Take a Break?

[Cobra Golfer]

This is my first post here fyi

So i have been golfing for 8 months now, and in the beginning, i was very very bad. I could make ok contact but my balls weren't staring. went up from there and broke 100 4 months later, played in the mid-high nineties for about a month. Then everything went straight to hell, and i haven't fully recovered. first is was shanks caused by too much arms and not enough body. struggled to fix that but ended up somewhat fixing it. Still terrible, decided to take a two week break. That didn't help at all. in fact i got worse. then suddenly the shanks stop and for a week i am playing ok. after that, straight downhill to this point. after that i developed a very wide and horizontal swing and my takeaway was behind my body, causing a MASSIVE pull on every single shot, good contact or not. a quick tweak had my driver woods and hybrid fixed, but to this day i can't fix my irons and wedges are a complete shitshow. with irons at least the ball gets off the ground (massive pull still)  but my wedges not have massive shanks. sometimes (4/10) i swing so far out that the club brushes the ball ever so slightly it rolls in between my feet. Absolute worst feeling ever, had to keep from absolutely loosing my shit on the range. nothing i do is working so i am taking another break, but am very worried that i will be worse after. I'm not having fun on the course, can't do shit, 3 tries to get out of a bunker. average score for past two months: 143. i could do better when i was first starting out with 116 average. i don't know what the hell is happening. now i basically want to break all of my clubs after each round. i don't know what the hell i am supposed to do now. SUPER PISSED OFF

[Cobra Golfer]

also: wedges again, those used to be my best. absolute 10/10 perfection. a shank once in a blue moon, if that. i used to never fail with a wedge, wether it was full swing or pitching. now they are my worst, i can't even pitch anymore. if there was one thing i could ever rely on, it was short game and full swing wedge. not anymore. i hate swinging a wedge now. feels terrible

[Rainmaker]

I would guess "too many thoughts" - from trying to diagnose and fix your issues. 

Here is a way you can improve your swing without diagnosing shots or trying to figure out what you're doing wrong - you just need a video camera.

You could also post your swing here in the member swing section and get some good advice. 

[Patch]

I'd say if you are not going to see an instructor, then an extended lay off would help. Maybe as long as +/-  a month. 

When you do come back, I might suggest you start with the easy stuff. Start with your putting. Once you gain some confidence with your putter, then move off the green with some chipping ( and putting) . Once you are feeling  good with your chip shots, then move to your pitching game. Eventually you will work your way back to the tee box. If along the way you stumble, then go back to your last shot you  have confidence in, and start again from that point. How long this takes is not important. Whats important is getting back the confidence you have lost in your game. 

Of course if you have the time/money to see an instructor, that is the better way to go 

I have had bad runs of poor golf, but nothing near what you discribed you are going through. I too would put my clubs a way for a while. When I came back, my mind set would be on my swing tempo/timing, and a one piecce take away. In my swing those two things were all I really ever needed to look at. 

No need to think about breaking your clubs. They are not the cause of your poor play. They only do what you make them do. 

[70sSanO]

I'm no instructor, and not an especially good player so you can ignore my advice if you want, but I suspect that you have a more horizontal/flatter swing because you are trying to get more distance with your driver.  You've got that Louisville Slugger out and are swinging from the heels like home run derby.  I have to be careful not to do the same thing.

Monte Scheinblum has a good video on a no turn cast swing, (I haven't drunk the kool-aide with the cast section), but it puts a good perspective on the back swing.  Nick Faldo also has a pre set drill.  I won't tell you to follow the advice on these, but both help to keep the back swing from going too flat.

The next thing I would do is to put your driver and woods away and go play par 3 pitch and putt courses.  Back off a little bit and start hitting your irons on 100yd holes where it is not all about how fast you can swing a club.  Over 30 years ago, Jack Nicklaus professed to use only one swing for all clubs, (not sure how much that was done in practice), but it is not a bad approach to the game.  Would never sell today.  But develop a solid swing first.

Unfortunately in golf, probably more than any other time, there is an attitude that swing speed and distance equals manhood and it is easy to get sucked into that... especially at the range where you'll go through a bucket and have accomplished nothing.

Good luck with your game.

John

[metbid]

I agree with Rainmaker, go to 5SK.com and start with the first three keys.  Also try this: at the practice range, using the first 3 keys, SLOW your swing WAY DOWN, and aim at hitting the ball on the inside rear quarter.  Don't think about anything else, just SLOW and contact.  Your grip on the club should be relaxed and remain a constant pressure throughout (don't grip tighter as you swing) it helps keep tension out of your arms.

[gregsandiego]

On 7/17/2016 at 11:14 PM, Cobra Golfer said:

also: wedges again, those used to be my best. absolute 10/10 perfection. a shank once in a blue moon, if that. i used to never fail with a wedge, wether it was full swing or pitching. now they are my worst, i can't even pitch anymore. if there was one thing i could ever rely on, it was short game and full swing wedge. not anymore. i hate swinging a wedge now. feels terrible

I used to gloss over every post here that said see an instructor. I figured I knew the basics and I already knew what I was doing wrong. So it was just a matter of self discipline and the right kind of practice.

I was wrong and wasted a ton of time. My swing had devolved into something very weird.

I'd see a personal instructor ASAP. 

 

[natureboy]

1 hour ago, metbid said:

Also try this: at the practice range, using the first 3 keys, SLOW your swing WAY DOWN, and aim at hitting the ball on the inside rear quarter.  Don't think about anything else, just SLOW and contact.  Your grip on the club should be relaxed and remain a constant pressure throughout (don't grip tighter as you swing) it helps keep tension out of your arms.

I think this has merit. Maybe combine with swings to halfway back to halfway through to regain feel for the bottom of the swing and contact.

On 7/18/2016 at 1:54 AM, Cobra Golfer said:

So i have been golfing for 8 months now,

i don't know what the hell is happening. now i basically want to break all of my clubs after each round. i don't know what the hell i am supposed to do now. SUPER PISSED OFF

These two sentences seem the key for me. Welcome to golf. Setbacks are inevitable and part of the game. Just look at the pros - it's like they're walking on air for a few weeks and then it disappears.

Two things that I have found are swing killers as a newish golfer are when you think things are locked in you start going for more on the shot. This tends to add tension, which is generally no bueno for a good swing. On top of that you get pissed, angry at yourself, and try to 'make it happen' by 'forcing' the club with your arms also adding tension and fun stuff like hitting from the top and early extension.

I'd say the key is to do some simple impact / contact drills like slow swings or half swings to rebuild your comfort so you are swinging easier like when you had less high expectations for yourself as a brand new golfer. You're still quite new as a golfer so it wouldn't hurt to dial back the expectations too or just give yourself a break for being a normal human.

Doing some other things you enjoy for a bit may help take the frustration off boil to more of a gentle simmer.

Edited July 20, 2016 by natureboy

[Buckeyebowman]

Welcome to golf!

Perhaps the most frustrating, humbling, bitch fest inducing game the human mind has ever created!

I have not seen your swing, so cannot comment on it. But, it sounds like you are completely self taught.

I would suggest this. If the budget allows (and everybody has a budget), go to a local teaching pro just to learn the basics. By this I mean Grip, Stance, Alignment, and Ball Position. If you don't have the money for a whole series of lessons (like me), tell the instructor this. Also tell him that you are a beginner, and just need a proper foundation to work from. 

If that's not an option, there are resources here and other places on the internet where you can find these things, but it's nothing like having someone there who knows how to show you how.

Remember; Grip, Stance, Alignment, Ball Position!

[70sSanO]

There is one thing I will do when my swing has gone awol.  I hit limited flight golf balls at a school down the slope from where I live.  A number of years ago I picked up some Brush-T limited flight golf balls.  They are hard plastic, not foam, like regular golf balls and they go around a 100 yards.  You can slice, pull, chunk, or whatever with them.  I'll go down there with a tube of 18 balls and get away from the world and whole range atmosphere and slow everything down.  Just spend some time in a relaxed atmosphere hitting and few then strolling out to where they landed.  Because they are lighter it doesn't help to ramp up the speed and tempo of my swing because no matter how hard I swing, the ball just doesn't really go much further.  This really helps to work on some part of my swing.

What everyone said about working on parts of your game, simple and slow is great.  Unfortunately, it can be difficult for a lot of people who work and have to go to the range when the whole world is there.  Some can do it, but for some there is just too much going on around them.  I know that the most productive times are when everyone is working and I can work on certain things without feeling that the circus has come to town.

John

[RH31]

Cobra,

Do yourself a favor. Find an instructor that uses videos and take some lessons. You aren't going to get significantly better with advice from guys like me who aren't teaching pros. The video aspect is very helpful. A competent instructor can break down what you are doing and compare where you are to where you need to be with your swing.