Cracks start to appear ....

[mobosecomin]

Hi everyone

I was wondering if anyone has some advice on what I am currently finding the hardest part of my golf game  this season. I have currently addressed a lot of problems in my swing. I started with posture earlier this year and then it has snow balled into a lot of adjustments. These include grip, alignment , wrist cock and release , shoulder pitch and most recently I have adjusted because I was taking the club back on the inside.

At the range I follow a check list to ensure I am in the correct positions and my success rate is currently brilliant. 85% of my range shots are exactly as I want as of the last few weeks. I almost makes the range time feel a waste of time. Even on the course when I go to play 9 with my girlfriend in the evening everything works a treat.

The problem is when I am on the score card or when the wind picks up. As soon as I have any pressure the cracks start to appear. It happens instantly my swing gos back to inside inside with an open face no lag and bad posture, poping up with about 5 swing planes . I know exactly where its coming from as I have played the game for the last two years extensively during the season. 4+ rounds a weeks. These bad habits are obviously really ingrained.

I'm not sure how to address the problem. Is it a case of just keep playing and trying.

I feel as if 50% of my drives are going well on the course and the others I just revert back to my push slice. Am I by continuing playing keeping my old bad habits alive by playing with them. Is their a technique to deal with this?

Has anyone experienced transition periods during swing changes that felt really bad only to emerge the far side the better player.

I have shot below 80 a few times with my old swing. But more realistically a mid 80s shooter. My swing now as it looks a technically better action. But my scores are no where near the highs of last season.

I always believed you have to get worse to get better in regards to golf but my positive mentality is taking a bit of a bettering at the moment .

[saevel25]

Yep right now, i know i am so close to a breakthrough. I just need a few weeks on the range, if this rain would ease up. So its been slow on my end.

The issue is that your expectations of the shot. Just keep at it.

[Cut68]

I'm going through something similar. I have overhauled my swing the spring. I actually continued to play with my old swing while working on my new swing at the range (this is not easy, actually quite difficult) Last Friday, I actually found myself nervous on the first tee as I brought the new game out. It started off pretty rocky but by the end of the round I was pretty pleased an am encouraged moving forward. For me, the key is to just keep swinging. I need the new swing to become second nature for me. If your swing is not instinct, you will always have trouble when the pressure's on because your focusing on something else

[mobosecomin]

Thanks guys. I'm thinking that my mental game is very poor at the moment too. My erratic ball flight over the last few weeks has just left me standing over every shot thinking "ok where too this time".

I was also wondering if maybe I'm after making too many changes at once.?

While I'm confident that all the changes were necessary maybe I just can't make so many adjustments in such a short period of time. Problem is it's like a chain reaction if I keep my spine angle and take the club back on the inside it negates the benefit of working so hard on my posture. And that continues through all parts of the swing, I need it all working and not just one part :(

I'm pretty sick of quick fix's for most problems too. Realization over the last couple of months that most high handicapper swings have a lot of problems and then a quick look at my own left me amazed. At first glance everything looked ok but upon closer inspection I realized my body was wilting like flower with no light.

Anyway I'm off to play a few holes see if I can pick up my game. Thanks for the comments guys.

[saevel25]

I had the same issue, i honestly stopped my swing at the top because it felt horrible, i had no confidence in making any sort of contact. I would stop, and drop the club and try to go through the routine again. Then i got over it. If your having a real hard time, go see a pro, alot of times they can get you into a groove there and boost your confidence.

[Pope33]

I agree. I started off so bad this year that I was already to "call it a year". Then I went back to the basics of just dropping the clubface on the ball, forget the rest. I played so well the last two rounds with this philosophy. I am now excited to get out and play again (today). I have also increased all my iron yardages by using this simple thought process.