Does this every happen to anyone else?

[Zachandlutz]

I've been playing for about a year, maybe a year and a half. Every once in a while I'll goto the range and I just can not seem to hit the ball. No matter what club I'm hitting with. I don't know if it's just an off day or something. Just curious to see if this happens to anyone else?

[kpaulhus]

It happens to everyone. Go have a beer and give it a few days.

[jamo]

Every now and then I'll go to the range and it'll feel like my brain doesn't know how to work my limbs and I just can't seem to get the timing of golf down. Then I'll go back the next day and it'll all be fine. Who knows.

[vangator]

That's my rule rather than my exception. :) Honestly, ball striking is not a big problem. If I have issues, it's is with leaving the ball right more than I like or hitting a hook rather than a draw. Usually it's a focus thing. On the flip side, every once in a while when I warm up before a round I hit the ball just great and I know I'm going to score well and typically do. We have an end of year scramble for our league tournament. For the first several years, my team never won. I am the A player and that my have something to do with it. :-) One tournament, during the warm up, I never hit the ball so well and it was repeatable. I striped the ball all day long and my team won the tournament. Too bad it's a fleeting thing......

[b101]

Yep, happens to me occasionally, particularly if I'm trying to change something in my fundamentals. Shanked pretty much every other pitch shot this morning unless I was going for a half swing, yet full swings with woods, driver, hybrid and low irons were fine. Often we just think about it too much, I reckon...

[cipher]

Yep, happens to me occasionally, particularly if I'm trying to change something in my fundamentals. Shanked pretty much every other pitch shot this morning unless I was going for a half swing, yet full swings with woods, driver, hybrid and low irons were fine. Often we just think about it too much, I reckon...

Yeah, I have always wondered if you are best to try and work through it or just put the clubs in the car and head home. I lean towards just head out and come back another day.

[TimS65]

When it happens to me (often!) I usually swap club type. I usually find if my irons aren't working, my hybrids or woods will be OK. Or vice versa! Occasionally nothing works, and sometimes everything works!!!

[Matt66]

Am glad to know I'm not the only one!

Monday night I went for a hit and really felt good about everything timing, sequencing was bang on

Wednesday came around and jeez, I felt like I could barely hold the club let alone swing it, I think I was just tired (mentally + physically)

Had a half day yesterday did a little putting & chipping practice, played 2 holes then went to the range and It was the complete opposite I felt even better then Monday!

Golf huh...

[Rynrem]

Some times it seems as if it is the first time I have ever held a club...all the clubs feel so foreign to me. I usually put my feet together and hit a few balls by making easy swings in an attempt to find a decent swing path and tempo. That often helps, but when it doesn't, I just work until I can hit a few non-embarrassing shots, then go home and come out again another day. 99 percent of the time that fixes it. Stupid Game...I say with the upmost of respect and love.

[dave s]

No teaching professional here, but my dad was.  He always said:  "Most bad shots start with a poor setup."  We hear a lot about pre-shot routines.  A pre-shot routine helps get a golfer into a predictable setup position most of the time.

When my wife started to play, it was feet together, ball in middle of both feet, sole club, step left, step right and swing.  5 years later, she still uses the same pre-shot routine and is a pretty solid ball striker.

My guess would be that for you, the range sessions where you can't seem to get the club on the ball is like due to setup issues and not much more.  The only other thing I see newbs struggle with is the swaying back when the swing starts, then trying to move back into position on the downswing which rarely works.  The other one is keeping your head free (see swaying) from moving up, down or side to side.

It's most likely NOT 'looking up' like so many people will tell you!  I challenge people to try to 'look up' during a golf swing.  It's almost physically impossible to actually do this.

Get in good position at address.  Stay there for the most part and you'll have a good opportunity of getting the club back to that position and hit solid shots more often.

dave

[Patch]

It happens to everyone. Go have a beer and give it a few days.

Yep, what kpaulhus said. Works every time as long as you drink the right brand of beer.

[WUTiger]

I would say set-up issues and pre-shot routine. And, range practice and on-course play are not the same environment.

For set-up, make sure you are aligned properly. Some beginners point their feet toward the target. The correct was is to have their feet parallel to the swing plane. Feet parallel is called railroad track alignment (see below).

Other set-up factors are grip and stance.

For take-away, make sure you rotate your shoulders back - sliding away from ball is not the same, as dave s so aptly noted.

Finally, there's range practice vs. on-course play. Range practice gives you a chance to work on drills to build your swing. When you play on the course, check your distance, focus on good alignment , and hit the ball. This is where a consistent pre-shot routine comes in. If you have to think about what all your body has to do on each shot, this wrecks your rhythm.

When on the course, remember what the special ops soldiers and Marines say: Trust your training!

[maddog0512]

It happens to all of us if you play long enough.  You're definitely not alone.  When this happens to me, I will really slow things down and take half swings until I get the feeling of good contact.  Doing repetitions outside of what you're capable of doing successfully isn't going to help you get better.

[RayG]

At the Range? sure... And it happens in the middle of a round as well... That's when you have another beer, make fun of your partners 'manly bits', and just relax and have fun with it... YOU know you can play better, and you will, maybe not anymore that day, but you will..

[iacas]

No teaching professional here, but my dad was.  He always said:  "Most bad shots start with a poor setup."

I'm gonna disagree with this, just to have a little "academic" discussion, but here goes…

Do you agree or not: You could put Rory McIlroy in a pretty bad setup position and he'll still hit the ball better than the 18 handicapper you teach to set up perfectly?

Here's what this comes down to…good players do all things well, including setting up properly. They have good grips, they don't over-bend their knees, etc. Their swings are good.

Bad players do a lot of bad things poorly.

The setup, well, that plays a role, but it's often a very insignificant role in the actual cause of their bad shot or swing.

Another example: when you're playing golf and you hit a great 7-iron on one hole and a horrible on on the next, how much did your setup change? Probably not much.

Now, am I saying posture isn't semi important? No. Not at all:

I would say set-up issues and pre-shot routine. And, range practice and on-course play are not the same environment.

For set-up, make sure you are aligned properly. Some beginners point their feet toward the target. The correct was is to have their feet parallel to the swing plane. Feet parallel is called railroad track alignment (see below).

Meh.

Good players aim left, right, and some do this too. I play better from a slightly open stance. So did Lee Trevino. There's no pure commonality in how the best players align themselves.

[joekelly]

If i could change one perpetual problem of mine nearly always found on the beginning holes is the 'hips like bricks'.  Just cannot get the hips to move until i play some shots. Go left, young man, go left.  It's a very long ingrained habit which i struggle to eliminate, even modify.

Played with a bloke yesterday; my god what a swing.  Learned from his early childhood, instructed by great teachers.  Looked like a old man Lydia Ko, so smooth and effortless, all systems on body in tune and on track.  Must have been 70 yrs old and easily knocked driver 230, 8i 150.  And putt too, long and short, in the cup with uncanny ease.

Asked fellow hacker in group after he mentioned an especially good shot of better player if 'envy had reared its ugly head' and he replied, 'how could it not?'

[dave s]

I'm gonna disagree with this, just to have a little "academic" discussion, but here goes…

Do you agree or not: You could put Rory McIlroy in a pretty bad setup position and he'll still hit the ball better than the 18 handicapper you teach to set up perfectly?

That' just a bad analogy.  Best golfer (arguably) on the planet vs an 18-hdcp player is apples-to-saw dust comparison.

Proper setup for golf is like any other process.  A proper setup will give you a BETTER chance for success than a poor setup.  Accurate statement for ANY process.

dave

[iacas]

That' just a bad analogy.  Best golfer (arguably) on the planet vs an 18-hdcp player is apples-to-saw dust comparison.

Proper setup for golf is like any other process.  A proper setup will give you a BETTER chance for success than a poor setup.  Accurate statement for ANY process.

I don't want to belabor the point, but I feel that kind of misses what I was getting at… Most bad shots are caused by bad golfers. Bad setups play a small role in that, and often a role that's easily corrected… but there are far, far more important things than setup.

Again, to argue against myself a bit, good setups aren't hard to "do" - they take no skill or talent, just knowing what to do and remembering to do it - so we fix a lot of setups (virtually every lesson). But… they're still not high on the list of "causes" of bad golf shots.

Your dad may as well have said "bad golf shots are hit by bad golfers."