Back at golf after a decade away due to major surgeries

[satchmodog]

Hi all!!

A decade ago I had a nice fall off a roof cleaning some gutters. Ice is bad, people shouldn't live where there is ice!! Anyway, I crushed my L2 and L3 and tore my L6 like twisting the top off an oreo. Also broke my tailbone and crushed my heel like an egg rolling off the counter. The back injuries were mostly repaired but there is chronic pain and stiffness. The heel was rebuilt and fused to the ankle, so there is no lateral movement possible. I also have some terrible arthritis in my shoulders from the impact. In year two after surgeries I tried swinging a club and just buried it into the ground. It hurt, I left. It's been out of my mind for years until this year and I went to the range, hit a small bucket and was pleased that I was able to swing with no impediments and limited discomfort. However, my body is unpredictable from day to day, I live on painkillers and advil, so some days are better than others trying to hit.  Before my injuries I was an 8 handicap who could just smack the crap out of the ball, out distance the club specs and rarely sliced the ball. I'm driving out to 270-310 on most shots and my irons are equally long. The problem I am having is at least 40% of my shots slice, sometimes violently. Others go a fair distance and fairly straight, but once they land, they shoot off 20 yards to the right. I also get other shots that start off left, then gently fade right to wind up being pretty straight shots. My biggest issue seems to be repeating a consistent strike. In the past I had a nice, smooth swing, free hip movement and a great follow-through. I've spent all summer trying to recreate my swing and some days I come pretty close, others it feels forced and my shots suffer even more. Even when I swing well, the ball has a mind of its own off the club(yes, I know it's all me, but I will blame the ball). So, is this just a matter of more and more repetition, or do I need to rebuild my swing? I know absolutely zero about repairing this other than a few tips I've picked up about correcting the slice. But no matter what I do, the slice still pops up for ten shots in a row until I go sit down and give it a rest for a few minutes. By correcting for the slice, I've also started jerking the ball really far to the left and it's a shame sometimes because those balls I put in orbit half the time. I've tried slowing my swing down as well and that just gives me the same results with less distance. Eventually I'll get someone to video me taking a shot ot three so I can see what's happening when the ugly happens.

Sorry for the novel, but I wanted to lay some groundwork for all that;s going on in order to find some possible solutions. I don't know if there are other swings to try out, other than the single plane. I tried that and think I was doing something wrong because that's when I started jerking the ball to the left and now it's officially part of my repertoire 

[chilepepper]

Welcome back to the game! Two things come to mind for myself when a slice creeps into my game. 1. Hands to high at top of backswing, I take it back low but turn too far and have tendency to raise my hands resulting in over the top. 2. Hips/ turn lagging on downswing which forces an out to in swing. 

   You can alway post a video here and get some feedback from more qualified folks than myself

[satchmodog]

5 hours ago, chilepepper said:

Welcome back to the game! Two things come to mind for myself when a slice creeps into my game. 1. Hands to high at top of backswing, I take it back low but turn too far and have tendency to raise my hands resulting in over the top. 2. Hips/ turn lagging on downswing which forces an out to in swing. 

   You can alway post a video here and get some feedback from more qualified folks than myself

Thanks for the reply and the advice, Chili. I am sure those two things have a good deal to do with my issues. I have impingement in my back and arthritic shoulders, so my back swing is not smooth as it once was. In used to have some muscle memory on where to stop, but honestly, nothing feels comfortable or right. And the hip thing is also entirely probable as I used to have some natural hip motion that drove my swing. Maybe in trying to force and recreate my swing, I have simply developed bad habits. But I will at some point have my girlfriend post a few videos of my swing once I can get her back to the range. She's got a wonderful swing and for a 100 pound woman can really push the ball downrange. I still have to go digging through the site. This looks like a nice place :)

[Lihu]

9 minutes ago, satchmodog said:

Thanks for the reply and the advice, Chili. I am sure those two things have a good deal to do with my issues. I have impingement in my back and arthritic shoulders, so my back swing is not smooth as it once was. In used to have some muscle memory on where to stop, but honestly, nothing feels comfortable or right. And the hip thing is also entirely probable as I used to have some natural hip motion that drove my swing. Maybe in trying to force and recreate my swing, I have simply developed bad habits. But I will at some point have my girlfriend post a few videos of my swing once I can get her back to the range. She's got a wonderful swing and for a 100 pound woman can really push the ball downrange. I still have to go digging through the site. This looks like a nice place :)

Welcome back to golf!

I was reading about your injuries and wincing with every word, until I got to the part where you stated you can still drive the ball like 290 yards. I have nothing to offer other than welcome back and good luck straightening out your swing.

[satchmodog]

2 minutes ago, Lihu said:

Welcome back to golf!

I was reading about your injuries and wincing with every word, until I got to the part where you stated you can still drive the ball like 290 yards. I have nothing to offer other than welcome back and good luck straightening out your swing.

Thanks! Still strong like Ox, now I just swing like one

[Lihu]

Just now, satchmodog said:

Thanks! Still strong like Ox, now I just swing like one

Funny, that's exactly how it sounded.

This is the right site to get on though. I'm sure you'll get some help with your swing here.

[Valleygolfer]

You have an L6?

[satchmodog]

2 minutes ago, Valleygolfer said:

You have an L6?

Lol, no. I should learn to proof read my posts. An L6 would make me a snake, I guess 

I tore the 5 and crushed 2 and 3. 

[Valleygolfer]

1 minute ago, satchmodog said:

Lol, no. I should learn to proof read my posts. An L6 would make me a snake, I guess 

I tore the 5 and crushed 2 and 3. 

You could have had a lumbarization of the sacrum...

[satchmodog]

2 minutes ago, Valleygolfer said:

You could have had a lumbarization of the sacrum...

I guess that beats cranial sacrum inversion, which is why I was on that roof in the first place

[Valleygolfer]

35 minutes ago, satchmodog said:

I guess that beats cranial sacrum inversion, which is why I was on that roof in the first place

Unfortunately I had a little bit of that last weekend

 

[satchmodog]

I went back to the range today and one of the local high schools had their girl's team there. I wound up talking to the coach and found out it was the end of their season. Shit fire, I'd hate to see them at the beginning of the season.Only one of these girls could actually hit and had a nice swing. The rest were just burying the ball into the ground five yards away. So anyway, I felt better about my hitting LOL

Also wound up with two free buckets of balls because i schmoozed the coach!!

 

So I ordered two inexpensive used drivers today since i believe some of my issues off the tee are from using a 10.5 driver. It came with the irons I bought last month. It's a Burner and while it's an awesome club, the loft and flex shaft i believe are not for me. I know both these clubs I ordered are old, but I got them mainly to experiment with the loft. And the War Bird (9 degrees)is going to replace my all time favorite driver, hopefully. I had this generic Techmaster driver I bought at nevada Bob's decades ago and Snapped the shaft right at the hosel. My friend is trying to extract it and install a new shaft, but he's been struggling with it and it's really a five dollar club. But it's a small head driver and I have no idea the loft, but I always just hit mid height and long with it, and the War bird seems to be similar in style and age. The other is a Taylor Made 540XD in 9.5 degrees. We will see next week when they arrive if they help. I was going to have my ex wife video me today, but with 30 freshmen running around and my ex's aversion to children, it just didn't work.

I did pay attention to Chilepepper's advice and watching my back swing seemed to aid in my issues. I wasn't slicing as much and wasn't jerking the ball left as much. I think keeping an eye on my back swing slowed my ass down just enough to get me synched a little better!!

[Lihu]

 

On 9/12/2017 at 7:56 PM, satchmodog said:

I went back to the range today and one of the local high schools had their girl's team there. I wound up talking to the coach and found out it was the end of their season. Shit fire, I'd hate to see them at the beginning of the season.Only one of these girls could actually hit and had a nice swing. The rest were just burying the ball into the ground five yards away. So anyway, I felt better about my hitting LOL

 

I forgot that the girls golf season is now. My daughter plays on a coed team in Spring. If the girls were freshman, they are probably JV. That's likely why they hit so bad.

Also, reading the rest of your post, have you considered getting fit for a club? Your swing is probably different than it was prior to your injury. It might help as you get back into it. I know it's not cheap, because you'll likely need at least two of them, but it really helps to know your swing stats.

Edited September 14, 2017 by Lihu

[satchmodog]

2 minutes ago, Lihu said:

 

 

I forgot that the girls golf season is now. My daughter plays on a coed team in Spring. If the girls were freshman, they are probably JV. That's likely why they hit so bad.

Also, reading the rest of your post, have you considered getting fit for a club? Your swing is probably different than it was prior to your injury. It might help as you get back into it. I know it's not cheap, because you'll likely need at least two of them, but it really helps to know your swing stats.

That's pretty sound advice, thanks. I think that may be something I do this winter. I'm sure so much of my swing has changed and I also thing I have gotten a little shorter after the injuries.

[scotth]

Welcome back to the game!  Like you, I was once a low handicap golfer then had a car accident and back injury and at first could not swing a club for 2 years, and then once my back felt better just didn't play for the next 13 years.

Starting back into golf this summer had quite a bit of back pain again, and learned to live on advil, ice packs, and other supplements while doing some back specific exercises.  (Planks really help build strength).  

The result was old swing was just not there.  Some balls were great and some just horrible exactly as you described.  I wasted quite a bit of time on the range by myself attempting to figure out what was wrong and convincing myself I just needed more swings.

Because the golf season where I now live is so short, and I just could not stand being bad at something I once had a 5 handicap at.  I decided the only way to improve quickly before season was over was to get help from a pro that uses video so I could see what I was doing.

I can't stress how much that helped me.  I joined this group about the time I started working with a good golf pro.  While I am not back to single digits yet, I have drastically dropped my handicap and feel I have a much more reliable swing.  

So my advice would be find a good teaching pro that videos, or get a good video and post here.  Don't over practice at range because your back won't take it.  I go to the range with specific things I am going to work on that day and limit range time to a medium bucket.  

I stretch before every range or round of golf.  I do 5 - 10 minutes of planks every morning to help strengthen the muscles in my lower back.

Good luck!

[satchmodog]

On 9/14/2017 at 8:07 AM, scotth said:

Welcome back to the game!  Like you, I was once a low handicap golfer then had a car accident and back injury and at first could not swing a club for 2 years, and then once my back felt better just didn't play for the next 13 years.

Starting back into golf this summer had quite a bit of back pain again, and learned to live on advil, ice packs, and other supplements while doing some back specific exercises.  (Planks really help build strength).  

The result was old swing was just not there.  Some balls were great and some just horrible exactly as you described.  I wasted quite a bit of time on the range by myself attempting to figure out what was wrong and convincing myself I just needed more swings.

Because the golf season where I now live is so short, and I just could not stand being bad at something I once had a 5 handicap at.  I decided the only way to improve quickly before season was over was to get help from a pro that uses video so I could see what I was doing.

I can't stress how much that helped me.  I joined this group about the time I started working with a good golf pro.  While I am not back to single digits yet, I have drastically dropped my handicap and feel I have a much more reliable swing.  

So my advice would be find a good teaching pro that videos, or get a good video and post here.  Don't over practice at range because your back won't take it.  I go to the range with specific things I am going to work on that day and limit range time to a medium bucket.  

I stretch before every range or round of golf.  I do 5 - 10 minutes of planks every morning to help strengthen the muscles in my lower back.

Good luck!

I've started working out a bit, but I am hampered by my foot. So planks? Really? What sort of back injury did you have? I'm going to look into that.

As far as the pro thing, goes, I have a friend who can do a lot of the analysis of my swing and video. We just need to get together and do it. He's gone batshit buying all of this software and cameras so he can further alienate his wife it seems lol But we've golfed since high school and him cleaning his clubs one day and talking golf while I was visiting him at work really lit that fire again..

 

[scotth]

On 9/16/2017 at 7:40 PM, satchmodog said:

I've started working out a bit, but I am hampered by my foot. So planks? Really? What sort of back injury did you have? I'm going to look into that.

I was rear ended while stopped at a light, and as a result had both compression fractures which healed just fine, and spondylolisthesis which is basically where the vertebra are forced or slip out of joint because of impact and resulting in pinched nerves.

Crazy as it sounds the planks have strengthened the muscles in my back and core like no other rehab stretching or exercises ever have.  The theory for my injury was the stronger the muscles are, the more they help vertebra stay in place.  

Obviously this is a YMMV (your mileage may vary) and just because it seems to be working for me, doesn't mean it will for you.  Or will continue for me either.  Have had other moments over the years where I thought back was ready to handle golf and been disappointed. 

This summer have been able to play and practice more than in last 13 years.  Think I have played an average of 3 times a week.  Initially it was play rest back for 2 or 3 days and then play again.  Also interesting back does better walking with push cart than riding in a golf cart.  I think because the carts bounce so much around here with all the ruts from our wet summer.

I would talk to a doctor or physical therapist to get their input before starting planks.  I also started where I was only doing 30 secs a day.  It seemed silly to do so little, but slowly built it up.

[satchmodog]

3 hours ago, scotth said:

I was rear ended while stopped at a light, and as a result had both compression fractures which healed just fine, and spondylolisthesis which is basically where the vertebra are forced or slip out of joint because of impact and resulting in pinched nerves.

Crazy as it sounds the planks have strengthened the muscles in my back and core like no other rehab stretching or exercises ever have.  The theory for my injury was the stronger the muscles are, the more they help vertebra stay in place.  

Obviously this is a YMMV (your mileage may vary) and just because it seems to be working for me, doesn't mean it will for you.  Or will continue for me either.  Have had other moments over the years where I thought back was ready to handle golf and been disappointed. 

This summer have been able to play and practice more than in last 13 years.  Think I have played an average of 3 times a week.  Initially it was play rest back for 2 or 3 days and then play again.  Also interesting back does better walking with push cart than riding in a golf cart.  I think because the carts bounce so much around here with all the ruts from our wet summer.

I would talk to a doctor or physical therapist to get their input before starting planks.  I also started where I was only doing 30 secs a day.  It seemed silly to do so little, but slowly built it up.

I couldn't agree more that strong core muscles take pressure off the spine. I'm going to see the doc in a few weeks for my usual routine, so we'll discuss this. But I am sure it's fine, regardless. I'm very active, sometimes too much. Then I pay for it dearly the next day lol

And when I started doing exercises it's always been gradual. Just so much easier to start slow and it kinda psyches you up when you see improvement as you add more time and reps. Psychological motivation is really important to recovery