Bearhawk

Thanks for the responses. This only came up because I was growing increasingly frustrated with open face shots at the range last night so with the last 20 balls I decided to just grab a wedge and hit a few pitch shots with an overlap grip. Results were surprisingly good, and excited to give it a go in full today with a range of clubs/shots. I did take 3 driver swings with water balls I picked up Sunday and looked like I had picked up at least 10 yards. The big stick felt very natural with the grip change.

Hey guys, I was a 10 finger guy until I got my first lesson in April. Switched to an interlock and have put alot of effort into my swing this summer. Still, after 5 months of hitting the range 3 times a week and playing on Sundays I’m still struggling to release the club and square the face. Too many open face shanks with irons and wedges, and I have felt like I’m losing speed causing me to overswing. After playing a round with my old high school coach he highly suggested switching to an overlap grip. I hit a half bucket of half shots and feel like the release is more natural allowing me to not feel like I have to manufacture a square face but the grip does feel a little less secure. Anyone make this switch or have any insight. I feel like I’ve wasted quite a bit of time working with an interlocked grip and wanted to be sure before I invest more time in another fundamental change. Thanks in advance!

Thanks for all the replies, this community is pretty great. I know there is no substitute for a video but here is just a little background of how I got to where I am. I started playing in summer leagues when I was in middle school. Played a few times a year in high school until my senior year when I played on the varsity golf team. (after football ended for good) I could count on one hand the amount of times I played in college and once I came back home spent a few years playing about twice a month with friend, now granted that usually meant Saturdays with more beer in my bar then clubs. Fast forward to spring 2017 and I decided that I wanted to improve to the point of the game at least being consistently fun. Started playing ever Sunday morning with my father and guys he worked with and hitting the range 1-2 times a week. By August I really felt like I was making progress and started to consistently shoot in the mid 80s. Then out of nowhere something happened and it has been a downward spiral ever since. Went from mid 80s, to struggling to break 90 to shanking every other iron shot and being back to triple digits. This spring I thought I could work it out and get back on the “break 80” track due to having a lot more free time. As soon as the snow melted I was at the range 3-5 times a week, had 4 sessions with a pro and tried to get back to basics. I have made some improvements especially in long clubs. I’m not kidding when I say I can hit a 3 wood off the deck three times as consistently as I can hit a full PW. The irons are still an almost always either fat to the point of not making contact with the ball or shanked to the right. When I played Sunday I literally used a 5H for everything inside 150 up to pitch and just tried to choke down and slow the swing accordingly. The point of the long winded post is to just see if anyone here has experienced something like this? I mean we all get the shanks from time to time but not lasting a year and a half 🤦‍♂️. thanks again

This could very well be, as I’ve noticed even my decent shots feel “heels.” I just took a good look at my most common practice clubs and I noticed the strike marks are mostly in the heel. Strange, because I used to be chronically off the toe.. I appreciate the feedback.

So I’ve been playing since high school (10 years) but never regularly until about 4 years ago. Worked with my old high school coach and in that first year of playing 2-3 times a week was able to break 90 about half the time. Last year my game got progressively worse from about June on. From slowly sliding down to back over 100 and hitting low 45 degree open face slices every time with my irons to struggling to make contact at all. This spring I decided that I was going to fix it properly. Have taken 4 lessons (same pro) and hit the range 3 times a week for the last 10 weeks to no avail. Still can’t make contact beyond a 1/2 swing and even that is iffy. I know nobody can diagnose the mechanical faults without a video but has anyone experienced something this drastic? If so did something specific help? I only bring this up because I can feel myself losing motivation every failed range session to even take a slight step forward.