Golf slump!

[thopratt]

Hey everyone. I have been playing pretty consistent golf most of the year. Averaging 76-83 at my home course. A month ago out of no where I wasn't hitting the ball solid my score has jumped up to the 92-95 range. I have no idea what the heck is going on. I have been playing golf for about 15 years and have never had something like this happen for this long. Those of u that have had golf slumps, how long did they last and what did u do to get back down to playing your normal golf round.

[Lihu]

Hey everyone. I have been playing pretty consistent golf most of the year. Averaging 76-83 at my home course. A month ago out of no where I wasn't hitting the ball solid my score has jumped up to the 92-95 range. I have no idea what the heck is going on. I have been playing golf for about 15 years and have never had something like this happen for this long. Those of u that have had golf slumps, how long did they last and what did u do to get back down to playing your normal golf round.

Welcome to TST!

Where are you losing the strokes?

[thopratt]

Driving and iron shots. They are not solid. My shots have been a draw on some and fade on some. Catching it thin a lot. Normally I have a straight or small fade all the time. Short game and putting are normal.

[Lihu]

Driving and iron shots. They are not solid. My shots have been a draw on some and fade on some. Catching it thin a lot. Normally I have a straight or small fade all the time. Short game and putting are normal.

Sounds just like me!

Seriously, are your holes at least getting near GIR? (That is within 20 yards?) If not, what yardage away from the greens?

When you say "not solid" are you losing distance? The imprints on my club face show that I am hitting the same spot, but I am guessing my club path is all over the map which causes my draws and fades.

[thopratt]

My shots are really thin. Almost topping it. My GIR are way down. But do get within 20 yards of the green on the approach shot most times. I am with ya on spraying the golf course with shots right now. It's aggravating.

[Lihu]

My shots are really thin. Almost topping it. My GIR are way down. But do get within 20 yards of the green on the approach shot most times. I am with ya on spraying the golf course with shots right now. It's aggravating.

Nah, I just got to the point where my "spraying" is within 20 yards of the green most of the time.

I'm guessing some of the other guys on this site can ask more specific questions.

First of all, you might consider posting your swings on a "My Swing" thread that you can make. This will allow more people to comment more intelligently about the root cause of your problems.

I'm pretty confident our site can get you out of this slump.

[thopratt]

I appreciate it lihu!

[Lihu]

I appreciate it lihu!

Here are some starter's rules for this site: http://thesandtrap.com/t/73197/so-you-joined-tst-and-posted-a-member-swing-thread

Have at it, and best wishes for a speedy golf recovery!

[Yukari]

Hey everyone. I have been playing pretty consistent golf most of the year. Averaging 76-83 at my home course. A month ago out of no where I wasn't hitting the ball solid my score has jumped up to the 92-95 range. I have no idea what the heck is going on. I have been playing golf for about 15 years and have never had something like this happen for this long. Those of u that have had golf slumps, how long did they last and what did u do to get back down to playing your normal golf round.

Not trying to be dismissive, but it is surprising that you have not had a slump in 15 years.

I get into the proverbial golf slump every year, heck sometimes every other month, it seems.  The length of being in the slump has gotten shorter, thank goodness, but I still have ebbs and flows in my golf game.

One thing that I found helpful of getting out of the slump is to increase the amount of practice time at the range.  Basically, I work on one fundamentals at a time at the range until my swing comes back to what I feel is my normal swing.  I start with the grip and alignment.  Then I look at my takeaway and make sure I have a full shoulder turn on my backswing (this is my nemesis as when my swing goes awry, it inevitably is due at least in part to not fully turning my shoulder).

In fact, I just got out of the slump myself last week after two weeks of hitting horribly (shooting in the high 80's to low 90's).  I went to the range and slowed my swing down and worked on the basics.  After ~20 balls, I had my swing back.  I went back to the range next day to make sure it wasn't a temporary result.  On Sunday I went out and shot 79 (CR: 70.9/136, 6800 yds).

[NJpatbee]

I currenly am butchering my short iron approach shots as well as chips and pitches but the season is ending where I am.  What has worked for me in the past is range and practice facility time, followed by a lesson if I cannot fix it, followed by more practice.  More times than not the fix is simple (grip, alignment, collapsing backswing, etc.).  Now just for reference purposes,  an 88-90 are good scores for me so I have never achieved the level you were playing at - you may want ot start with a pro first.

[Lihu]

Not trying to be dismissive, but it is surprising that you have not had a slump in 15 years.

I get into the proverbial golf slump every year, heck sometimes every other month, it seems.  The length of being in the slump has gotten shorter, thank goodness, but I still have ebbs and flows in my golf game.

One thing that I found helpful of getting out of the slump is to increase the amount of practice time at the range.  Basically, I work on one fundamentals at a time at the range until my swing comes back to what I feel is my normal swing.  I start with the grip and alignment.  Then I look at my takeaway and make sure I have a full shoulder turn on my backswing (this is my nemesis as when my swing goes awry, it inevitably is due at least in part to not fully turning my shoulder).

In fact, I just got out of the slump myself last week after two weeks of hitting horribly (shooting in the high 80's to low 90's).  I went to the range and slowed my swing down and worked on the basics.  After ~20 balls, I had my swing back.  I went back to the range next day to make sure it wasn't a temporary result.  On Sunday I went out and shot 79 (CR: 70.9/136, 6800 yds).

If a 12-14 gets about 4 GIR per 18 hole round at 6700 yards with some par and the rest are lucky pars/bogey and a couple doubles, he will end up shooting to a 13 handicap. That's a lot of forgiveness. 14 handicap lets him screw up by >8 more strokes than a 6 handicap. So, a slump at the OP's level is slightly unusual. I'm guessing he's normally a 12 and now a couple strokes higher, based upon his current GIR performance or lack thereof?

I can see a 6 handicap getting into a slump every year, simply because you are essentially expecting to get 9-10 par per round. This probably means somewhere around 8-10 GIR (6700 yards), and be able to get about 3-4 up and downs. That's pretty hard to do for anyone. Takes some serious applied skill.

[skywaterbanjo]

With absolutely no commercial connection, when I get into my monthly slump from mishits, I pull out the Medicus hinged club for a session on the range.

[Lastpick]

Get rid of the tension.  Get your tempo back.  Check your posture.  Remember that all golfers suffer from temporary insanity.  This to will pass.

Maybe something physically has changed such as vision or blood pressure.

[Lihu]

Get rid of the tension.  Get your tempo back.  Check your posture.  Remember that all golfers suffer from temporary insanity.  This to will pass.

Maybe something physically has changed such as vision or blood pressure.

Do you mean to get the same absolute timing back? Or something else? Seems like tempo would be relative to how your body reacts, and that it reacts differently at different times.

[Lastpick]

Do you mean to get the same absolute timing back? Or something else? Seems like tempo would be relative to how your body reacts, and that it reacts differently at different times.

I can't speak to all but tempo is what is important for me.  If my swing stays at my optimum pace, the timing is more consistent.  Tempo is related to legs, hips and shoulders.  If these parts of your swing are in tempo, the actual timing of the club head with the ball will be more consistent.  As I am a double digit handicapper, this could all be wrong.

[Lihu]

I can't speak to all but tempo is what is important for me.  If my swing stays at my optimum pace, the timing is more consistent.  Tempo is related to legs, hips and shoulders.  If these parts of your swing are in tempo, the actual timing of the club head with the ball will be more consistent.  As I am a double digit handicapper, this could all be wrong.

Or you could be right. I was just wondering because my swing speed does actually change a lot. If I start my downswing with my legs and turning my hips, then my swing speed is speed "A". If I am slightly out of sequence, and turn my shoulders a little too ahead then my swing speed is "B". There's a huge difference in the swish sound of the club between the two.

If by tempo you mean the speed that keeps my lead arm in contact with my chest on the downswing to impact, then that seems to change a lot in absolute terms. It depends heavily upon how tired are my muscles, clothing, if I am warmed up, lots of other factors. If you mean in a relative sense of the movement of different parts of the body, then the I see you point.

I'm also a double digit handicap, so I don't really know either.

[Spitfisher]

I was in alittle funk, especially with my mid irons, I finally broke out of hit, by softening my grip and putting a little more weight on my forward foot and really finishing my swing......worked for me, good luck

[dfreuter415]

Hey everyone. I have been playing pretty consistent golf most of the year. Averaging 76-83 at my home course. A month ago out of no where I wasn't hitting the ball solid my score has jumped up to the 92-95 range. I have no idea what the heck is going on. I have been playing golf for about 15 years and have never had something like this happen for this long. Those of u that have had golf slumps, how long did they last and what did u do to get back down to playing your normal golf round.

This is a reiteration of what some of the prior postings suggested, but it has worked for me...

Sometimes less is more. I've been golfing more than 50 years, and there have been several times that I felt like giving away my clubs. My plan was to abstain from playing golf for a couple of weeks and go hit balls at the range instead.  Once I return to the course my game returned to previous levels of competency.

In a similar vein, there have also been a time or two that I encountered a fall slump. Being from Pittsburgh, the number of times that you can play from December through February is minimal. Once I returned to the course in March after a 2-3 month hiatus, my game was also back to "normal."

I don't know if this will help, but best wishes on finding your game.