It's official.............

[Bullitt5339]

I've got the shanks.......

I have no idea what I'm doing anymore on the golf course. After shooting 4 of the best rounds I've ever had, and having a blast playing 8 rounds in Myrtle Beach, I've forgotten how to hit a golf ball. I don't even feel comfortable with a golf club in my hands anymore.

I went from shooting high 80's, low 90's to the next week shooting 116's, and have never come back down. I shot a 119 on Thursday. This is pathetic and makes me not want to play golf anymore.

My game is

[spmurph]

Try and work on not lagging the hosel and feel the sweetspot coming into the ball. Face must be opening in the downswing causing you to lead the hosel into impact. Record your swing and try to figure out where this is happening. Usually from the transition down.

[alf174]

I've got the shanks.......

C'mon MAN UP, nobody likes to hear about a quitter. We all go through slumps and get through it. Get drunk, experience a hideous hangover the next morning, throw up, and you'll be good to go.

[JML22]

Get a lesson

[senorchipotle]

you swing the handle, not the club

[drglew]

Hang in there...even Tiger has forgotten how to hit a golf ball these days. Take a break & then jump back in there. Heck, if we all continued to improve each season, we'd all be scratch golfers and be driving it 300 yards (oh wait, by all of our posts i guess we do...)

[TempoIsKey]

Try this, it's just a quick fix but it may get you out of your funk. Address the ball with the ball down by the hosel. I mean really down by the hosel. Your subconscious shouldn't let you hit it there. It's worked for me in the past.

[ajschn06]

Try this: don't listen to any of the crazy garbage these people are saying. You can hit a golf ball, stop thinking about it and just do it...

[alomar123]

Get a lesson

Dont listen to this. This is probably the most over used advice on the forum. Just go back to your basic fundamentals and your be fine.

[Keep It Simple]

Place a glove between your left upper arm and the left side of your chest and practice hitting balls keeping your left arm and chest connected (the glove should stay in place without dropping out). Why should this help? You will be eliminating a degree of movement most likely responsible for mis-hitting the ball.

Also, lighten your grip a little. You want to hit the ball with a good body turn utilizing the "big muscles" of the body. Keep your hands and wrists out of the equation for now. They don't know what they are doing so they need to be passive.

Lastly, stay centered over the ball throughout the swing (no swaying or sliding to the right in the backswing).

[spmurph]

Keep your hands and wrists out of the equation for now. They don't know what they are doing so they need to be passive.

Actually, your hands are where you may need to focus. If you start down with an open or even on-plane club face, then you need to turn the sweetspot off of the plane and at the ball. It's tough to shank it if you hit the sweetspot.

[Bullitt5339]

Well, I decided to actually do something about the shanks today. I actually was having a lot of problems with hitting low hooks before it progressed to 45 degree rockets, so I decided to change instructors and go see someone else to help me out with this.

What he wanted to do today was to just kind of evaluate what I was doing, and had me hit a crapload of balls on the range. From short wedge shots to driver, he watched me hit everything, and while I only had 1 or 2 shanks, the low hook was out in force today. Nothing was getting up in the air, and everything was hooking. He said my swing was slightly over the top, but that could be easily fixed. After a bunch of balls, he put the contact tape on the face, and I was hitting everything off the toe. To the point 3/4 of the ball was outside of the contact area. He then asked me if I had been fitted for my clubs.

I told him yes, and he kind of raised an eyebrow, and we went next door to the fitting area, where he measured me up, made me hit some balls on the contact board, and checked the swing speed.

My clubs: 1" short, standard lie (supposed to be 1.5* flat), S300 shaft
The recommendations after the fitting: 1" short, 2 degrees flat, R300 shaft

He let me hit a 7 iron he had there what was 1" short and 1.5 degrees flat, to see if that brough the contact back onto the face, and wouldn't you know it, it moved in quite a bit towards the face of the club. Not quite dead center, but fairly close. So he took my clubs from me, and I told him I couldn't afford to have them reshafted right now, but he's going to adjust the lies for me before our next lesson. He said a lot of my problem getting the ball up into the air was because the lie was so far off, and I should see a definate improvement immediately now. So, a bunch of balls hit, lies adjusted, and another lesson later this week.