When a new swing goes too far

[leftiewannabe]

Hello all, first post.

I've been playing golf for about 17 years (I'm only 32) with my own clubs as a leftie and primarily been using cheap clubs.  I got really good at my pitching wedge early and felt like it was mastered.  Over the last few years I've gone off and on with trying to get better without upgrading irons or anything, bought a used driver or new fairway driver but that was about it.

About 2-3 months ago I finally bought a new set of Taylormade burner 2.0 irons to complement my other clubs and started playing almost daily.  Since then I've hit balls or played at least 9 holes 6 out of 7 days and focused on trying to find consistency.  I've always had a strong but inconsistent grip so I went more neutral, slowed down my swing, and tried to become a golfer that focuses on consistency over distance.

About a week ago I got tired of my neutral grip / swing, mainly because I wasn't seeing a decrease in average score and my shots were improving but only about 70% of the time, and the 30% were slicing worse than I've ever seen before in my life.  I felt better about knowing that I was swinging more consistently but I felt I wasn't swinging the way I should be.  I had a fade but it wasn't repeatable enough to play as a fade.

I started hitting about 200 range balls a day last week testing out a stronger grip and I started seeing results that were more consistent with how I've swung before (lower but straighter on mishits) and then a few days ago it just clicked.  My hands weren't in sync with each other and I started trying out an interlocking grip.

Since then I had one range session that was an abomination (the first one) every one since then has been 100+ balls each (more than once more per day) and I've been hitting the ball so long and so consistent that I'm super timid about the results.  

1. I line my body and club up straight at the target and my ball has a consistent fade that lands closer than ever before.

2. I'm swinging slower on the backswing and using an interlocking grip but only until I hit the top, and then just swinging through.

3. When I finish my swing I find that my club feels like it ended up perfectly and even when I mishit I'm hitting it almost exactly where I was aiming where before this could have been 100yds off target due to slice.

 

The problem is that I'm hitting farther than I ever imagined.  I am about 6'0 and 205 lbs and I'm hitting like Bubba at the moment based on having someone at the range with a range finder verifying distances.  *But those distances are more accurate and consistent than ever*

ex. -

PW- 150+

9I - 160-165

7I - 200-210

5I - 225+

Driver - Hitting the top of the net on a 240yd range with about 40yd tall net

I was previously swinging much slower but with this new grip and my comfort in the swing I feel like I'm swinging too hard but I'm hitting more consistent than I have in my life, even though I've added at least 25 yards to each club.  Should I be worried or should I embrace it?  I'm typically a bogey to double-bogey golfer mainly due to tee shots and over-thinking them so I'm wanting to embrace the new found distance and thought process but it's got me worried.

[Natural Patrick]

I would be more worried about lowering your 25 handicap.

[phillyk]

A range session won't tell you what distances you are hitting. Go develop distance consistency on the course.

But typically when higher handicaps stop trying to kill the ball, they start hitting the center of the club face which really helps distance and consistency; a relaxed muscle moves faster than a tensed up muscle.  Most of all, embrace the game that you bring that day.  If one day you are hitting 5 iron 200 then the next 230, embrace the day.  Hitting the range is great and all, but it's on the course that you really test yourself.

[leftiewannabe]

Thanks for the replies, I thought it went without saying but everything that I'm doing on the range / practice green is in an effort to lower my handicap.  I mostly shoot bogeys but I'm realistic and count every shot / drop in an effort to lower my handicap.  The biggest problem I run into is inconsistency with my full swing shots.  I'm working very hard on my swing to become more consistent.

Which leads back to my question, in an effort to stop not swinging as hard, I'm not holding back (not specifically trying to swing harder( and getting a lot more distance (and a lot more height as well) and I'm worried that the additional distance that I'm seeing is going to have worse side effects.

[Brian W]

You are not going to get your distances figured out on the range, but it sounds like you were doing something right at the range.  The range should be for concentrating on your grip, swing, etc.

As for the distances, I went through something similar this year.  I put a new swing together and started hitting the ball at least 10 yards further per club.  For at least a few rounds, I was hitting everything over the green.  I started writing down the distance on my approach shot and the club I hit with the result on my scorecard just to start getting a better feel.  Within about 5 rounds, I had them tuned in much better

Also, I cannot hit 200 balls in a range session as my body gets fatigued/lazy and it doesn't really give me an accurate depiction of my swing.  For me, I hit like 60-70.  That is much closer to the amount of full swings I am going to hit in a round.

3 minutes ago, leftiewannabe said:

Thanks for the replies, I thought it went without saying but everything that I'm doing on the range / practice green is in an effort to lower my handicap.  I mostly shoot bogeys but I'm realistic and count every shot / drop in an effort to lower my handicap.  The biggest problem I run into is inconsistency with my full swing shots.  I'm working very hard on my swing to become more consistent.

Which leads back to my question, in an effort to stop not swinging as hard, I'm not holding back (not specifically trying to swing harder( and getting a lot more distance (and a lot more height as well) and I'm worried that the additional distance that I'm seeing is going to have worse side effects.

All that could be true.  I would recommend creating a My Swing thread in the Member Swings section and everyone could get a better understanding of what could be happening

[leftiewannabe]

Awesome thanks Brian I will do that, appreciate the feedback!

[WUTiger]

11 hours ago, leftiewannabe said:

... I started seeing results that were more consistent with how I've swung before (lower but straighter on mishits) and then a few days ago it just clicked.  My hands weren't in sync with each other and I started trying out an interlocking grip....

Your grip change is a useful tweak which will help develop your swing (a set-up that works for you.) And, a benefit from my last lesson is my iron mishits tend to be low, thin shots but straight - still well in play from near front of green. You've got your mishits under control, and are advancing the ball on mishits, which will help your scores.

Your TM Burner 2.0 are a solid next-step iron for you. It scored points in early reviews for helping keep the ball straight, and adding distance for many players.

This model also featured a push by TM to lessen the problem of hot spots (face points that generate unexpected extra distance on some off-center shots). Scattered blog comments, however, complain of recurring hot shots from these irons. And, given that this is a GI iron (that looks like an SGI iron), increased distance variance is a trade-off you make for more forgiveness. 

2 hours ago, Brian W said:

... You are not going to get your distances figured out on the range, but it sounds like you were doing something right at the range.  The range should be for concentrating on your grip, swing, etc. ...

The practice range distances vary a lot because of type of ball (usually not as long as regular balls), and condition. Balls beat around for two months don't go as far as balls put into range mix last week.

Good comments by Brian. I played golf with Brian and some other TSTers a couple of weeks ago. Brian generally keeps the ball in play and smoked several iron shots on the round. He also gets good results out of his Edel wedges.