AHHHHHHH! I'm getting worse!

[jetsknicks1]

**Warning, venting rant to follow**

I'm usually a mid 90's golfer and last month I shot 2 of my best rounds on back to back weekends, an 89 and a 91. Since than, I've gotten steadily worse, shooting a 102, 107 and this past weekend a 115! That's my worst round in 3 years!.

I'm usually pretty good off the tee, I may not put it in the FW all the time but i'm usually not in trouble. Now my drives are all going way right and my last round I put 2 OOB.

My approach shots have always been a bit iffy but I could normally put them within chipping distance from the green. Now they also all fly to the right, except for 9i & wedges, which all get pulled to left. I also put  2 approach shots OOB last weekend.

My 5i has always been my favorite club, I could always count on hitting it straight & true. I'm now hitting it thin and shanking it to the right!

I could also normally count on averaging 2 putts a hole. My last round I 3 putted 7 holes and this was on a course I love and play fairly often.

When I go to the range now all I do is hit the same bad shots over & over again, no matter what I do.

I love the game of golf but it is no fun at all playing like I have been. I AM SO FRUSTRATED RIGHT NOW!

**Thank you for allowing me to rant**

[jmanbooyaa]

I feel your pain buddy. My last 2 rounds on the same course have been disasters. Now I now I am not a good golfer but the things I have been doing and the results are a lot worse than I usually play. Very frustrating especially with the actual busy season right around the corner.

[jetsknicks1]

Originally Posted by jmanbooyaa

I feel your pain buddy. My last 2 rounds on the same course have been disasters. Now I now I am not a good golfer but the things I have been doing and the results are a lot worse than I usually play. Very frustrating especially with the actual busy season right around the corner.

I just don't get it. Obviously there has been some fundemental change in my swing, I'm just not a good enough golfer to know what it is or how to fix it. Am I swinging outside in, or is it inside out? Are my hands too far in front which leads to the clubface being open? Am I not clearing my hips?

If I try aiming further left, it just balloons more to the right, if I try aiming more to the right, I hit it thin and hit a dead shank to the right.

HELP!

[Yukari]

Originally Posted by jetsknicks1

I just don't get it. Obviously there has been some fundemental change in my swing, I'm just not a good enough golfer to know what it is or how to fix it. Am I swinging outside in, or is it inside out? Are my hands too far in front which leads to the clubface being open? Am I not clearing my hips?

If I try aiming further left, it just balloons more to the right, if I try aiming more to the right, I hit it thin and hit a dead shank to the right.

HELP!

I don't know your exact swing, but when I start hitting everything to the right, the culprit is inevitably by takeaway.  Usually I take the club straight back (or at least for the first couple of feet).  But when I push things to the right, it is because my takeaway tends to be inside rather than straight back.  I have to consciously remember to take it straight back in order to avoid pushing to the right or fading.

Try that on the range and see if that helps and let me know.

[westcyderydin]

It looks like you are from new york, so you probably are in your first week of golf for the year.  i would take a little bit of time off and during that time off just check over some of the most basic fundamentals of your swing.  such as staying connected or turning your shoulders.  then after you take a few days off maybe hit the range once or twice and hit some golf balls.

Its hard to have your swing at the beginning of the year and if you are like me you are trying to make new adjustments each day you are golfing and things are going bad.  i do that and just kind of assume i am doing the important things that are those basic fundamentals of my swing.  its times like this where i find i am just over looking those important things.  so the time off gets you to go over your check list, get some of your old feel back, and you forget those unimportant swing thoughts that could have been going through your head while you were struggling.

[Dave H]

I also feel your pain. This is a struggle I've had as well. Last season I shot four rounds in the 80's consecutively and felt like I'd turned a corner. Then, I proceeded to get worse and nearly felt like giving up the game I was so despondent. For me, the things that get out of whack in a hurry are the take away (same as Yukari) and general rhythm and tempo. When I get quick, my backswing gets too long and I either pull the ball terribly, or I don't complete my swing and push them straight out to the right. This is a major problem with the driver. When I swing easy, and stay focused on the ball I tend to hit good shots. Then it just comes down to chipping and putting - a whole 'nother story

My advice would be to go to the range, try to forget your last few rounds and just hit some balls with an short iron for a while until you find your rhythm. Maybe try not to focus so much on the technical aspects of your swing and rather the feel? Hit 5 and then take a 2 or 3 minute break so your not mindlessly hitting bad balls. I know that's fairly nebulous advice but if you're too focused on what you've been doing wrong, you may not be able to loosen up enough to swing freely.

Good luck.

[jetsknicks1]

Originally Posted by Yukari

I don't know your exact swing, but when I start hitting everything to the right, the culprit is inevitably by takeaway.  Usually I take the club straight back (or at least for the first couple of feet).  But when I push things to the right, it is because my takeaway tends to be inside rather than straight back.  I have to consciously remember to take it straight back in order to avoid pushing to the right or fading.

Try that on the range and see if that helps and let me know.

Thanks for the advice, I'll certainly try that. I'm feeling like I'm doing more "Swaying" instead of rotating, would that cause me to swing inside out? Also, if I take it straight back correctly, where should the club be at the end of my backswing, so I can know if i truly am taking it back correctly?

Originally Posted by westcyderydin

It looks like you are from new york, so you probably are in your first week of golf for the year.  i would take a little bit of time off and during that time off just check over some of the most basic fundamentals of your swing.  such as staying connected or turning your shoulders.  then after you take a few days off maybe hit the range once or twice and hit some golf balls.

Its hard to have your swing at the beginning of the year and if you are like me you are trying to make new adjustments each day you are golfing and things are going bad.  i do that and just kind of assume i am doing the important things that are those basic fundamentals of my swing.  its times like this where i find i am just over looking those important things.  so the time off gets you to go over your check list, get some of your old feel back, and you forget those unimportant swing thoughts that could have been going through your head while you were struggling.

I am from NY but I live in FL. I get to play fairly often which makes this even more frustrating. While I don't consider myself a "Good" golfer, I've always been pretty consistant when it comes to my scores.  I think I will take your advise about taking some time off from playing rounds, and spend more time on the range though.

Originally Posted by Dave H

I also feel your pain. This is a struggle I've had as well. Last season I shot four rounds in the 80's consecutively and felt like I'd turned a corner. Then, I proceeded to get worse and nearly felt like giving up the game I was so despondent. For me, the things that get out of whack in a hurry are the take away (same as Yukari) and general rhythm and tempo. When I get quick, my backswing gets too long and I either pull the ball terribly, or I don't complete my swing and push them straight out to the right. This is a major problem with the driver. When I swing easy, and stay focused on the ball I tend to hit good shots. Then it just comes down to chipping and putting - a whole 'nother story

My advice would be to go to the range, try to forget your last few rounds and just hit some balls with an short iron for a while until you find your rhythm. Maybe try not to focus so much on the technical aspects of your swing and rather the feel? Hit 5 and then take a 2 or 3 minute break so your not mindlessly hitting bad balls. I know that's fairly nebulous advice but if you're too focused on what you've been doing wrong, you may not be able to loosen up enough to swing freely.

Good luck.

I think that's a big part of it right now. I cannot stand over the ball without thinking about how bad I've been hitting it lately.

[westcyderydin]

"Thanks for the advice, I'll certainly try that. I'm feeling like I'm doing more "Swaying" instead of rotating, would that cause me to swing inside out? Also, if I take it straight back correctly, where should the club be at the end of my backswing, so I can know if i truly am taking it back correctly?"

Ok, swaying is not good.  i know how that feels.  You need to turn your shoulders and if you are swaying then you are probably just swinging your arms back.  So i dont know what it will take in your swing...but use your shoulders for a one peice takeaway and a full turn.  an armswing takeaway and a lack of a shoulder turn gets the club stuck behind you and that makes it really hard to hit the ball well at all.

good luck,.

[burnabao]

Take a couple of lessons - your swing clearly doesn't need reinventing, but a pro should be able to highlight the one/two principal reasons why you've started to hit bad shots and will be able to give some direction/focus to your practice to help you get over it.

Also, I find that knowing the cause of the problem makes it a lot easier to solve than just knowing the problem itself (i.e. if "problem" = slice, "cause" could be any of swing path, clubface, weight transfer etc., all of which will require different solutions).  This is where a pro's advice is invaluable.  Nothing worse than trying aimlessly to solve a problem that you don't fully understand.  IMHO.

[Mattplusness]

One thing I have learned is that golf does not have linear progression. You will see your scores going up and down but with a slight downward trend. Just remember every outing is a learning experience and nothing is wasted because you learned what not to do. Sometimes that is more important than anything else.

[jetsknicks1]

Originally Posted by burnabao

Take a couple of lessons - your swing clearly doesn't need reinventing, but a pro should be able to highlight the one/two principal reasons why you've started to hit bad shots and will be able to give some direction/focus to your practice to help you get over it.

Also, I find that knowing the cause of the problem makes it a lot easier to solve than just knowing the problem itself (i.e. if "problem" = slice, "cause" could be any of swing path, clubface, weight transfer etc., all of which will require different solutions).  This is where a pro's advice is invaluable.  Nothing worse than trying aimlessly to solve a problem that you don't fully understand.  IMHO.

I think this is clearly the way to go. Not too long after I started playing I was shooting  between 100-105 consistantly but had a real hard time breaking 100. I took a series 3 lessons and between tha and added practice, I was able to get down to the mid 90s. Looks like it's time to go back.

[walk18]

Have you posted your swing? Otherwise people can only speculate what the problem might be.

[iPutt]

It sounds to me like it's probably you club path being way too outside in. If I have my ball flight laws correct, with your outside in swing path you would slice any time the club is square to the target, but not to the club path and then straight pull it when you finally are able to close your club face enough in time to make it square to your swing path. The club is probably flying way open relative to even the target line when you get those sh***s. I know because I had literally the exact same problems last year. I really worked on fixing my path and swing plane to make everything else eventually line up correctly. Also a little tip that helped me get my club face in the right place was having a stronger club face at the top of my backswing (more pointed towards the sky). It helped me get rid of my shanks (even with a terrible swing path) and I could kind of aim right and rely on pulling the ball. Not a permanent fix but it'll let you at least hit a straight ball most of the time until you get you path fix. I hope this helps and anyone, correct me if I'm wrong.

[jetsknicks1]

Originally Posted by walk18

Have you posted your swing? Otherwise people can only speculate what the problem might be.

No I haven't, I'm pretty technologically challenged :).

[turtleback]

When things get that haywire for me the culprit is usually ball position.  Distance from ball and how far forward or back I am playing it.  Might be worth checking.

[Leftygolfer]

I have too and it is super frustrating.  I remember shooting 81 or 82 with ease not doing anything that great and right now im not even in the 80s.  Advice...not sure there is any to give.   Look at what has changed, when, and maybe why.  For me it is an issue with not hitting greens and not putting well.  I feel like my whole golf game is connected.  The one thing being off is bleeding into my putting, short game, everything.  I know what I am doing wrong it is just hard to change.  I saw some light today.  I hit some quality golf shots and my distance seems to be back.  For whatever reason, the shorter, simplier my swing is the farther the ball go.  That is my focus.  Keep it short, sweet, and connected.  Hopefully I can build on this and play better.  But the weather is turning nasty again....

[jetsknicks1]

Thanks for all the advice & support guys. I plan on taking a few weeks off and just hitting the range to see if I can get things straightened out.

[mdl]

I'd also recommend getting a lesson or two, or at least taking some video of yourself.  If everything's slicing except the shortest clubs which are straight pulls that's a pretty clear over the top swing plane.  I don't know your swing of course so I can't give any specific recommendations on fixing it.

Also, some fluctuation in scores is to be expected.  I've found my scoring averages follow a pretty clear overall pattern slowly downward but with some sort of sine wave action around that line, so I'll work on some stuff and play really well, then figure out the new thing that's holding me back, work on that, get worse for a while as I groove that in, then get slightly better than I was before the newest change.