What is going on?

[xy31]

I recently got back into the game after an 8 year break. I started playing when I was 13 until about 23. I shot around 15 to 18 when I stopped, so I figured I would be somewhere around 20 to 25 now. I found I still had the basics of the swing down and thought it would only be a matter of time until I get somewhat consistent shots.

I spent about 2 weeks on the driving range (about 100 balls every second day). Up to last Saturday I thought I see continuous improvement in my game and I thought I could soon switch to focusing more on my short game.

Then 2 days ago I went for my last major driving range practice (or so I thought). In the beginning the balls flew just (or almost) like I wanted them to. Fairly straight and trajectory with the right height for each club. I was even able to hit my 3 iron with only minimal fade.

Then all of a sudden I completely lost it. Every ball (and I mean absolutley every ball, not one exception) had a monster slice and often was just sort of hopping around on the ground. No matter what I did, or how slow and controlled I swung all of my balls ended up about 20 to 50 yards infront of me and about 100-150 yards to the right.

I was completely freaking out. What the hell was going on? I tried everything I could think off. Half swings, super slow swings, 10 practive swings before each shot, etc. etc. I tried a pw, 9 iron, 7 iron, 5 iron. Nothing helped. All my shots looked like I had never held a golf club in my hand and this was the first time in my life I picked one up and tried to hit the ball (very unsucessfully so).

Any idea what was going on with me? The only thing that was different (in my observation) was that it got dark when I stated hitting like a duffus.

[Rafcin]

I had that happen only once and it was after winter lay-off... it was grip + ball position problem. Even though everything appeared and felt "ok" - it wasn't... 5min with local Pro fixed it - too bad I had to pay him for a full hour

[prutkows]

I recently got back into the game after an 8 year break. I started playing when I was 13 until about 23. I shot around 15 to 18 when I stopped, so I figured I would be somewhere around 20 to 25 now. I found I still had the basics of the swing down and thought it would only be a matter of time until I get somewhat consistent shots.

first of all, 100 or so balls every second day probably wont help you improve much.

secondly, usually when i get tired at the range i'll also start hitting fades because my swing gets a bit steep, or out to in. what i like to do is place another ball or a tee a bit behind and a little farther away from me than the ball im going to hit.. this generally makes me focus on keeping my swing on plane to avoid hitting the other ball. what i mean is something like this. ___* ball/tee *ball i intend to hit. you may want to try something similar as it might help solve your problem.

[xy31]

Thanks for the tips. Ima gona try the ball thing. I think the getting tired thing might have something to do with it. 100 balls usually takes me about 1.5 hours since I try to make every ball count. I felt like it did alot to improve my game from when I started about 2 weeks ago.

Today I went to see the golf coach of our university team and he told me that my grip was off. That took care of it for the moment I think. They are flying nice and straight again right now.

[iacas]

first of all, 100 or so balls every second day probably wont help you improve much.

Very wrong. It won't help you if you just get up and whack 'em all away, but if you are working practice swings in there and working solidly and intelligently on something, 50-100 balls is all you may need. After that - and the response you get is that it takes the guy 90 minutes - you start to get tired, mentally and physically, and that leads to bad habits.

It's not about quantity of practice but quality of practice.

[prutkows]

Very wrong. It won't help you if you just get up and whack 'em all away, but if you are working practice swings in there and working solidly and intelligently on something, 50-100 balls is all you may need. After that - and the response you get is that it takes the guy 90 minutes - you start to get tired, mentally and physically, and that leads to bad habits.

i had based what i said off the fact that a lot of us who arent as experienced or knowlegable about golf usually need more than 100 balls to really figure out we're doing wrong. atleast i know thats true for me. when i go to the range i tend to imagine different shots i might have to hit on the course instead of just standing there and hitting out to the same target every time. you're right though, it depends on how you practice.