Breaking Out of a Slump

Every golfer has endured a slump or two – days or weeks when your game just isn’t what it could be. For the pros, these slumps produce missed cuts (or T2s at majors if his name is Tiger Woods). For amateurs, these slumps produce lost bets, frustration, and – in some cases – humiliation. Many vow to quit the game during prolonged slumps (and a few even follow through).

Here then are my list of the top five ways to get yourself out of a slump. They’re tried and true methods, and some may even be able to work their way into your regular practice routine.

Number Five: Take Time Off
Sometimes, you can get yourself so worked up that the best thing for your game can be to give it a rest. Think of how well you play in the spring after a long, hard winter. You’ve got little expectations and you’ve given your body a chance to forget the bad habits it may have acquired.

Taking time off also increases your desire to get back out on the golf course. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, they say, and I believe they were talking about golf, not a romance.

Number Four: Just Play the Shot Shape
If your slump relates to ball flight, perhaps you’ve just gotta loosen up and play with it. If you normally play a draw and you find yourself hitting 30-yard slices, go with it. Working on your game while you’re on the golf course will only further frustrate you.

Playing your current shot shape won’t help you build confidence or improve your swing, but it will let you score reasonably well and keep a bit more of your money than the guy who stubbornly aims right to play his “normal” draw while he’s in the middle of a “slice streak.”

Number Three: Change the Focus of the Game
If you’re blading all of your approach shots or chunking everything short, or maybe you’re blocking your irons or pulling your drives… whatever it is that you’re doing wrong, move the focus away from that aspect of your game and onto something else. Instead, focus on your short game – try to see how many times you can one-putt or how many chip shots or bunker shots you can get within three feet of the cup. If you’re in the trees a lot, see how many different kinds of shots you can play through the holes in trees.

Changing the focus of the game will minimally improve your scoring, won’t improve your jacked up swing at all, and will make the game a bit more fun.

Number Two: Goof Around on Range
My favorite way to break out of a slump is to hit the range. I don’t work on my full swing, though. Instead, I “goof around” and hit all sorts of crazy shots. I hit 5-irons at the 150-yard flag with big draws and huge cuts. I hit the ball low. I hit the ball high. I practice hitting snap hooks and the largest slices you’ve ever seen. I move the ball way up in my stance, I move the ball way back in my stance, and I open and close my stance. I try to top the ball with a driver so badly it rolls only a few inches off the tee.

Throughout all of these exercises, I’m “cleansing” my body of the bad swing. I’m building an awareness of “feeling” – knowing where my hands are in the swing, perhaps – and what my body is doing. I’m experimenting with the physics of the game. Once I develop (or re-develop) the feeling for my body and the physics of the game, correcting my problem often becomes an easy task.

Number One: Hit Everything 75%
Hitting everything with 75% of your effort may not have the effect you think it will. For one, you’ll likely make better contact, so your distance won’t suffer much. Of course, you may want to take an extra club on approach shots, as that will help you to swing more gently.

Swinging at a slower pace will improve your timing, and the kink that’s worked its way into your swing is a lot easier to spot (and feel) at 75% than 110%. Swinging properly at slower speed builds muscle memory for the proper form, so when you slowly begin ramping back up to 80% or 90%, your body will likely stay truer to form anyway.

Just Missed the Cut
Review the Basics – Rarely do my basics get so far out of whack that I’ve got to take a hard look at all or most of them, but sometimes that will work. Check your stance, alignment, ball position, and

Just Keep Playing – This misses the cut because it’s a terrible way to break out of a slump. Practice doesn’t make perfect – practice makes permanent. Keep playing with the faulty swing and not only will you become increasingly frustrated, you’ll further ingrain the bad swing and habits that have crept into your game.

Next Week
I’m not sure – and I’m open for suggestions. What would you like to see counted down next week?