Swing completely disappeared - please help!

[garch]

I went to the range today, full of confidence after breaking 100 for the first time on Sunday, and starting to really feel like I am grooving a consistent swing.

What happened was a complete nightmare. Pretty much every single ball I hit was either thin, or massively sliced/pushed, or more often both.

On the odd time I managed to successfully hit down on the ball I pulled the shot right about 50 yards.

Obviously the anxiety of this made the situation worse, tempo went out of the window, hit far too many balls etc.

Can anyone help? It must be something so fundamental but I had a mental block on how to fix it. I suspect I'm not transitioning my weight but I couldn't fix it. As some additional, and probably key information, I have had a bit of pain in my upper back for the last couple of days but didn't feel like it was actively restricting my movements.

Any advice greatfully received!

Michael

[Tiger Spuds]

When this starts to happen to me at the range I re-check everything I'm doing one at a time, and take longer between hitting balls, thinking about what I'm doing.

Check grip, get in your athletic position.Make sure the takeaway is good, check the plane at the top.then from there I'll slow down the tempo of the swing massively, barely putting any power into the shots either.Just trying to get the club into the right positions, making sure I stay connected and making sure the contact with the ball is good.Doesn't really matter if it goes nowhere, you can start speeding the swing up from there when you're happy things are right.

[Dave]

I suspect we've all had this happen. What helps me is to hit chip shots, then half shots, then 3/4 shots etc .... If your 3/4 shots fall apart, go back to half shots until you can lengthen your stroke.

[Sun City Country Club]

This thread is full of great advice. Personally, when my swing fades it is usually because I hit a bad ball then begun to overthink and question myself. Then I would fall into a downward spiral. Sometimes the best balls I hit are the ones I don't even care about :)

[ks8829]

focus on solid contact with only your wedges. The keys is to focus on your set up and your backswing and what angle is your take away. Start small and slowly work up your irons always going back to your wedges and eventually you will find your swing. Its also helpful to watch videos on the basic golf swing and relearn the fundamentals starting with grip, posture. Think of it as an opportunity to relearn the golf swing and next time you have this problem you know how to bring it back. The one thing that you have to remember is that everyone goes through this learning process and gets through it alright and in most cases with a better understanding of your golf swing.

[garch]

Thanks to everyone for their advice. I'm going back to the range today, and will also hopefully get 5 mins with my pro. I just wish I could break the link between my swing and my mood.. call it mood swings!

[garch]

Ok, so I went back to the range and managed to grab my pro for 5 minutes. His advice was invaluable. It was a combination of standing too close to the ball, rolling the wrists and dipping the left shoulder that was causing me to severly cut across the ball. Also I was getting much too shallow.

After standing further away, hooding my clubface a bit in take away and trying to retain my spine angle better I seem to be getting my ball striking back.

The funny thing is that my swing was starting to get good, but clearly this was just by papering over the cracks of a swing fault. I'm hopeful though that this will be another big step in the direction of a swing which will get me playing bogey golf before too long.

Thanks again to everyone for their advice.

[wilton]

When this starts to happen to me at the range I re-check everything I'm doing one at a time, and take longer between hitting balls, thinking about what I'm doing.

Excellent advice..the less time I spend between balls the worst my swing is typically. I try to approach every ball at the range like a shot on the course and take my time. Otherwise, I just start hacking and pick up bad habits.

[The Recreational Golfer]

You've fallen into a bad habit even though it feels like you aren't doing anything different. Get a lesson. The pro will fix you up right away.

[Shanks A Million]

Ok, so I went back to the range and managed to grab my pro for 5 minutes. His advice was invaluable. It was a combination of standing too close to the ball, rolling the wrists and dipping the left shoulder that was causing me to severly cut across the ball. Also I was getting much too shallow.

It's part of a normal process as you learn. No matter how good you get, you are still going to have ups and downs, and that's totally normal. No matter how bad the swing gets, it comes back. You get better, then one of your flaws begins to take root, so you eliminate it, then learn to hit all over again, then another one comes up. Each time it happens though, you lose a flaw. I learned to keep the club flat, keep my spine angle, swing with my core, and shorten my swing all from those episodes.

I had a few episodes last year, I shot a 104 and then a 94 on Osprey & Palm (at Disney). I could barely even make contact, and my swing had gotten really steep. After shooting that 104 (lets say that was a "cheaters 104", more like 115!), I thought I'd never play a good round again. The next day, I went to Palm, and again had trouble. I could barely strike the ball, but I was a little more focused, carded a 94. Not a good weekend, but within a few weeks, my swing came back. Then a while back it happened again, shanked and duffed, didn't even go to the course with that, just hit the range. Again, let it pass, and it came back.

[danieldrieberg]

I suspect we've all had this happen. What helps me is to hit chip shots, then half shots, then 3/4 shots etc .... If your 3/4 shots fall apart, go back to half shots until you can lengthen your stroke.

+1 this advice-----This is the best prescription for my swing woes. Rythym , confidence, etc restorative.

[garch]

Just wanted to thank everyone for their advice. It's true to say that once the fault was ironed out I understood my swing more, and have played my best ever golf in the 2 weeks since my worst ever! BUT this time I know how to deal with it if the same fault creeps back. Next on my agenda - working on my weight transition and more power with my driver..