Finding Last Week's Swing

[Effington]

Hey guys,

I'm sure many have had similar experiences here, so want to get some insight as to manage best going forward.

I was on the driving range, and like a typical golfer, was ignoring my teacher and trying out the latest tip that I heard on a podcast.  And something magical happened.  Instead of my driver carrying 160-170 yards and then slicing off weakly to the right, it hit flush and carried 200 yards down the middle and rolled another 30-40.  So I did what anyone would do...try it again.  And it worked.  So I then got the biggest bucket of balls I could find and kept doing it over and over, to try and engrain that feel and get some muscle memory.  I didn't want to let this one go.  Hit about 150 balls, almost all exactly the same.  It was the greatest feeling in golf I can ever remember.

Two days later, I played a round.  Miraculously, the swing kept, and it was the greatest round of my life.  Made it all the better that it was with old friends (that hadn't golfed with before), and this is how good they thought I was.  And I beat my typical playing partner for the first time all year.  Beers tasted great that night.

A few days pass before I'm swinging a club again, and back on the range, the magic is gone.  For about two weeks now I've been searching for the feel.  Once in a while I'll blast a good one, but haven't been able to replicate.

How do you get it back?

 

PS - the tip was inspired by a recent podcast episode of "Chasing Scratch", where they determine they were lined up wrong on the course.  I looked at my alignment and found it off as well, and that led my body to a different shoulder turn to compensate, and...boom.

[Vinsk]

Have you discussed this with your teacher?

[iacas]

Did you record your "good" swings to see if they were actually different, or to compare them to what you're doing now?

I bet they weren't all that different. I bet you just "got out of your head" a bit and made freer swings.

I also imagine you were likely using alignment sticks, etc. Have you continued to do this, @Effington?

[Effington]

17 hours ago, iacas said:

Did you record your "good" swings to see if they were actually different, or to compare them to what you're doing now?

I bet they weren't all that different. I bet you just "got out of your head" a bit and made freer swings.

I also imagine you were likely using alignment sticks, etc. Have you continued to do this, @Effington?

Didn't record, but I'd agree with your assessment.  Do you have any recommendations as to how to "get out of your head" and make freer swings more regularly?  It appeared to have the desired results.

[iacas]

13 hours ago, Effington said:

Didn't record, but I'd agree with your assessment.  Do you have any recommendations as to how to "get out of your head" and make freer swings more regularly?  It appeared to have the desired results.

No, most likely, you have some actual technical things that you need to improve. I'd work on those more and not worry about "getting out of your head."