone. I noticed a lot of mid-handicappers responding with similar experiences here.  I think the greatest frustration, is the feeling that the "crappy ball striking disease" might strike at any time, like an onset of the flu. It's really interesting to me, though, because I have pretty good athletic accolades and no other sport has ever done this to me. I was an all-conference high school football player at DE, and it's not like one day at practice I just forgot how to tackle and started whiffing when a RB would come at me. I also played college baseball as a pitcher, and although I didn;t have my best stuff every day, it's not like one day I had a 90 mph fastball and then suddenly I couldn;t break 75 on the gun. With golf, in all seriousness just two weeks ago I was hitting 7-iron after 7-iron 180 yards either right on or somewhere very close to the target green, and then I could barely hit the same club 120 yards straighter than 45 degrees to the right. I came to the range planning on WARMING UP with a 7-iron to work on my driver and 3 wood, hoping I had an outside chance at breaking 75 the following Saturday. Well, tomorrow is that following Saturday and I'm not going anywhere near a golf course, except to practice. I might need to take out an insurance policy!

I think I've found a few things that will help the "mid-handicapper-crappy-ball-striking-disease" go away a bit:

The advice to take a few days off is good. Usually when this happens to me, a few days off allows the body to hit the reset button.

I think golf is not a totally linear pattern of improvement upward. You need to be realistic. Expect a few days of putridness and just accept them.

Continue to improve on what you think you're good at when you are hitting the ball well. I heard that it takes over 5000 proper swings to form a good habit. Well, if you have 4 major swing faults, that's about 20000 swings before you've got it ingrained. One month of good ball striking is almost like fool's gold for a newbie like me.

Find the drills and swing aids that REALLY help you. Honestly, some aids might make you think you're getting better, but they're ingraining band-aid cures that hurt you in the long run.

Videotape your swing and find an instructor you trust. One $60 lesson may reveal things you weren't even aware of.

Remember to enjoy yourself. That's what it's all about, right? Or is it to win 18 skins in a row from that cigar-chomping jacko with a $5000 bag of clubs? I always forget...

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Several years ago I went on a golf trip to Pinehurst NC with a large group of buddies.  Golf all day, cards all night.  We had multiple team and individual games with stakes riding on them.  The first day, I was on fire.  I was pounding the ball and my short game was dialed in.  I shot a 77 on a super tough course the first time I had seen it.  I was totally feeling it.  At this time, I was a single digit handicap but had been on a lull and not playing a whole lot for a couple of months.  The next day, all of a sudden, I couldn't hit an iron to save my life.  I mean, the low push, the hozzel rocket, the it looks like I've never picked up a club before, it rhymes with thanks.  Full shots, chips, off of tees, fairway, it didn't matter.  And the bad part was I had 2 more days of golf to go.  After that trip was over, I didn't even think about playing golf for a month.  Another month I thought about it, but didn't do it.  Slowly, I got back out to the range and course and worked through it.  To this day, I have no idea what happened and it hasn't happened since.  But lurking in the back of my mind, the experience of that couple days is still lingering.  It's like golf voodoo or something.

The most difficult distance in golf is the six inches between your ears.

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I wrote an article - thought I would post it here as it may help.

Form can be a mysterious thing; when we have it, we believe we will never lose it. When it is gone, we think we will never see it again. This happens to every player regardless of their level. Tour pro’s can go for months without making a cut, often soon after winning a tournament. And the average handicap player also experiences the same highs and lows. I talked about this extensively during a different article, and how to keep working on things that will be productive to your future success rather than your immediate results. However, understanding this article will help you to ride the peaks and troughs a little easier whilst they are occurring, and even minimise the amplitude of the form.
Most players will call this idea ‘consistency’; I see this word as the biggest illusion of all in golf. Probably the number one goal of my clients when I ask them is “to be more consistent”. If questioned further as to what exactly this means to them, they either don’t really know, or in most cases they throw out an impossible dream of “to hit every shot well”. This idea alone is one of the biggest factors contributing to their lack of consistency. The whole philosophy that it is possible to hit every shot well all the time is very destructive; you could call it positive psychology gone wrong. Whilst I am all for trying (to a certain extent) to visualise positive outcomes, you simply cannot have this as an expectation.
Even after 30,000 hours of practice, we never achieve anywhere close to perfection
The average tour player hits just over 60% of fairways, 60% of greens and gets up and down just over 50% of the time. When I tell clients that from 7 feet away, a professional holes out just above 50% of the putts, they are often surprised – yet they have preconceived ideas that they should hole every one of them and that they are doing something drastically wrong if they don’t. Even when it says 60%, this may be one day of 80%, and the next day of only 40% averaging out over time. It is not that a tour player is really any more consistent, it is that their overall level of play is of a greater standard. By following the advice from last week's post, you can ensure that your overall level is higher every year.
Components of consistency
There are a million and one factors involved in how you play, but here I have identified some of the ones I feel are especially important.
• Ability that day – this is ever changing. Factors such as co-ordination, proprioception, balance, fatigue all have a massive influence on this. These variables can fluctuate wildly from day to day.
• Emotional stability – a combination of arousal levels (anxiety, boredom, excitement) and your ability to control these levels.
• Conscious thought levels – how much are you thinking? Too little? Too much? Too analytical?
• Expectations – what is your strategy? Are you attacking the pins or playing safe? Are you expecting a certain score, or trying to hit a club further than normal? Are you playing for your best shots or your average ones, or even unrealistic ones?
• Confidence levels – how secure do you feel over the ball. How easy was it to commit to your decision and block out danger/focus on what you wanted.
• Perception of shot - Did the result surprise you in any way – good or bad?
• Result – what was the result? Cold hard data relating to your average shots
This is a lot to take in, I understand. But you don’t have to. Just read it, then apply my suggestions at the end to get the benefits; understanding this will, however, help in the application of the suggestions. Form is a complex interconnected web of all of the above components (and many more). Let’s look at real world example of what happens when we ‘Have it’.
I’ve got it! The shortest joke in golf
As we are going through a good patch, our ability (for whatever reasons) is high and our results are therefore good. Our confidence goes up as the results are higher than our expectations at this current time. This naturally increases our expectations, and our strategy gets more aggressive (firing at tight pins, hitting one club less, but harder than normal). This can work wonderfully whilst our skill level is high, but it will always drop down to more average levels at some point. Whilst the results are better than our expectations, or at least match them, our emotional levels are good and levels of conscious thought are low, leading to good performance still.
The fall from grace
So why do we lose it? If we stay in the above state for too long (sometimes it can be a single shot for beginners who don’t know better), changes occur. The main changes are in our ability and our expectations. It is simply a law of nature that our best play cannot be held for long periods of time (or it wouldn’t be our best play now would it). Unfortunately, when our play drops back down to average levels, we are left with higher than normal expectations and confidence that is too high. It could also be a case that our ability remains the same (high) but our expectations shoot up disproportionately faster. It would look something like this:
So we try to hit our best shots all the time, taking on tight pins and hitting irons harder, but this time our ability to produce that may be slightly lower, leading to more mistakes, leading to dropped shots, leading to frustrations and lowered confidence, leading to over thinking, leading to lowered performance, leading to the start of the ‘downward spiral’.
The downward spiral can last days, weeks, months, or even a year or more. Players continue with their high expectations, get frustrated with their results and the whole thing compounds on itself until they finally reach their lowest ebb.
I want to quit – followed by the uprising
The amount of times I have said this, or heard other players say this is frightening. This is when you are at your lowest point – you put the sticks away as you feel you will never get it back. It feels like the end of your golfing career as the harder you try to get out, the deeper you dig yourself in (trying too hard is one of the mistakes here). But fear not, you will get it back (or if you have played golf long enough, you know that it does and has come back). It’s almost like a lightswitch going off, the turnaround can be very very quick. It is largely attributed to one thing – your expectation.
As you have reached the pit of golfing depression, your mind basically says “that’s it, I can’t take any more. I’m just going to stop trying to search for that perfect golf game I had and settle for mediocrity – just be happy duffing it around and enjoy the walk and fresh air”. BANG – expectation lowered. Now the table looks something like this;
So now, when we hit a bad shot, it doesn’t bother us. Our expectation is very low, so it doesn’t matter. But when we hit even the most average of shots, as it is better than our expectations it jolts our confidence a little in a positive direction. “Maybe I can play this game a little after all”, you say to yourself. Confidence levels increase slightly, perception of results stay high, levels of conscious thought stay low – a perfect concoction for a raise in form out of a slump.
Aaaaand the cycle starts again.
So what can we do?
Once again, this article has turned into a longer one than expected, so I will add more to it at a later date. Unless you are Ritalin infused, you probably need to click on a different link to refresh your concentration. But I will leave you with this.
We have looked at the interconnectivity of some mental and physical components of consistency. For most people, this cycle purely HAPPENS TO THEM. Maybe those of you who are new to the game can gain a lot of insight from this cycle; awareness of the cycle alone can help you deal with it and avoid falling too deep into a slump. If you have been playing golf many years, you will likely have laughed your way through the article as you identified with the information on a deep level. But stop being a victim of your external environment - the result. We are largely out of control with what result happens on a day to day basis - but we are in control of how we deal with that result in terms of perception, our expectations, our emotions and our conscious thought levels.
You do have some level of control over this
Understanding that consistency is largely an illusion will help you greatly. You can relax a little more when times are tough, safe in the knowledge that it will come back. Understanding that being at your peak is not going to last forever can also help you avoid being overconfident – a strange concept which leads to over aggressive play and higher expectations and a potential fall from grace. Balance is the key here, avoid being too high and too low and you will maintain consistency and good play for a longer time, and get out of poor play much quicker too. Notice when you are on an upswing – take measures to control it. Notice when you’re on a downswing - take measures to limit it.
But the main lesson is, continue to work on things that will further you in the future, rather than chasing the dragon of good shots now. the good shots will come (and go) in time, if the correct things are worked on. I have seen Erik also state that he doens't mind shanking it if he knows he is ingraining a good move. All good players understand this - the idea of delayed gratification. I know it was a long read, but simple ideas sometimes need to be filled out in order for people to fully buy into the idea.
In summary - forget about it. Form comes and goes for everyone, no matter how good you are.
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Nice article Adam,

to the OP, it happens to all of us.  Sometimes something is going on and we get too frustrated to correct it at that moment.  My calming thought is to "Go back to basics" and start fresh.  Work through what your Pro talked and start over if you want to keep at it that day.  On the course, same thing, back to basics on your practice swing and think of target on the real swing.  You can recover after a bad patch.

Scott

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Originally Posted by Adam Young

In summary - forget about it. Form comes and goes for everyone, no matter how good you are.

This is a good article, and I've felt this way inside. I guess what defines consistency, though, is that the peaks and valleys are not so markedly different. A pro may miss many cuts in a row after winning a tournament, but he or she won;t suddenly start duffing the ball and shooting in the 90s. If I could just make my bad shots not totally awful, I'd consider that progress enough.

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Youre simply trying too hard and putting too much pressure on yourself.  You are focusing too much on your mechanics and whats, "wrong" with your swing and its causing tension and an inability to hit decent shots because you are focused on doing too many things at once.

Focus on your target and having a clear mental image of the shot you want and let the swing take care of itself.

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Originally Posted by mmoan2

This is a good article, and I've felt this way inside. I guess what defines consistency, though, is that the peaks and valleys are not so markedly different. A pro may miss many cuts in a row after winning a tournament, but he or she won;t suddenly start duffing the ball and shooting in the 90s. If I could just make my bad shots not totally awful, I'd consider that progress enough.

Just wanted to caution, though, that to a pro, missing a bunch of cuts in a row after winning IS THE SAME THING to you or me as duffing and shooting in the 90s. To them, that is the PITS.

So, it's all relative. It happens to them, it happens to us. I wish my son could understand this message - he self-destructs after 2 bad holes in a row.

dak4n6

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  • 2 years later...

This is an older thread, but I had a similar experience today. I went to the dome to hit some balls. Hit a few with my wedges, irons, wood & driver. Maybe a little over ~30 total. All and all fairly decent shots...about what I am used to.

Then something happened. Seemingly out of the blue. I wasn't able to hit ANYTHING. Went back to the wedge and started shanking. I tried multiple times on different irons as well and could not hit anything. It was really as if I had never hit a golf ball before and was a complete beginner. I am a relative beginner, but played over 80 rounds this season and have been shooting in the mid/high 90s for the past several weeks. This is so perplexing and I share many of the observations of the OP. It's as though all my muscle memory disappeared and/or my body just shut down!

Needless to say this is a scary and demoralizing incident. I take some comfort from the comments above that things do turn around. What a strange sport.

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If it's any consolation, I started the thread and two years later, going down the tube for me is not what it was then, or what it seems like you're experiencing now. I think what's difficult to realize is that your swing on the awful shots is probably not much different from what happened for the first 30 shots, but the awful ball flight makes it seem like your coordination went missing on you. That's the puzzling part. I would recommend spending time working on one specific thing, or just go home and forget about it. Banging your head against the wall is a waste of time.

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I think what's difficult to realize is that your swing on the awful shots is probably not much different from what happened for the first 30 shots


Thanks for the feedback mmoan2. I am pretty sure you are right and that my swing mechanics are mostly the same whether the shot is perceived to be good or bad. Although in this case, it went beyond mechanics (I think). I believe that something gets turned off almost like a short circuiting. Then its quitting time and a full reset is needed. Time needs to elapse.

Anyway, I decided to get additional instruction (with a pro) as the season is pretty much over where I am at. We are already tweaking my grip and stance as initial steps. Hope to come out the other end stronger (and better).

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Note: This thread is 3405 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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