Diagnosing Swing Flaws During a Round

[JonMA1]

Say you’re playing a pretty good round of golf. Irons are crisp from wedges through long irons, woods and driver are starting on the right line with a predictable ball flight. Everything is going pretty well when you suddenly start hitting poor shots.

I’m not talking about a missed green, a chunked shot or an anomaly that goes away with the next swing. I mean an iron shot that’s just ugly - almost like a shank but not a shank. And then you shoot another, then a third….  When you go from everything being automatic to where it seems almost impossible to make good contact, what do you?

How do you diagnose the cause of a bad result? And then, what you are physically doing wrong to create the cause? Does it just take years of experience to instantly know exactly what flaw just crept back into your swing? Or do you just trust your swing - maybe slow it down on the next shot and start thinking more about your mechanics?

[saevel25]

I’m not talking about a missed green, a chunked shot or an anomaly that goes away with the next swing. I mean an iron shot that’s just ugly - almost like a shank but not a shank. And then you shoot another, then a third….  When you go from everything being automatic to where it seems almost impossible to make good contact, what do you?

How do you diagnose the cause of a bad result? And then, what you are physically doing wrong to create the cause? Does it just take years of experience to instantly know exactly what flaw just crept back into your swing? Or do you just trust your swing - maybe slow it down on the next shot and start thinking more about your mechanics?

I would guess this person is a high handicap player who found a groove, or good timing for a while then their poor swing finally showed itself. The thing about poor swings are they are very much timing based. The better the swing the less hand eye coordination and less timing is required to synch up clubface to an erratic swing path.

Basically the diagnosis is a bad golfer got lucky to get on a good stretch of golf, but they still have a consistently bad swing.

I would say for a better player they might start to see a ball flight come back that they tried to work away from. They don't usually see a total crazy shot like near shanks, especially over and over again.

[Tgb02]

This happened to me a lot a few weeks ago because I had a big violent baseball swing and if my timing was right then I was on and played great but if it was a tad bit off it was ugly. During a tournament I shot a 42 on the front nine with a 57 on the back because of that. Now if that happens to me I shorten my swing up and keep the club face hooded when I go back that way I can make solid contact.I used to try and slow down my swing and all but none of that worked only thing I ever found was to just shorten the swing and make sure I got the club face through square.

[JonMA1]

I would guess this person is a high handicap player who found a groove, or good timing for a while then their poor swing finally showed itself. The thing about poor swings are they are very much timing based. The better the swing the less hand eye coordination and less timing is required to synch up clubface to an erratic swing path.

Basically the diagnosis is a bad golfer got lucky to get on a good stretch of golf, but they still have a consistently bad swing.

I would say for a better player they might start to see a ball flight come back that they tried to work away from. They don't usually see a total crazy shot like near shanks, especially over and over again.

Makes sense and is a real possibility I have to consider. Time will tell. But I'd like to think my iron swing is closer to becoming a usable one (at least keys 1 through 3) simply because of how consistent my contact and distances have been and for how long they've been this way. But you're right, regardless of how improved it is, it will never be to the level of a single-digit player such as yourself.

The issue I described occurs usually in the later holes during a round. It will usually work it's self out but by then, the damage to my score has been done.

This happened to me a lot a few weeks ago because I had a big violent baseball swing and if my timing was right then I was on and played great but if it was a tad bit off it was ugly. During a tournament I shot a 42 on the front nine with a 57 on the back because of that. Now if that happens to me I shorten my swing up and keep the club face hooded when I go back that way I can make solid contact.I used to try and slow down my swing and all but none of that worked only thing I ever found was to just shorten the swing and make sure I got the club face through square.

Generally speaking, this is what I'll do to get back on track. I don't shorten my swing, but I am more deliberate with my mechanics. If I concentrate on getting my weight forward and my hands in front of the ball at contact, often those two things will improve the results.

[DrvFrShow]

When this happens, the first thing I check is what hole is it? If it is 15 or later, it's fatigue. I'm bailing on the shots. My feet are sore, and I'm not getting hips forward and pushing off my back leg: i.e. my swing gets armsy and OTT resulting in pulls with irons and slices with anything longer than a 5 iron. That's fatigue.

If it's on the fourth hole. .... .... weather the storm. Old me: get mad. New me: take out my 8 iron and hit that. I don't care if there's 240 yds to go. Hit the 8 iron. It advances the ball and it goes straight, and it gets the ball in the air. Then later go to the 7. Then the 6. My job is to advance the ball and keep it in play.

[JonMA1]

When this happens, the first thing I check is what hole is it? If it is 15 or later, it's fatigue. I'm bailing on the shots. My feet are sore, and I'm not getting hips forward and pushing off my back leg: i.e. my swing gets armsy and OTT resulting in pulls with irons and slices with anything longer than a 5 iron. That's fatigue.

If it's on the fourth hole. .... .... weather the storm. Old me: get mad. New me: take out my 8 iron and hit that. I don't care if there's 240 yds to go. Hit the 8 iron. It advances the ball and it goes straight, and it gets the ball in the air. Then later go to the 7. Then the 6. My job is to advance the ball and keep it in play.

Fatigue may be a large part of it and I think complacency may play a small role as well. That's what I have to figure out. I don't think the basic swing is garbage - even though I have to consider that as a possibility. It may just be slipping back into a bad habit as you noted.

It would just be nice to know what causes a shot such as the ones I encountered today so that avoiding the cause could be worked on through practice or easily corrected during play.

[Mac62]

When this happens, the first thing I check is what hole is it? If it is 15 or later, it's fatigue. I'm bailing on the shots. My feet are sore, and I'm not getting hips forward and pushing off my back leg: i.e. my swing gets armsy and OTT resulting in pulls with irons and slices with anything longer than a 5 iron. That's fatigue.

If it's on the fourth hole. .... .... weather the storm. Old me: get mad. New me: take out my 8 iron and hit that. I don't care if there's 240 yds to go. Hit the 8 iron. It advances the ball and it goes straight, and it gets the ball in the air. Then later go to the 7. Then the 6. My job is to advance the ball and keep it in play.

I try to go into "preservation mode", kind of like Julia outlined above.  I'll choke down on the driver and go to an easy "bunt" type swing, take 2-3 clubs more than I need and swing very easy, and/or try to rely upon whichever club I'm able to hit best as much as possible.  You're not creating opportunities to score well, but you are lessening the opportunities to really blow your score up.  I'd gladly take a bogey or double instead of an 8, 9 or 10 on the card.

[natureboy]

Fatigue may be a large part of it and I think complacency may play a small role as well. That's what I have to figure out. I don't think the basic swing is garbage - even though I have to consider that as a possibility. It may just be slipping back into a bad habit as you noted.

It would just be nice to know what causes a shot such as the ones I encountered today so that avoiding the cause could be worked on through practice or easily corrected during play.

I am also in the process of establishing a consistently solid swing. It's probably about 65% reliable, 30% okay, and 5% awful.

I have been able to identify and correct some flaws on-course, because when I hit a poor shot on the range I try to mentally replay the feels I had during the swing. Was I quick, was I hanging back or reverse pivoting, was contact low on the face or toward the toe. Did I hang on or release. The more I've tried to 'feel it out' the more it's been of help on course to try to catch the bad habit of the day trying to creep in.

Fatigue toward the end of a round can be a factor for me too...getting sloppy or early extension comes in because the back gets stiff. Pay attention on the range toward the end of hitting two buckets to see if there is a consistent pattern in your pivot / swing that comes in and then tailor your swing thought to avoid that. I can sometimes hang back / reverse pivot, so late in the round my one swing thought is to complete my turn and get to my left side.

[mmoan2]

Say you’re playing a pretty good round of golf. Irons are crisp from wedges through long irons, woods and driver are starting on the right line with a predictable ball flight. Everything is going pretty well when you suddenly start hitting poor shots.

I’m not talking about a missed green, a chunked shot or an anomaly that goes away with the next swing. I mean an iron shot that’s just ugly - almost like a shank but not a shank. And then you shoot another, then a third….  When you go from everything being automatic to where it seems almost impossible to make good contact, what do you?

How do you diagnose the cause of a bad result? And then, what you are physically doing wrong to create the cause? Does it just take years of experience to instantly know exactly what flaw just crept back into your swing? Or do you just trust your swing - maybe slow it down on the next shot and start thinking more about your mechanics?

For me it is fatigue. When I'm crisp and fresh, my hip turn and looseness come easier. After 12 or so holes, bad swings creep up because bad habits and laziness return. I usually go one or two clubs longer and try to make solid shots.

[DrvFrShow]

For me it is fatigue. When I'm crisp and fresh, my hip turn and looseness come easier. After 12 or so holes, bad swings creep up because bad habits and laziness return. I usually go one or two clubs longer and try to make solid shots.

If it's after 12 holes? Then play 9. I may have to start riding a cart if my feet don't get better, and there goes the exercise. So I may have to play 9 until they figure out what's wrong with my foot so I can walk it next year.

[JonMA1]

I am also in the process of establishing a consistently solid swing. It's probably about 65% reliable, 30% okay, and 5% awful.

I have been able to identify and correct some flaws on-course, because when I hit a poor shot on the range I try to mentally replay the feels I had during the swing. Was I quick, was I hanging back or reverse pivoting, was contact low on the face or toward the toe. Did I hang on or release. The more I've tried to 'feel it out' the more it's been of help on course to try to catch the bad habit of the day trying to creep in.

Fatigue toward the end of a round can be a factor for me too...getting sloppy or early extension comes in because the back gets stiff. Pay attention on the range toward the end of hitting two buckets to see if there is a consistent pattern in your pivot / swing that comes in and then tailor your swing thought to avoid that. I can sometimes hang back / reverse pivot, so late in the round my one swing thought is to complete my turn and get to my left side.

This is a good idea.

This answers one of my original questions. I need to know what certain mishits feel like. Hitting a shot fat or thin is easy to recognize and easy to fix.

If I know I shanked a shot I know what adjustment to make. The trouble is, it isn't always easy to tell.

I've used tape to see where the ball is making contact and sadly, that can be all over the club face. I also use a loose grip so if fatigue is the culprit, not squaring the club face could result. Also, flipping due to not getting weight forward could be a result of fatigue. And all of these flaws could cause the type of shot I saw today which makes diagnosing the problem so difficult.

At least I know that fatigue can cause problems with others.

For me it is fatigue. When I'm crisp and fresh, my hip turn and looseness come easier. After 12 or so holes, bad swings creep up because bad habits and laziness return. I usually go one or two clubs longer and try to make solid shots.

You're not the first one to suggest this. Maybe the answer is to start doing this before the bad results happen.

Thank you all for your replies.

[mvmac]

How do you diagnose the cause of a bad result? And then, what you are physically doing wrong to create the cause? Does it just take years of experience to instantly know exactly what flaw just crept back into your swing? Or do you just trust your swing - maybe slow it down on the next shot and start thinking more about your mechanics?

Your swing flaw is the same whether it's on the course or on the range. There can certainly be more "regression" on the course but new flaws don't just pop up on the course.

[mmoan2]

Your swing flaw is the same whether it's on the course or on the range. There can certainly be more "regression" on the course but new flaws don't just pop up on the course.

Agreed, but why do they seem to manifest themselves more at the end of my rounds, I guess? I think I've scored worse on the back 9 than the front in almost every round I can think of right now.

[mmoan2]

If it's after 12 holes? Then play 9. I may have to start riding a cart if my feet don't get better, and there goes the exercise. So I may have to play 9 until they figure out what's wrong with my foot so I can walk it next year.

I appreciate the thought, but I'll never not play 18 because I'm scoring worse from fatigue. My coaches used to have a few colorful adjectives for competitors like that If I was crawling to the 18th tee box in agony, I might consider 9. Maybe!

[chspeed]

Your swing flaw is the same whether it's on the course or on the range. There can certainly be more "regression" on the course but new flaws don't just pop up on the course.

Without a doubt.

I do, however, find that if things get ugly, I can get things back on track by thinking about 5SK on the course, especially the first two.

1. Steady head: For me, this is the killer. When I'm not making solid contact, I'm almost always moving my head too much during the swing.

2. Weight forward: While this is key to hitting the ball properly, weight forward for me can wreak havoc on #1 when not done properly. Sometimes I need to rachet this back to focus on #1 during play. I then start adding this thought once my head is steady.

[mmoan2]

You're not the first one to suggest this. Maybe the answer is to start doing this before the bad results happen.

Thank you all for your replies.

And see @mvmac This solution doesn't fix a swing flaw, it just allows ME to score better when my game is going south. For some reason, I feel like I lose strength and hitting a 3/4 6i vs. a full 8i helps. Maybe my swing flaw is over-swinging and lack of exercise, though!

[Truegolf]

Never ever try to diagnosis on the course when playing a tournament. Play for score and try to dissect it afterwards on the range or another day. If my ball flight doesn't work I don't want to fix it on the course that day it just leads to big scores for me. I play with whatever ball flight that is working that day for me

[mvmac]

Agreed, but why do they seem to manifest themselves more at the end of my rounds, I guess? I think I've scored worse on the back 9 than the front in almost every round I can think of right now.

Like I said, on the course, "under the gun", you'll tend to revert to what feels more natural or comfortable, which can sometimes go against the swing stuff you're working on. To make changes you have to be comfortable being uncomfortable.

Never ever try to diagnosis on the course when playing a tournament. Play for score and try to dissect it afterwards on the range or another day. If my ball flight doesn't work I don't want to fix it on the course that day it just leads to big scores for me. I play with whatever ball flight that is working that day for me

Yes I basically agree with that. When you're on the course just play and stick with your one simple swing thought. But if things are really going south I'm not against making adjustments on the course in order to keep the ball somewhere in front of you and shoot a score. Erik and I just talked about this and I'm actually going to start thread on it sometime this week.