Starter seeking help

[happygilmore2]

Hi, I am 18 years old and have just recently started playing. I watched the 2015 masters and saw Jordan Spieth win it and thought it looked like a fun sport to start so I decided to give it a go. I have been playing now for two months and have loved it. I got a membership at our local course and have been playing playing a lot. When I first started all I would do it go to the driving range just to get a feel for the game so my first round wouldn't be an absolute embarrassment. Like a lot of new golfers I had a pretty big slice with my driver, my iron shots, were for the most part pure, and my close game was solid and my putting wasn't that good. After my first round I loved it and knew I would love it even more if I could improve and become better. So I started with my slice. A friend of mine, who knows the game very well, helped me with my slice and it had improved a lot. I would still slice here and there but I had improved it a lot and my game started becoming better and I was starting to fall in love with it. I would mostly play match play against my friend, who also just started, and we were both pretty even, I'd win some he'd win some. When I do play stroke play I never really keep track but if I'd have to guess I'd shoot around 100-120. I'll par a hole here and there but for the most part bogeys and double bogeys and sometimes even worse. Nothing special.

So after about a month of playing, what I would consider good golf for me, my game started going down hill. My slice on my drives came back and now even my iron shots are slicing and hooking and pretty much going anywhere but straight. My short game is still good but not what it was. I have recently been very frustrated and I really want to golf but when I get out there I hit bad shot after bad shot and it really isn't fun. I have no confidence in pretty much every shot I take. I watched a lot of YouTube videos on how to stop slicing, how to hit the ball straight and other instructional videos. Now every shot I take I feel like I am thinking too much about my swing and the mechanics and my game has gone to hell.

My question would be what do I do. Will I eventually snap out of this slump and go back to my normal self, or should I seek help for a pro?

[krupa]

Your game is going to go up and down a lot; get used to it.

I think your best bet is to take some lessons because your fundamentals probably aren't what you think they are.  Practice and be patient.  I cured my slice by the end of my first season, then it came back for my entire second season.  Now I'm in my third season and I'm just starting to tame it.  My approach was to focus on the irons for a while.  When I played, I only used the longest club that I was going to reliably hit well.  Golf is no fun when you're slicing every tee shot into the woods.  I got to the point where I didn't even bring my driver to the course.  This year I've been hitting my irons well so I'm working on my driver with success but it's required a lot of time at the range.   14 or so tee shots per round isn't enough to get better with your driver.

Editted to add:  The best instructional stuff I have seen is the 5SK dvds.  They break down the swing to 5 simple keys and you can focus on one at a time and build your swing up without overthinking things.  They have helped me a lot.  (don't buy them from golfshopcentral.com, though, those guys don't know what they're doing.)

[AvocadoWillie]

Hi i'm a relative beginner myself. My baseball background has helped my golf game I think as I have been able to learn to hit the ball decently without much instruction or guidance. I have this tendency to hit these really weird low left slices that only get a couple feet off the ground. These seem to pop up out of nowhere when I'm playing. Does anybody know what causes these low slicers?

[boogielicious]

Hi, I am 18 years old and have just recently started playing. I watched the 2015 masters and saw Jordan Spieth win it and thought it looked like a fun sport to start so I decided to give it a go. I have been playing now for two months and have loved it. I got a membership at our local course and have been playing playing a lot. When I first started all I would do it go to the driving range just to get a feel for the game so my first round wouldn't be an absolute embarrassment. Like a lot of new golfers I had a pretty big slice with my driver, my iron shots, were for the most part pure, and my close game was solid and my putting wasn't that good. After my first round I loved it and knew I would love it even more if I could improve and become better. So I started with my slice. A friend of mine, who knows the game very well, helped me with my slice and it had improved a lot. I would still slice here and there but I had improved it a lot and my game started becoming better and I was starting to fall in love with it. I would mostly play match play against my friend, who also just started, and we were both pretty even, I'd win some he'd win some. When I do play stroke play I never really keep track but if I'd have to guess I'd shoot around 100-120. I'll par a hole here and there but for the most part bogeys and double bogeys and sometimes even worse. Nothing special.

So after about a month of playing, what I would consider good golf for me, my game started going down hill. My slice on my drives came back and now even my iron shots are slicing and hooking and pretty much going anywhere but straight. My short game is still good but not what it was. I have recently been very frustrated and I really want to golf but when I get out there I hit bad shot after bad shot and it really isn't fun. I have no confidence in pretty much every shot I take. I watched a lot of YouTube videos on how to stop slicing, how to hit the ball straight and other instructional videos. Now every shot I take I feel like I am thinking too much about my swing and the mechanics and my game has gone to hell.

My question would be what do I do. Will I eventually snap out of this slump and go back to my normal self, or should I seek help for a pro?

Welcome to the forum @happygilmore2 ,

I would be careful moving from tip to tip trying to improve.  Many tips often conflict with each other.

I would recommend starting a My Swing thread in the Members Swings Section.  There instructors and other more experienced golfer will give you advice on the best ways to improve.

The Swing Thoughts section also has threads written by excellent instructors.  Some good ones include:

Enjoy.

[vangator]

As you think you're getting better, you naturally start to relax and try to step up your game. That's when the slices, pulls, popups and worm burners start happening. Pick a target and do what it takes to get the ball there. Don't try the perfect shot. Play the percentages. Forget watching the swing speed of the pros. Cut back on your swing speed and make solid contact. Just because you can hit a PW 150 yards doesn't mean you should. Concentrate on the ball and keep your head still. It's easier when the target isn't moving.