Practice Backswing Is Good - Actual Backswing Is Short

[gregsandiego]

I've heard repeatedly from my friends that my practice backswing looks good but when I hit the ball it's short. It seems I can't stop myself from rushing through the downswing. 

Any tips to overcome this timing problem?

[Lihu]

  On 4/21/2016 at 3:34 PM, gregsandiego said:

I've heard repeatedly from my friends that my practice backswing looks good but when I hit the ball it's short. It seems I can't stop myself from rushing through the downswing. 

Any tips to overcome this timing problem?

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This is a better problem than the other way around.

So, it kind of depends upon how your swing looks. If you are doing something restrictive in your swing then it's not good. Do you have a swing video showing your practice swing followed by your actual swing?

[gregsandiego]

  On 4/21/2016 at 3:46 PM, Lihu said:

This is a better problem than the other way around.

So, it kind of depends upon how your swing looks. If you are doing something restrictive in your swing then it's not good. Do you have a swing video showing your practice swing followed by your actual swing?

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Glad there is something positive about it. No video at this time. My friend keeps threatening to take one....

[Rainmaker]

Obviously I'm just guessing and projecting my own issues onto you . . but feel free to ask for a refund if it doesn't help :)

I think this is pretty common.  We take a practice swing, we feel loose, everything feels good.  We turn our intention towards hitting the ball and things suddenly feel different.  Feel tighter.  Less fluid. Less confident.

The reason?  Obvious.  There is no consequence to a practice swing so you're just feeling the motion.  Now you want to use it to hit a ball . .so you're going to "steer" it in there.  You're going to "make sure" you hit the ball. 

Basically you have 2 minds.  One is totally automatic and the other one is semi-automatic.  The automatic one has an idea, right or wrong, about how to hit the golf ball.  The semi-automatic mind is suspicious of the automatic mind - but is a team player and wants to help make the best outcome.  The semi-automatic mind is mostly sleeping during your practice swing. 

[Lihu]

  On 4/21/2016 at 3:52 PM, gregsandiego said:

Glad there is something positive about it. No video at this time. My friend keeps threatening to take one....

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I also wonder if your friends are just used to seeing over swing?

As long as you don't hit short I don't see a problem. My half swings go almost the same distances as my full swings, mainly it's the height and spin that are different.

[gregsandiego]

  On 4/21/2016 at 4:06 PM, Rainmaker said:

Obviously I'm just guessing and projecting my own issues onto you . . but feel free to ask for a refund if it doesn't help :)

I think this is pretty common.  We take a practice swing, we feel loose, everything feels good.  We turn our intention towards hitting the ball and things suddenly feel different.  Feel tighter.  Less fluid. Less confident.

The reason?  Obvious.  There is no consequence to a practice swing so you're just feeling the motion.  Now you want to use it to hit a ball . .so you're going to "steer" it in there.  You're going to "make sure" you hit the ball. 

Basically you have 2 minds.  One is totally automatic and the other one is semi-automatic.  The automatic one has an idea, right or wrong, about how to hit the golf ball.  The semi-automatic mind is suspicious of the automatic mind - but is a team player and wants to help make the best outcome.  The semi-automatic mind is mostly sleeping during your practice swing. 

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Seems accurate and I didn't think of that. I could "totally miss" (the imaginary ball) on the practice swing without consequence. So I can just let the swing go free, fast and loose.

Where is part two - how to fix it?

 

[Rainmaker]

  On 4/22/2016 at 1:15 AM, gregsandiego said:

Where is part two - how to fix it?

 

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Uhhh . .yeah . .about that . . . no idea, sorry, lol.

[gregsandiego]

  On 4/22/2016 at 1:20 AM, Rainmaker said:

Uhhh . .yeah . .about that . . . no idea, sorry, lol.

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Your career  as a golf coach and psychiatrist  is extremely limited .LOL

[Rainmaker]

  On 4/22/2016 at 1:23 AM, gregsandiego said:

Your career  as a golf coach and psychiatrist  is extremely limited .LOL

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If dealing with my own bad swing and my own mental issues qualifies me for either - I'm in!  Otherwise I'll keep my day job :)

[gregsandiego]

  On 4/22/2016 at 1:24 AM, Rainmaker said:

If dealing with my own bad swing and my own mental issues qualifies me for either - I'm in!  Otherwise I'll keep my day job :)

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Which is? Are you a meteorologist?

[Rainmaker]

  On 4/22/2016 at 1:29 AM, gregsandiego said:

Which is? Are you a meteorologist?

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No - computer programmer. 

Anyway - I will add one thing - it's just something I've been thinking about a lot lately and it pertains to this whole "automatic" vs "semi-automatic" mind issue. 

The first time I picked up a golf club, I was at the driving range.  I had some old clubs that were my Dad's.  I took the driver, grabbed it however, stood up to the ball and promptly slammed the club into the ground a foot behind the ball.  That was my automatic mind.  That's how it thinks it should hit a golf ball.

I have literally never changed from that swing.  I went from slicing, to hooking, to hitting nice little draws - all with my semi-automatic mind.  My semi-automatic mind says "You're going to miss the ball unless I do X, Y, Z".   It says things like - "let's close the face or alter our path".  You can kind of tell it what to do - but it also does what it wants.  It works sometimes but it's highly inconsistent, totally fails under the smallest amount of pressure . .and isn't really even all *that* great when it's working. 

In my theory - my semi-automatic mind will never shut up and let me swing the club unless I give it reason to believe it will all be OK.  It doesn't have to "steer" the club because my mechanics are (will be) correct.  It will still bother me from time to time . .definitely . . but I think that's the way to stifle it. 

 

Edited April 22, 2016 by Rainmaker

[Buckeyebowman]

I seem to suffer from the same affliction. And not just on practice swings, but also at the range I'll make a nice, full swing motion finishing the backswing and flowing through to a full finish. When playing an actual shot on the course I seem to get in a hurry to "hit the ball", rather than just "swing the club", much to the detriment of my game.

How to fix it? I have not much to offer other than to fix in your mind the idea of taking your time and swinging your whole swing. There are a bunch of old aphorisms that apply. "Swing the club and let the ball get in the way", "Let the club do the work", etc.

[gregsandiego]

  On 4/22/2016 at 2:04 AM, Buckeyebowman said:

I seem to suffer from the same affliction. And not just on practice swings, but also at the range I'll make a nice, full swing motion finishing the backswing and flowing through to a full finish. When playing an actual shot on the course I seem to get in a hurry to "hit the ball", rather than just "swing the club", much to the detriment of my game.

How to fix it? I have not much to offer other than to fix in your mind the idea of taking your time and swinging your whole swing. There are a bunch of old aphorisms that apply. "Swing the club and let the ball get in the way", "Let the club do the work", etc.

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Someone (probably on this board) told me to just go as slow as you have to to force it.  I've had limited success with that method.

 

 

 

[Buckeyebowman]

Something else just came to me. It was an old swing thought from many years ago that I read or heard somewhere. It works best when hitting the ball off a tee. Imagine that the ball is a soap bubble, and all you want to do is swing the club and pop the bubble. I think the object is to trick the mind into overcoming the "hit" impulse, allowing the "swing" impulse to come forth.

[Rainmaker]

A good "quick fix" on the course for rushing your tempo is to put a slight "pause" at the top of your backswing. 

But I associate my tendency to rush with nerves which come from anticipation of hitting a bad shot which comes from my crappy mechanics . . ie . .my fear is justified.  

I also feel the difference between range and course.  I'd go even further to say my swing feels absolutely the best in my garage, hitting into a net.  Slightly more tight at the range but I often overcome it.  A lot more tight on the course and I often do not overcome it.    But, in my case, it's not like my swing is magically great just because I'm relaxed.  It's like I managed to get relaxed . .which does help . but it's more about not caring about the misses vs not making them . .for me. 

[RH31]

I tend to not finish my backswing and not turn properly. Here's what I'm trying, for now. Instead of taking practice swings, I setup to my ball, and take the club back to the top and stop. Then, without moving my feet or adjusting my setup in anyway, I set the club back behind the ball and take a full swing. It worked OK yesterday in practice, time will tell how it works on the course.

[Lihu]

  On 4/22/2016 at 2:04 AM, Buckeyebowman said:

I seem to suffer from the same affliction. And not just on practice swings, but also at the range I'll make a nice, full swing motion finishing the backswing and flowing through to a full finish. When playing an actual shot on the course I seem to get in a hurry to "hit the ball", rather than just "swing the club", much to the detriment of my game.

How to fix it? I have not much to offer other than to fix in your mind the idea of taking your time and swinging your whole swing. There are a bunch of old aphorisms that apply. "Swing the club and let the ball get in the way", "Let the club do the work", etc.

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  On 4/22/2016 at 2:11 AM, gregsandiego said:

Someone (probably on this board) told me to just go as slow as you have to to force it.  I've had limited success with that method.

 

 

 

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  On 4/22/2016 at 2:20 AM, Buckeyebowman said:

Something else just came to me. It was an old swing thought from many years ago that I read or heard somewhere. It works best when hitting the ball off a tee. Imagine that the ball is a soap bubble, and all you want to do is swing the club and pop the bubble. I think the object is to trick the mind into overcoming the "hit" impulse, allowing the "swing" impulse to come forth.

Expand  

 

  On 4/22/2016 at 1:21 PM, RH31 said:

I tend to not finish my backswing and not turn properly. Here's what I'm trying, for now. Instead of taking practice swings, I setup to my ball, and take the club back to the top and stop. Then, without moving my feet or adjusting my setup in anyway, I set the club back behind the ball and take a full swing. It worked OK yesterday in practice, time will tell how it works on the course.

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I hadn't thought of the fact that the OPs friends are talking about his finish being too short. Good points.

The completion of a finish usually shows that you completed your shoulder turn on the back swing and got your weight shifted enough to pull you through to the finish.

This is going to take some time to fix as they are indicative of a poor key 1 and key 2? Not sure what drills to suggest? The better players might ask for some video to help.

[Ernest Jones]

  On 4/21/2016 at 3:46 PM, Lihu said:

This is a better problem than the other way around.

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Definitely. 

@gregsandiego, are you losing distance? My shorter swing gets WAY more distance than my longer ones because it gets better, more centred contact. Plus, with my longer swings I have no idea where it's going.