Make swing changes and still play decent. Is it possible?

[poser]

Shot the highest round in a very very long time for me.  It was also in a 2 day tournament and I WD after the round.  I finished with a 87.  The whole idea of the tourney is to speed the greens way up and put the pins in crazy spots.  I had 3 times today from 5 feet or less birdie putts and walked away with bogie.  I touched one put from 7 feet and had a 20 footer back up the hill.  I hit 4 balls OB and 1 Lost ball. I hit the tee ball so terrible and the wind was really bad.  I have no idea how people can make swing changes and still play decent.  I never felt so uncomfortable over the ball and scared to take the club back.  Only upside is I wasn't the highest round by a long shot.  At least 10 people in the championship flight shot higher than me and one actually shot a 109.  The old me would break every club in the bag and throw them in the trash.  Been going through this roller coaster of up and down rounds since back surgery last year and trying to improve my swing. Madness just turns into depression.  I hate golf right now.....

[JetFan1983]

Damn, an 87 has gotta hurt for a 1.0. But those rounds happen. My friend is a +0.3 and he shot two rounds in the 90s this year. Roll with the punches, my friend.

Swing changes + tougher greens + tough hole locations + wind.... recipe for a poor round.

It may just be time to hit the range 85% of the time when you get the urge to play. Like 5 range sessions for every 1 round of golf you play. The swing changes will become more natural much faster IMO.

[The_Pharaoh]

I know exactly how you feel. I had an 85 in competition in August and I was in a funk for quite a few days afterwards. In fact, it is that round that made me decide I needed to do something about my game and which eventually led me to seek out the help of the guys at Golf Evolution.

One thing is hitting 7 iron after 7 iron on the range and quite another trying to score out on the course. Keep going with the changes and don't worry about your scores until you have the changes ingrained.

[MiniBlueDragon]

I'm not sure swing changes + decent golf is possible at all to be honest as everything takes time to ingrain. For me I "work" on swing changes during practice rounds or at the range but when I'm on the course I play to score well. With my current changes my handicap is closer to 22 than 15 but everything feels more solid, better and more suited to me so I'm sticking with it.

[poser]

Originally Posted by The_Pharaoh

I know exactly how you feel. I had an 85 in competition in August and I was in a funk for quite a few days afterwards. In fact, it is that round that made me decide I needed to do something about my game and which eventually led me to seek out the help of the guys at Golf Evolution.

One thing is hitting 7 iron after 7 iron on the range and quite another trying to score out on the course. Keep going with the changes and don't worry about your scores until you have the changes ingrained.

Yea I guess I should stick out of of tourneys until I get the stuff down.  I was debating on playing int his one but, it was the last one for me for the season.  It's just embarrassing going out and shooting a high score like that in a tourney.

[iacas]

There's a trick to playing good golf while you're making swing changes. It's different for everyone, and it can depend on your changes, but basically, trust that:

a) you're not going to completely revert to your old swing or forget what you're working on if you make 30 full swings on the golf course. It's not going to set you back.

b) Have ONE swing thought which is related to your most important piece, and play golf with JUST that swing thought. If the adjustment you need to make is a big one and you're having trouble finding the ball well enough, either use a different thought or just do it a little bit, and don't worry about it because a is true.

If you can believe a and do b you should be fine and you should be able to play through things. You may hit an odd shot now and then, but the quality of the rest of your shots should be better.

[Mr. Desmond]

If you're changing everything about your swing?

No --

Tiger can't even do it.

Now if you're changing a few things here and there, it's possible.

But not for me....

[The_Pharaoh]

Originally Posted by iacas

b) Have ONE swing thought which is related to your most important piece

This is the key. I played the other day for the first time since I decided to overhaul my swing and I went out there with a completely open mind. OK, it wasn't a tournament round but I was with friends and didn't want to make a fool of myself. I was just working on hands in and nothing else. I wanted to feel my backswing was completely different and that's what I achieved. I just tried to achieve the position and not worry about where the ball went or my score. I actually hit the ball quite well and shot 72 (level par) as my expectations were so low.

[MacBooky]

The way it sounds you would have had a hard time if you would have been half on .... so don't take too much from the round ...

Keep working on what you're working on and go out and play with that stuff, it takes discipline and NO tournament conditions, so go out on your own when its quit ... if you have the option of playing just 3 or 4 holes then do that or otherwise leave it at 9 holes. then give yourself some honest feedback, mainly about your focus and discipline .

You'll get there, no worries