Stuck in a rut

[jlh1508]

This is the most I have ever golfed in one season. Started the season playing well. Had worked really hard to straighten out my driver and was hitting the ball great. Broke 80 for the first time ever, and was consistently in the lows 80's.

Over about the last 6 weeks I have completely lost my swing. I can't even hit my short irons anymore. Everything is a giant hook or a push to the right. I have so many thoughts in my head, I don't even know where to begin to fix these issues

[ks8829]

Its usually back to basics and proably something very simple.

[DBeane]

Back to basics. When big misses creep in its usually something simple like moving your head laterally, pivot problems, set up too open or closed. Break out the video camera and have a look, its probably something obvious.

Plateaus (thats probably spelled wrong), can be difficult to get over, just be patient.

-Beane

[mx273]

slow your swing down, and get it going straight. Gradually start swinging harder until it redevelops which should come pretty quick if you are shooting low 80's.

[stricklerlee]

I had that problem as well. My irons shot weren't straight anymore, my driver shots were getting less accurate, putting weren't getting to where it used to be. My suggestion, stop playing for the day when you feel like you're not swinging it right. You're only impairing your muscle memory that way. Rest and play tomorrow when you feel like your swing is good enough for you to play 9 or 18 holes. If it's not at the range, don't play. It's not worth it to mess up your swing even more.

[Dr. Griefo]

I have the same problem, I am playing great, handicap is coming down and then all the wheels come off the cart and I have no idea why. This year I shot my best (84) then went out and shot a 100 the next day. I use a tip from Raymond Floyds book, 'The elements of scoring' where he writes about going to a go to shot whenever you are having issues. Basically it's just using that shot you can do everytime that will safely advance the ball down the fairway and he suggests using it until you get your confidence back on the course. He says it can be that chunk or flop or anything. I use a light punch with my hybrid. I always can get it 125 yards and it's straight. It really seems to get me back into my comfort zone when I am playing badly and I pull it off 2-4 times on the fairway. Then I move to my 7 and it it goes well, I manage to salvage the game. My score isn't so great (because I wait too long to go to my go to shot) and the go to shot holes are ussually a double bogey but once the confidence comes back, I have a decent rest of the round and can take that away from the day. I did beat my 84, I shot an 83 and the next day, I was shooting 37 after 6 holes. I used my hybrid punch on the seventh hole (a long par four) and got a 6 but felt better and went on to par the next 5 holes. I salvaged a 93 at the end of the day.

[Kieran123]

  jlh1508 said:

Everything is a giant hook or a push to the right. I have so many thoughts in my head, I don't even know where to begin to fix these issues

In to out swing with a closed clubface for the hook or an open clubface for the push.

I recently had this issue.

[pzr2010]

How did you get rid of this issue?

[CPT]

Happened to me a few times. Playing good --- great drives, crisp iron shots, good short game. One day, they all decided to leave me. Par was very tough when you have nothing going in your swing. I once shank all my iron shots from the 1st tee all the way down to 16th hole. It was bad up to the point that I almost couldn't pull the club back. The shot has 'shank' written all over it. My mentality was destroyed and I couldn't stop thinking about shanking the shot when I address the golf ball.

After lots of drills, I found that my fundamentals were developed and changed unintentionally. I am sure it happened because I was playing so good and therefore, I ignored practice sessions. After a while of 'no-practice-for-me', my body forgot what it likes to swing the same way I used to, then came the shanks.

I'm 99% sure that the problem you are facing is in basic fundamentals. Before going into your swing plane and such, don't overlook your grip, your stance, your alignment, etc.... These things will lead to bad swings if not correctly done. This is why we still see Tiger using the shaft to avoid 'head-dipping' during his swing. It's somewhere in the fundamentals, you just have to be patience and find it.

[westcyderydin]

  jlh1508 said:

This is the most I have ever golfed in one season. Started the season playing well. Had worked really hard to straighten out my driver and was hitting the ball great. Broke 80 for the first time ever, and was consistently in the lows 80's.

your swing is probably way too in to out...try to take the club almost straight back instead of so inside. i used to do this a few years ago. i also had a tendency to not turn my shoulders enough and i would mostly swing back with my arms. that made my swing plane really really low too.

[out_in_30]

as a few ppl have already stated in this thread.. back to basics.. absolutely cannot emphasize that enough. check your club positions. make sure the club is not creeping inside. it should be parallel to your feet line. and tempo tempo tempo.

[jlh1508]

tried slowing everything down today and it was better but not back to where I was.

I shot a 45, but hit 5/7 fairways with the driver. Irons were still inconsistent, but they were much better then they had been. Think I will head to the range the next few days with the irons and just work on basics and making half swings to see if I can find that solid feel again