Have Completely Lost Game in Last 1.5 Years

[Mcdpr56]

I was just curious if anybody has had the same kinda story as myself and how they corrected it. I was a 9.2 handicap about 2 years ago I’m sitting at a 18 now because I literally just forgot how to hit irons and driver,  irons use to be the strongest part of my game and go long now Everything I hit is high and left I’m a LH golfer.. I’m going to dive deep this spring and see what I can figure out but definitely lost the joy of this wonderful game and it weirdly just happen overnight about 1.5 years ago. 

[boogielicious]

36 minutes ago, Mcdpr56 said:

I was just curious if anybody has had the same kinda story as myself and how they corrected it. I was a 9.2 handicap about 2 years ago I’m sitting at a 18 now because I literally just forgot how to hit irons and driver,  irons use to be the strongest part of my game and go long now Everything I hit is high and left I’m a LH golfer.. I’m going to dive deep this spring and see what I can figure out but definitely lost the joy of this wonderful game and it weirdly just happen overnight about 1.5 years ago. 

Welcome to The Sand Trap! We have a Member Swings section. You can post a video there and maybe we can help. Read the How to section and review how to film your swing.

[darthweasel]

yep. In the midst of resolving it. Had taken lessons, while I was taking them they were great but after I stopped taking them, stuff started breaking down and without having the voice in my ear, could not figure out how to fix it. So I went back to ground zero, studied the swing for myself, re-did my pre-shot routine, grip, weight allotment, stance, ball location, and am working on the swing path now. My strokes gained have improved across the board except putting which was already fine for me.

I know it is working for me as recently, had a round where things were...lets be polite and say not good on the front, but now that I know MY swing instead of the one I was taught, I was able to adjust in round and finish with a strong back nine and a score that, before I started this, would have been about ten to fifteen shots higher than it ended up. 

Note that I firmly believe in lessons, but for me, I had to learn MY swing and now I have.  Now I know what is going on and why and can and do make adjustments. Not the path for everyone for sure but it is in the process of working for me.

[Mcdpr56]

1 minute ago, darthweasel said:

yep. In the midst of resolving it. Had taken lessons, while I was taking them they were great but after I stopped taking them, stuff started breaking down and without having the voice in my ear, could not figure out how to fix it. So I went back to ground zero, studied the swing for myself, re-did my pre-shot routine, grip, weight allotment, stance, ball location, and am working on the swing path now. My strokes gained have improved across the board except putting which was already fine for me.

I know it is working for me as recently, had a round where things were...lets be polite and say not good on the front, but now that I know MY swing instead of the one I was taught, I was able to adjust in round and finish with a strong back nine and a score that, before I started this, would have been about ten to fifteen shots higher than it ended up. 

Note that I firmly believe in lessons, but for me, I had to learn MY swing and now I have.  Now I know what is going on and why and can and do make adjustments. Not the path for everyone for sure but it is in the process of working for me.

It’s crazy because with a 3 wood and hybrids nothing has changed much it’s obviously a swing flaw on probably my set up but you would think some things would just correct themselves oh well I guess that’s why we play this game lol. 

[klineka]

Have you been to an instructor to see what they think the issue is?

What actions have you taken to try and correct the ball flight?

[Mcdpr56]

38 minutes ago, klineka said:

Have you been to an instructor to see what they think the issue is?

What actions have you taken to try and correct the ball flight?

I have not been to a instructor but two of my friends are close to scratch and they have tried to help me and we have kinda pinned it down to poor wrist action opening my face on my backswing so once this snow melts that’s where I’m going to start. 

[Vinsk]

3 hours ago, Mcdpr56 said:

but definitely lost the joy of this wonderful game and it weirdly just happen overnight about 1.5 years ago. 

As the others have said in regards to your question. I’m merely responding to this part. Sorry to hear your miss is high left. Must be just awful.
Maybe imagine hitting the most violent shanks with any iron in your bag for 18 holes. Go through an entire bucket with meticulous focus only to realize after three hours you’re on your last ball and shank a 20yd slow motion chip. That’s losing enjoyment. Your issue? 😀😒

[Zippo]

4 hours ago, Vinsk said:

As the others have said in regards to your question. I’m merely responding to this part. Sorry to hear your miss is high left. Must be just awful.
Maybe imagine hitting the most violent shanks with any iron in your bag for 18 holes. Go through an entire bucket with meticulous focus only to realize after three hours you’re on your last ball and shank a 20yd slow motion chip. That’s losing enjoyment. Your issue? 😀😒

Some people just have to have something to whine about! Sheesh! 😁

[iacas]

7 hours ago, Mcdpr56 said:

I have not been to a instructor but two of my friends are close to scratch and they have tried to help me

They aren't really qualified to tell you what you're doing or how to fix it.

[Darkfrog]

On 3/15/2022 at 8:53 AM, Mcdpr56 said:

it weirdly just happen overnight about 1.5 years ago. 

I can't tell you what the specific problem is, but I'm going to make an educated guess that it didn't happen overnight. In my own experience, this sort of swing degradation is caused by operating on the threshold of a bigger problem, and at some point the threshold is crossed and compensations are no longer adequate.

I am a streaky golfer, even after multiple years of lessons. I have managed to reduce my handicap from the 20s to 10s, but I still suffer from streaks of bad golf, followed by streaks of good golf. Right now my index is 9.6, but I feel like I am playing at around 15. It seems like the new handicap index calculations make increase slower, and even when I am on a bad streak, I'll still occasionally have a good scoring round, so my index does not reflect my true ability at the moment (probably accurate with regards to potential though, which is the point).

For me personally, I have a strong instinct to flip/shove my right hand through impact. It is likely compensation for other flaws. Over years of lessons, learning things like improving my backswing, recentering my weight correctly, and being more competent with clubface control has improved this, but even when I am hitting the ball well (for my level), the flip/shove is still there to some degree. When I am on a good streak, what I assume is happening is the contributing factors are within tolerance, leaving minimal need to compensate, but if any of the contributing factors start to shift in a bad way, the flipping gets worse. Sometimes I can "find a feel" that helps mid-round, but it's always temporary.

Anyways, long story short, to really understand what is going on with your swing, you probably need to see an instructor (or start a My Swing thread here). I started lessons when I developed severe shanks. Even as a terrible golfer shooting in the 120s, I never had issues shanking the ball (many other bad things, but not shanks), and then suddenly it started happening every other swing, which sucked all the fun out of the game (not to mention the cost of lost balls, plus the stress of possibly injuring someone on an adjacent hole with a mishit). I finally reached my wits end and started lessons.