Psycological help needed....

[gfd66]

Put an Iron in my hand, a 3 all the way through my wedges, I've got amazing accuracy, control, distance, spin, etc. Put anything that looks like a wood in my hands (especially from the teebox) and the swing is absolutely completely different. My friends even told me yesterday that my practice swings were different. Put a wood in my hand and look out. I'm not even sure if you're safe standing on the green I just left!! Slice, maybe...push, maybe......draw, maybe. I've even skyed it off the tee with my driver and had the ball land behind me. I know it has to be mental because i can hit the rest of my clubs well.

[Gresh24]

You may be a bit of an extreme, but in general/to an extent, that's the case for everyone.

Have you tried a hybrid?  You swing it just like an iron.  A 2 or 3 hybrid may work for you and get you a little more distance.  Or even a 2 iron.

How far do you hit your 3 iron?  If you hit it well, use it off the tee and forget the driver/woods.  Nothing wrong with that.  Not many golfers can hit every iron (especially long irons) with "amazing accuracy, control, distance, spin, etc ".  If that is truly the case, you should be a single digit handicapper with no woods in your bag...

[gfd66]

Originally Posted by Gresh24

You may be a bit of an extreme, but in general/to an extent, that's the case for everyone.

Have you tried a hybrid?  You swing it just like an iron.  A 2 or 3 hybrid may work for you and get you a little more distance.  Or even a 2 iron.

How far do you hit your 3 iron?  If you hit it well, use it off the tee and forget the driver/woods.  Nothing wrong with that.  Not many golfers can hit every iron (especially long irons) with "amazing accuracy, control, distance, spin, etc ".  If that is truly the case, you should be a single digit handicapper with no woods in your bag...

I may have overstated a little bit, I can't fire off shots like a lazer, BUT I am pretty danged accurate once I am off the teebox. I have tried to hit my hybrid and 3 iron off the tee with bad results, Something about being up on that teebox gets my head all screwed up!!!! I could drop instantly 7-10 strokes per  round if I could just keep the ball on the hole that I am playing. I'm putting 7-10 balls OB or into ponds, then playing a recovery game. Doesn't even need to be in the fairway. Just in bounds and out of ponds. There is no rhyme or reason for where the ball travels. I'll hook it, push it, slice it, sky it, etc. There isn't anything consistent about my swing off of the teebox that I can rely on, unless it's a par 3 with a wedge. I can't figure it out.

I go to my lessons as any good boy should, do well, no harsh criticism, a little tweak here or there. Get to the course and I can't hit the ball down my field of play if my life depended on it.

PLUS, having to buy a dozen balls every time I go out to play 18 is getting to be a bit expensive....

[Shorty]

Originally Posted by gfd66

Put an Iron in my hand, a 3 all the way through my wedges, I've got amazing accuracy, control, distance, spin, etc.

Here's a challenge, then.

Leave your woods at home for the next 5 rounds.

Use your amazing control, distance and accuracy with your 3 iron off the tee. I guarantee you'll save 12 shots a round.

[gfd66]

Well, just got back from a quick 9 with one of my neighbors (after hitting the 19th for a bit). He told me what he saw was me wringing the grip like I was trying to choke it to death and that I looked like I was trying to hit the ball so hard it would travel 500yds every time I got to a par4/5 hole. AND it was ONLY on the teebox. It didn't matter what club I had in my hand. Told me to try and pick a target "just down the fairway a bit" and stop trying to hit it over the fence.To act like it's nothing more than "just another shot". BTW, Shot 44 (par 35), lost 5 balls. 3 OB )missed one house by j u s t that much) and 2 to the creeks. He did wait till after the round at the bar to give me his words of wisdom.

@Shorty, I've tried my 3iron and my hybrid off the tee, it's just something about that teebox that gets me all screwed up. I admitted in my last post that I may have overstated just a bit, I don't have laser like precision. If I did, I wouldn't be fighting fire for a living. BUT I am pretty damn good once I'm off the teebox.

I'm going to try my neighbor's advice.

[sixdoubleo]

Maybe it's hitting a tee'd ball that's causing you problems.  Try dropping a ball right on the grass and hitting one of your long irons.  Then, other than the fact that you're hitting IN the "tee box" it shouldn't be any different than a fairway iron shot.  If you find that helps then perhaps you might look at exactly how you're teeing the ball.  Maybe practice at a grass driving range where you can experiment with different teeing heights, etc.

Or are you thinking it's more or a performance anxiety thing with being on display?  I get this when we're teeing off at the first hole and the entire world is sometimes watching...but once we're past that initial 1st hole tee-off, I'm usually OK.

[gfd66]

Well, went to the guru this morning. What he told me and showed me via video was that with my woods I am basically throwing the club at the ball. I am coming over the top hard and over correcting while I am swinging. So we spent the entire time working just with the driver. Got it to the point where I was making good contact with the ball, and back on plane. Now it's off to the range to practice what we went over. The hardest part so far for me is the pushing foward (towards the target) of my hips, dropping the shoulder and finishing with a full follow thru without falling over. Kinda difficult after spinal fusion but we found out it can be done with a bit of setup manipulation. The biggest issue for me was the difference in shaft length from my woods to my irons. My irons he wants to leave alone but wants me to try out a +1" on the woods.

Let's all hope this is just a physical limitation to beat and not a brain thing....... easier to practice a physical thing than it is to get past the human mind. The brain gets in the way way too easy!!