Has this ever happened to anyone, the out of the blue meltdown?

[LyleG]

I am very concerned this morning about my game. Something happened on Saturday and I have no idea what it was, and even less of an idea how it can be fixed.

I was cruising along Saturday morning, bird on 1, par on 2, bird on 3, par on 4, on 5 it hit the worst tee shot I have hit all year, a big block that went in the rough on the opposite side of the opposite fairway. I have been hitting my driver brilliantly this year, (75% - 275 ave) so I was like "wow" what the hell was that. Well I top my shot from there, skull the next on over the green, chunk a chip and 3 putt for good measure. The rest of the round I could barely hit the ball within 20 yards of where I was aiming. I shot a 93. For some reference on Friday I shot a 74.
So I go out yesterday in a scramble. I would have not broken 100 if I was playing by myself. I have literally become a 30hdcp overnight and I have no idea what the hell it is. I cant hit either set of irons I have, cant hit driver, cant chip, even my putts are missing the mark by about 30% compared to where I am aiming.

Has this ever happened to anyone?

I am bring my Rotella book to work with me. Its time for a power read for sure. I am real concerned however that this wont be easy to shake as I am a mental mess right now over the ball. I can barely swing the damn club and fell nearly ill as I approach my ball.

Help me!

[ualtim]

One bad shot can topple the house of cards. You start to analyze what you did wrong to produce such a bad shot and then you start to second guess everything about your swing and worse yet, actually start to THINK about your golf swing while out on the course. You probably have so many things running through your head that you can no longer just sit back and swing.

When that happens to me, I go to the range. Usually all it takes to get back into the zone is finding a way to minimize your thoughts during your swing down to one simple thought. For me, I think, "Take it back slow" and that will normally flush out all of the other thoughts after a few swings of just "take it back slow". By forcing myself to shut off the brain and narrow down my focus to a single swing thought it usually allows me to go back to where I was prior to the errant shot.

I have gotten to the point to where I can finally do this during the course of the round mainly by learning to "forget" the bad shots. Kind of like the Mark McGuire, "I am not here to discuss the past" routine. What happened, happened. The shot at hand is the only one I should be thinking about. If I find myself over analyzing my swing, I go back to my single thought of "take it back slow" and that usually straightens me out.


Hope this helps, Lyle. If not, Dr. Bob should be able to find you a way out of your rut.

ualtim

[SiberianDVM]

It's obvious, Lyle. You need to go see a good clubfitter.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Seriously, whenever I have one of "those days", it's almost always because I forget to hit down on the ball. Your milage may vary.

If it's any consolation, I had a good round going yesterday until I made a 10 on a par 5.

[Adam Pettman]

Originally Posted by LyleG

I can barely swing the damn club and fell nearly ill as I approach my ball.

Thats definatly part of it.
Its probably all mental, you know you've got the game to go out and shoot in the 70's so eventually your game will come back to you.

[RickinMA]

stop thinking - maybe go to the range with small kids if possible - you'll be so distracted - trying to keep them from running downrange or walking off - you'll just swing without all the bad thoughts

if no kids are available - grab a righty club, and try a few swings with that - you'll be so thankful to be back on the correct side of the ball that hopefully you'll stop thinking and get back in the groove

[BigJim13]

I have had this happen a couple of times, and usually the only thing that works for me is to back away. Put the clubs away for a few days and leave it alone. I have noticed that when it happens to me I have to many swing thoughts running in my head. This may not be your case, but it certainly sounds like things have snowballed. Take a few days off, dont touch the clubs or any swing instruction related books/mags etc. That worked for me.

I also immediately stopped reading ALL instruction in Golf Digest and Magazine, now I only read the 3 or 4 articles that are in there.

[Sandy]

I'd agree with BigJim - when I've had an absolutely terrible round or range session I find nothing works better than taking several days off and only going back to the range or course because you WANT to play golf again and not because you're trying to work out your demons. Going back with a positive thought in your mind makes it a lot better than going back with a negative thought as your primary motivator.

The worst time this happened to me was playing at Brickyard Crossing in Indianapolis, which I was so looking forward to playing I put myself under massive pressure for the entire round. I started off with a topped tee shot and from then on I could barely get the ball off the tee-box on any hole. At one point I took to hitting my 9 iron off the tee and was still messing up, as it had got into my head so badly. At the end of the round I did something I hears a lot of pros do, and headed straight back to the range. With the pressure off I just took my time, and got my driving back to normal (again, the problem was with an ultra-wide stance) so I was able to leave the course on a positive note. Three days later I played one of my best rounds ever, right from the start!

[IrishGolfer]

Good advice here. It's hard to do but walk away and clear your head for a few days. You should slip back into it without really knowing it.

May be something really simple, may be an outside factor (concentation) or slight movement of the head.

Confidence is a strange beast. You cannot really control it, it controls you.

[Rockford35]

I completely disagree.

Get back on that horse and realize this - it's just a game!

Having fun is more important than anything else with golf. Try some trick shots, get out of your element a little. That'll get you out of your funk, guaranteed.

Taking time off only makes you dwell on what's wrong.

R35

[chemboy2]

Hey Lyle, I feel your pain man as I'm in one of those funks right now. I shot an 81 and then turned around and shot an even 100. Worse yet was that I could count the number of good shots in the second round on one hand...

I like the walk away for a couple of days advice however, I'm determined to power through it. I for one had/have too many swing thoughts going through my mind; I know I need to simplify and just swing. I also believe I had mechanics entering into the picture as I believe I was standing too far away from the ball at address and this was causing me to reach out on my downswing (ie. OTT and casting). I stood a little closer and taller at address the second half of my range session on Friday and things started to look normal again (first time in two weeks!).

This isn't the first time I've gone through such a spell. The first time I went through one I got great advice from Bravo. His advice was to start with really short swings, 8 to 4 on a clock face with the ball being at 6, and then as your contact improves you start lengthening the swing until it is a full swing.

Isn't golf just all about confidence though. I mean, there are days where I feel I just can't miss and I don't. And then days that I feel like I couldn't drive my way out of a paperbag and, I don't.

[ezra76]

Happens to me all the time. Although for me it's like 1 part of my game is like a 3 cap and another is a 30 to equalize it. Today I was hitting it long and smooth all morning with the driver. I'm talking the "on" with the driver that could result in a par round. I put my 3rd shot's on 2 par 5's both into the greenside bunker and made 8 on both. My bunker game is sucking hard. I also need to start taking 1 more club on a lot of approaches if I'm going to swing smooth.

Take a few days off or just chip and putt. I'd recommend hitting off a grass range, just like 7-PW and hit them smooth 3/4's. That's what seems to work for me.

[mont86]

I feel your pain Lyle and all the guys have good advice. I have been spending time at the range this week. I had a melt down on the course last week...TOUGH!!!!!I broke my swing down at the range and I started up with two old habits. Rolling my wrists and reverse pivot.

Good Luck.

[FKA19]

i say fight through it. just think about tempo. i had it for a little while last week, but not as bad (83-87). but then just slowed it down, and my last 4 rounds have been in the 70s, and my game feels the best it ever has.

[LyleG]

Thanks a bunch guys.

I know most of it was mental, at least in the beginning. Once you mentally break down though, the mechanics themselves start to follow suit and go all to hell as well.
After work today I went to the range and hit about 200 balls. Focus was on a few things:
- tempo, stay smooth and be sure to finish fully
- short backswing, low takeaway, making sure my right arm stays straight going back.
- accelerate through the ball

About 15 swings in I was puring it. Shot after shot crisp and clean.

Played 9 and shot a 1 under 35.

I will sleep like a baby tonight.

[ezra76]

Originally Posted by LyleG

- short backswing, low takeaway, making sure my right arm stays straight going back.

You had me, for just a second there I was thinking WTF?

Glad you got it working so quick. I know how those pured crisp shots can be, I did the same today. PW to 5iron just so smooth... amazing how far it goes when I'm getting inside/inside with such an easy swing. Must have been just a pile of 10 balls at 120 to 190 every 12 yds. Like Zen.