Horrible, horrendous night at the range

[Golf Novice]

Last night, I went to the local range to get some practice in. I'm not really working on anything new, and I went several times the previous week and things went fairly well. My back was decently sore (right in the middle around the spine) from presumably going more regularly than I had been. However, I had the absolute worst night I've ever had. Out of 100 balls, I hit maybe 2 square and flush. EVERYTHING else I either topped and pushed to the right, or hit it fat. There was absolutely nothing I could do to change it, and it really freaked me out. The only reasonable explanation I could think of was that my back being sore caused me to have issues mainting my posture throughout the swing, and therefore I couldn't maintain the same position I had at address, hence the horrible shots. This happen to anyone here? My other worry after being there a while was that somehow I just magically "lost" my swing. I'm a guy who's fairly new to taking the game more seriously, and am taking weekly lessons that have been going well for a while. So the idea that I somehow just can't hit the ball now scares me. I know this sounds pretty stupid, but it worries me.

[Stretch]

Some days you just suck. I spent two hours today hitting fat shot after fat shot after fat shot at the range. Yesterday I was striping everything. Golf's like that. Progress isn't linear. Be careful of your back and don't worry about it too much.

[Shripe]

I had this issue a couple days ago as well. Granted that since I don't have lessons under my belt, my swing isn't exactly prime for flushed shots, it was just a lot worse than normal. I can generally manage to catch the ball without topping it or chunking it, but that wasn't at all guaranteed last time. I even had a couple of those embarrassing shots that send the ball about 10 feet right and about 5 feet forward... >_<

[JML22]

I had this monday night.... it was off shitty mats though and i didnt take much into it
but the next night i shot a 40 through 9 holes... really dislike hitting of mats

[saevel25]

Reminded me the time i was on my golf team in highschool, and i got the shankes, i mean ever iron possible. It was horrible, i was just about to give up on it. Then they went away..

Don't worry, just relax and try to work things through...

topped or fat means your probably not pushing your hips forward enough or your upper center is shifting back. I would work on that.. Post a vid, maybe we can help out more.

[Golf Novice]

Thanks. guys. I think what I'll do is lay off a day or two and let my back fell better. If it continues, I'll find a way to post some video and talk to my instructor about it. I noticed earlier while going through my swinging motion in front of the mirror at the office that it looked like my upper body was coming up a little bit near the top of my backswing. The only reason I can think why is that my body might be subconsciously doing it to avoid pain from the middle of my back, which is sore like I said above.

[soloredd]

Yup, this kind of stuff happens. Roll with the punches, take the good with the bad, etc. Two weeks ago I was at the range, swing was great and in a groove. On a 100 bucket, I get to about the 80th ball and start hitting 80 yard pitch shots with my 56*. SHANK. Ok, I blame alignment and being handsy, next one SHANK. Then a buddy shows up who I haven't seen in a few months, he sets up next to my stall and starts hitting. I'm all over the place, I can't hit an iron to save my life, all the while I'm telling him about my hole-in-one two weeks prior and that my game is really improving. Thankfully, he's a kind person and just tells me to keep at it (he plays off a 2.8 HDCP). Finally, I say screw it and go putt for 10 minutes. I come back and pull out my 7 iron: pure. Finish off with about 20 nicely hit balls.

Let me tell you, that feeling you felt when you started to "lose" your swing? It's terrible, I felt the same way. A sick feeling. I find taking days away from all golf or just doing simple things like putting or chipping can help free your mind. The other thing is, do you normally go hit at night? I don't think I could ever go to our range at night and hit, even with all the lighting they have. The whole environment would feel strange to me.

[newtogolf]

I had a similar problem when my back was hurting. You don't realize it, but your body compensates in anticipation of the pain and alters your swing. Even if it's a slight alteration it wrecks havoc with how you hit the ball. Let your back heal up, as the last thing you want to do is groove a new swing into muscle memory that's compensating for your sore back.