My "practice" swing is perfect

[Ranger]

I am a somewhat beginning golfer. I have played on and off over the years never giving it a real serious effort. But now I am and I have a problem that I am trying to overcome. The problem is transferring my perfect practice swing to the real thing. When I do my warm up swings everything feels great and the people I am golfing with tell me what a nice swing I have. Then I set up to hit the ball and I revert to all my old bad habits, with predictable results. Even after I hit the ball and I have to yell our "Fore!!!!!" because the ball is coming back at us ,.. I know what I did wrong and repeat the process over again. Great warm up swing, and then right back to my old swing falling back on my heels etc...  Okay, I know how to swing properly, so this must be simply a mental thing. Is it just a matter of spending enough time on the driving range that I develop the proper habits? I do much better on the range. But as soon as it actually counts, I fall apart. Right now, my plans are just to keep practicing on the range to try and groove a proper stroke.

[Spyder]

First, welcome to TST! You definitely came to the right place for golf talk.

From what I gather out of your post, you haven't really established your swing at all yet. I don't mean any offense by this at all and I am trying to help.

You would need to establish your stance and ball position, as well as work on your actual swing. If you are falling off balance during your shot, there could be many things wrong there. You could be standing too close to the ball, improper weight transfer or no weight transfer at all, improper spine alignment, clubs that are not fit properly to you and your natural swing, etc. as the list goes on.

Unless you have a video of your swing, the only answer that can be given is that you seek out a local professional and get some lessons. If you haven't done so already, you may want to consider getting fitted into a set of clubs, or even your existing clubs as adjustments can be made to them.

Also, you may want to fix your Handicap so that some of our local handicap nazis don't jump on you. Chances are, if you're falling out of your shot and are not somewhat consistent, you're not a 10 handicap.

[JetFan1983]

Welcome!

Originally Posted by Ranger

The problem is transferring my perfect practice swing to the real thing. When I do my warm up swings everything feels great and the people I am golfing with tell me what a nice swing I have. Then I set up to hit the ball and I revert to all my old bad habits, with predictable results.

This is a very common issue, so don't feel like you're on an island with this problem.

Originally Posted by Ranger

I know what I did wrong

Originally Posted by Ranger

Okay, I know how to swing properly, so this must be simply a mental thing.

As a beginning golfer especially, it's quite likely you don't know what you did wrong. Obviously I'm just speaking in generalities based on what I know about the world of amateur golf. I haven't seen your swing at all (speaking of which, you could always post it here and see what the community has to say about it).

The best thing you can do for yourself is to get a lesson, assuming you can afford it (many can't, which I completely understand). But, if you are lucky enough to be able to afford it, I'd say go get some lessons.

Of course, the path towards finding the right instructor is quite the rocky road, so you may have some trouble finding one you mesh with. There is a problem in golf in that there are a lot of teachers out there willing to give you advice and take your money, but unfortunately, not all golf instructors are created equal.

But I guess this is a post for a different thread.

Think about posting your swing though. Here's a thread on how to do it. The people who don't provide the proper angles and adequate frame rates usually get the fewest responses on their My Swing Thread, so try to some good clips for everyone

[tristanhilton85]

Yeah... best thing you can do is get a lesson.

If that isn't a possibility you should record your swing on video and post it up here... there are a lot of really helpful members on the site that would be more than happy to point you in the right direction.

[Ranger]

Okay, okay... I made the proper adjustment to my handicap. I thought it was a hoped for score. I have no idea what it actually is. I just got back into golfing after about a 14 year layoff. I haven't even been keeping score. Just working on my game. I really want to do this thing right this time although my flexibility is not near what it used to be. Years ago when I was golfing frequently my best scores were in the low 90's with a mid to low 80's thrown in here and there. Lessons may be in the near future, but a set of new clubs...probably not quite yet $$$. I am 6-3 and just picked up a set of used clubs that are fairly modern good set and are a bit longer than the standard length. They feel pretty good. I will try and post a video soon, and am looking forward to the input. So far I have made great progress and feel I am on the right track. I am 58 but still in very good shape and have always been athletic and able to make the adjustments that are required. Thanks, and video coming soon.