Quit - or start again?

[GlasgowsGreen]

I can’t do it. I just cannot hit this damn little white ball!   I’ve been playing golf for almost 2 years and I have practiced a LOT. Golf has turned into a bit of an obsession with me and I go to the range probably once every 3 days.   I have been getting lessons since day one from registered professionals, however the results have been very disappointing. My commitment cannot be faulted – if anything I probably try too hard. I really, really try to put into practice want I have been told however I’m not seeing any improvement.   I can get the easy things right. My grip and setup are near perfect and my takeaway up to the top of my backswing is absolutely fine. The killer for me is the transition and downswing. On a good day anything longer than a 5 iron will slice to the right. On a bad day I will even slice my putts ;-).   My golf pro says that;   1.     I have an ‘out to in’ swing path 2.     I’m not hitting down on the ball enough   I think my problem is that I maybe try too hard. The internet is full of fixes and drills, and tips, and advice, and pictures, diagrams, and videos and analysis. By the time I hit the range my head is so full of information that I can barely swing the club. I have some good nights at the range and go home thinking that I’ve finally cracked it. I return the following night full of promise only to despair as every shot bounces away to the right.   Last night I had my foot on my 5 iron ready to snap it and put an end my misery. They say that if ‘at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then give up – there’s no point in embarrassing yourself!’. I resisted the temptation to quit last night however I’m getting to a point where I need to really think hard about what I do going forward.   I’d always thought that if I just kept plugging away then eventually everything would fall into place. I’m worried now that I’m actually just ingraining a fatally flawed swing into my system.   Can anyone give my some advice on what I should do?   I’ve tried all the fixes but with limited success. My golf pro has now recommended that I basically start again. Go to the range with a wedge and practice with that alone until I hit the ball consistently. Then over time move up to a 9 iron, then onto a 8 iron and so. Only moving onto a longer club when I am consistent with the clubs below it.   Has anyone ever heard of this approach before, or even done it themselves?   Your comments will be very much appreciated.

[MiniBlueDragon]

I found I hit the exact same "wall" a while ago and over-ran my head with swing thoughts and feelings etc. I dedicated a month to "just swinging the club" and completely ignored everything in my head. It seemed to improve my swing and get away from mechanical into natural as your body and mind will do it's best to just hit the ball well. It could be these thoughts that are screwing up your swing to be fair.

Once you're free of mechanical thoughts I'd find yourself a new "pro" who can actually teach you rather than the guy you see currently who seems to be suggesting that even though the majority of your swing is "near perfect" you need to go back to basics.

The one thing I'd suggest for your slice is simply a stronger grip to stop the club from opening up at impact.

To try and get away from an over-the-top swing (out to in) I'd work on letting your body swing the club rather than your arms.

Also video is great. If you can video your swing actually hitting a ball, even if it's on an iPhone it can help the pro's on here to help you with some thoughts on how to improve. Also check out Evolvr for a real golf swing evaluation and lesson.

Oh and DON'T BUY GOLF MAGAZINES (or at least ignore the 'tips' in them if you do buy them!)

[JetFan1983]

Before you quit, buy this book and give it a chance. It opened my eyes. Combined with this website and the videos made by Golf Evolution and the Stack and Tilt academy , I really began to improve. I also take lessons from an authorized instructor . All these things combined were, for lack of a better term, a god send...for me. My frustration levels with golf went (on a scale of 1 to 100) from about a 100 down to about a 30 literally after just my first lesson. Again, I can speak only for myself here and my experience with it. But so far it's been excellent.

BTW, in my opinion, the fact that your instructor has no idea how to change your swing path from out-to-in to in-to-out? That's a major red flag in my book that he's a bad instructor. Add the fact that you've worked hard and seen no improvement, its time to give him the pink slip. I could never hit a draw prior to my lessons and after about two days of practice after my first lesson, that became my "natural" ball flight.

It was shocking to feel what impact is supposed to feel like for the first time. And it was equally shocking to feel what it felt like to have an in-to-out swing path. I never would have found it on my own. But I first had to be convinced that this was the route I should take, and reading the book, reading this forum, and watching those videos were what convinced me to go in this new direction.

Don't quit!

[rustyredcab]

Sometimes we need to burn the prairie before new growth can begin.

Consider changing your swing model. Stack and Tilt, Moe Norman (my choice), or some other major shift. Start over. Do it exactly as they recommend. Perhaps you will find the game you are looking for.

I went from a 18.0 index that had been stuck there for many years with occasional rounds in the 105- 110 range. I went to an entire new way of golfing -- new grip, new setup, new backswing, new downswing, new thoughts, new clubs... and I've gotten down to as low as 6.1. More importantly, my worst days are better than my old best days. I love my new swing model.

My observation is that most people change their swing by dabbling with changes. They try some of that Stack and Tilt stuff but keep some things they like in their old swing. No surprise that the changes often do no good. If you really are ready to quit, you may be in just the right place to make major changes. Dive head first into the deep end. What do have to loose? You're thinking of quitting anyway.

[RFetters]

Try this,,set up a line of teed up balls on the range,  Make the line curve to the inside ending up straight down the target line or whatever you think your desired swing path should actually be.  Then tee up a range ball about 2-3 inches from the last ball in the line and hit it.   Not only does the curve create an inside to out path, but it also gives you a visual reference to follow.  Anytime you get outside on the takeaway, or downswing you will tend to knock one of the balls off in the curved line, and get instant feedback that you are too much outside.

You can take the same concept for putting, by just making the desired path you want to follow, and with tees on both sides it teaches you to stay inside the path of tees.

Sounds to me that you really need to see some results, rather than more teaching,,keep in mind golf is supposed to be fun not work.

My last suggestion is to cutback your swing to about 3/4.  This should result in more consistent ball strikes, and your swing be more in control.

Keep in mind, if the club face isnt square at impact you are going to impart spin, so you may need to make small adjustments to your face alignment as you see the results on the range.

[Golfs-for-Fun]

Originally Posted by GlasgowsGreen

I can’t do it. I just cannot hit this damn little white ball!

I’ve been playing golf for almost 2 years and I have practiced a LOT. Golf has turned into a bit of an obsession with me and I go to the range probably once every 3 days.

I have been getting lessons since day one from registered professionals, however the results have been very disappointing. My commitment cannot be faulted – if anything I probably try too hard. I really, really try to put into practice want I have been told however I’m not seeing any improvement.

I can get the easy things right. My grip and setup are near perfect and my takeaway up to the top of my backswing is absolutely fine. The killer for me is the transition and downswing. On a good day anything longer than a 5 iron will slice to the right. On a bad day I will even slice my putts .

My golf pro says that;

1.     I have an ‘out to in’ swing path

2.     I’m not hitting down on the ball enough

I think my problem is that I maybe try too hard. The internet is full of fixes and drills, and tips, and advice, and pictures, diagrams, and videos and analysis. By the time I hit the range my head is so full of information that I can barely swing the club. I have some good nights at the range and go home thinking that I’ve finally cracked it. I return the following night full of promise only to despair as every shot bounces away to the right.

Last night I had my foot on my 5 iron ready to snap it and put an end my misery. They say that if ‘at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then give up – there’s no point in embarrassing yourself!’. I resisted the temptation to quit last night however I’m getting to a point where I need to really think hard about what I do going forward.

I’d always thought that if I just kept plugging away then eventually everything would fall into place. I’m worried now that I’m actually just ingraining a fatally flawed swing into my system.

Can anyone give my some advice on what I should do?

I’ve tried all the fixes but with limited success. My golf pro has now recommended that I basically start again. Go to the range with a wedge and practice with that alone until I hit the ball consistently. Then over time move up to a 9 iron, then onto a 8 iron and so. Only moving onto a longer club when I am consistent with the clubs below it.

Has anyone ever heard of this approach before, or even done it themselves?

Your comments will be very much appreciated.

Granted I can hit the ball a lot I still have trouble with consistency.

Its come to my attention via instruction of others that my backswing is too far back and Im literally allowing the club to 'stop' before I begin the downswing which apparently is allowing the club to get off the path it should be on.

What I tried yesterday was drastically shortening the backswing and then starting the down swing before the club has had a chance to stop moving back. I did see a lot more contact with the ball every time and my divot started hitting the same point after the ball every time. Not saying this is the cure, but something changed for the better, so Im going to give it a shot.

If it works, Im in the same boat as you....basically starting from scratch.

[Golfs-for-Fun]

Originally Posted by GlasgowsGreen

I think my problem is that I maybe try too hard. The internet is full of fixes and drills, and tips, and advice, and pictures, diagrams, and videos and analysis. By the time I hit the range my head is so full of information that I can barely swing the club. I have some good nights at the range and go home thinking that I’ve finally cracked it. I return the following night full of promise only to despair as every shot bounces away to the right.

I definitely agree with overthinking being a problem.

But in order to learn something we DO have to think about it so we can practice it.

What I believe is that too much at one time is the problem. Find a couple things and work on them, then once you get those try a couple more to add in.

For instance, I changed my grip and it was really weird at first but now I dont even think about it. Then after that was second nature I added in something else.

It a LOT easier than having an instructor back there giving you 14 things to try to do at once. Sure its going to take longer for me to get where I want to get, but if it keeps me from getting discouraged enough to stop playing again like I did in the 90s then this is the way I want to do it this time around. Lessons are fine but not if they are overwhelming you.

when I address the ball I think about as few things as possible.

- Grip

- ball position

- Left arm straight

- eye on ball

I swing from there and see what the ball does and make adjustments from there.

If I get to thinking about every detail of the entire swing I'll shank it off into the woods for sure.

[nevets88]

I quit golf for extended periods of time (years) 3 times, so although I started playing 10 years ago, I've probably been playing for 5 years.

If you are obsessed, chances are if you quit, you'll find yourself mysteriously back again after you miss it enough.

What can i say, there's many ways to learn, I took lessons from pros in those top X lists in golf magazines it did me no good.

Only when I started intuitively to realize that I had to move my low point forward without someone trying to convince me did I start to make progress and the principles espoused by Stack and Tilt especially helped me. YMMV. I really started to make progress with a combination of finally trusting my own instincts and working with good instructors.

[Pope33]

As a wise man once said, "Take two weeks off...............and then quit!"

[TourSpoon]

When it all goes to hell, I come back and start feeling the golf swing by hitting the ball off the tee with a 50% power full swing until I get the ball flight I desire.  I then increase until I get to 85-90% and then I try to get in some good reps with that feeling in mind. When you start thinking too much it is a good drill because you can have all the fundamentals down, but your timing and tempo caused by the anxiety of the little white ball can tie you in knots.  This allows you to work out those issues by forcing you to swing within yourself, in balance, and trusting it.  The hard thing is that slowing down is not as easy as it sounds.

If that doesn't help you then your form is not what you think it is.  Grab a camera and post a video.

[shortstop20]

Never say die......

[GlasgowsGreen]

Thanks for all the advice. My pro has given me plenty of drills to try and cure my out to in swing e.g. Placing my right foot back in the stance, hitting the ball out to right field and try to start drawing the ball rather than slicing. The problem for me is that it's not working. That's my fault not his. I just have this ingrained tendency to start my downswing my almost throwing my right shoulder into it, causing slices, miss hits etc. His advice was that I should consider starting off again my a wedge, making sure that I'm hitting down on it and that I am giving the ball a nice draw. Only then should I move onto a longer club. Presently I'll go to the range, hit a few nice PW, hit some nice 9 irons, hot a few okay 7 irons, take out a 5 iron and start duffing them with the occasional beautiful shot, then move onto the hybrids and begin to slice for Scotland. By this point I'm so agitated that even returning to my 9 iron is fruitless. Maybe I do need to slow it down and get back to the fundamental basics of hitting a little White ball off the ground. Thanks for the stack and tilt suggestion. I'll definitely give it a go if I can't get past this current brick wall.

[inthehole]

I was a typical slicer when I started last year & share your frustration.    I read everything on the Stack & Tilt system & it completely got rid of my slice - my problem now is I hook EVERYTHING ... sometimes duck hooks.     Amazing what keeping your head centered over the ball & keeping weight forward on the downswing will do to change the ball flight... not entirely sure a duck hook is better than a slice, I'm still looking for a happy medium.

[JetFan1983]

Originally Posted by inthehole

I was a typical slicer when I started last year & share your frustration.    I read everything on the Stack & Tilt system & it completely got rid of my slice - my problem now is I hook EVERYTHING ... sometimes duck hooks.     Amazing what keeping your head centered over the ball & keeping weight forward on the downswing will do to change the ball flight... not entirely sure a duck hook is better than a slice, I'm still looking for a happy medium.

This happened to me too, and its currently the ugly ball flight I fight when my swing starts to go south, usually when I'm tired, and definitely when I'm under pressure.

The first goal for my first lesson was figuring out how to hook the ball since I simply could not get a ball flight that went right to left. So you achieved what was once my original goal with my teacher.

But now you need the next few pieces of the puzzle, which I thankfully got thru lessons: hip slide, axis tilt/spine tilt. The duck hook miss is still coming over the top, most of the time. So you probably have the same path; the face angle is just what's different now.

Just to give a visual example. Ugh...I don't have videos of me on this computer hitting a hook. Damn it....This picture of me hitting a block will have to suffice. Somewhat similar. Here, I don't have enough side-tilt, my hips aren't forward enough, and I'm flipping it with retracted arms. I've spun out my hips and shoulders too, as indicated by my vertical trail foot. The same crap happens when I hit a hook, except the difference is the club face is closed relative the path, and that path is over-the-top. Take note of the excessive cupping of my lead wrist.

Picture two is of a mini-tour player who really gives a great example of some very important pieces: 1) great hip slide (his trail foot is still relatively down) 2) wonderful side-tilt 3) straight arms on the follow through 4) a flat left wrist well into his follow-through (which is something a player needs to feel if he's an ugly flipper).'

Picture 3 is me working on those things. I still don't have enough side-tilt here I think, but it was a start in the right direction. Ball flight here is some kind of push draw.

Anyway, I'm not sure how much this will help since I couldn't pull any of this off without someone holding my hand while practicing it....but maybe this will give you an idea of where to go next...and maybe you have more natural talent than me and can somehow do this without an instructor. Fingers crossed!

[JetFan1983]

Here are two face-on views to show the difference....

Picture one you can see all the problems I talked about in the above post. Ugh, this old swing was bad.

Picture two you can see all the good things I talked about. I'm only taking a slow motion practice swing here, trying to feel the new positions: hip slide, side tilt, flat left wrist (no release of the hands), etc.

[Chief Broom]

I vote for the OP finding a new teaching pro.  Not that the guy he's got now is bad, but the pro obviously isn't able to help the OP and that is reason enough in my book to make a change.  Also two of the drills the OP mentioned (dropping the right foot back and hitting out to right field) have been suggested to me in the past as slice fixes and they never worked for me either.  Maybe a coincidence, but if after two years you still are fighting the same battle it's time to change tactics.

[inthehole]

Thanks for posting the above pics - that's a good representation & something I need to work on too !