A question with no answer?

[mddubya]

OK, here's my question. I'm actually a fairly decent golfer, even though my scores don't show it. There are very few shots I can't pull off if need be. Sometimes I can even pull one off that amazes myself. But 4 or 5 times a round I'll pull off some bone head move. Usually it involved topping the ball with a 3 wood or a mid to long iron or hybrid. And these bad shots invariably come right in front of a hazard, leading to the ball rolling into the lake or ditch, which of course means dropping a ball and taking a penalty stroke. Either that or I'll be chipping onto the green and totally sweep under the ball advancing it only a couple of feet instead of the needed distance. The chipping I've been working on and those instances are becoming fewer and farther between. My question is, is there some drill or practice move or mental preparation I can do to prevent topping the ball at the worst possible moment? I imagine the answer is going to be practice, practice, and more practice, but I'm holding out with that glimmer of hope that maybe someone else has had this problem and figured out the answer to it?

[SilverUberXeno]

When you take your practice swings, hit some checkpoints that you will have to pre-determine before the actual round. (Like when you're praciticing!)

Don't think of all your swing mechanics, but think, "start the downswing with move X" and just go through smooth. You don't want to give directions describing the shutters on every house you pass. Just the signposts, and traffic lights.

A good swing to me starts with the hands going straight back, never moving forward away from my body. That's #1 for me.

#2, do not take my eyes off the spot (ball). Keep my head steady, so as to maintain my spine tilt.

#3 My best swings come when my hips and shoulders start to unwind just about simoltaneously. Figure out what shot you want to hit, or how you want to hit it, and use this as #3.

#4 DOWN THROUGH CONTACT! (except with tee-shots).

These are what you should be thinking during your 2 or 3 practice swings. Make subtle changes for the task at hand, take a few swings to get a feel for it, then just think "repeat" once you're over the ball.

Best wedge tip I can give you is to be confident. You may feel like you want to swing too hard- stop it. You'll get more loft and a quicker stop than you probably think as long as you accelerate through the ball. If you have a short chip, choke down. The ball can't go IN the hole if it doesn't get to the hole, so unless you're faced with a downhill chip into an alligator den, be willing to hit it a smidge past the hole rather than a smide short of it.

You can think about the putt you'll have coming back during your practice preparation. Don't think about it once you're over the ball. You've already decided what swing you want to employ and what is going to happen as a result of it. If you really feel the need to second guess yourself, don't hit the ball. Back off and get confident.

Don't ever set up to a shot thinking "This won't work." You may not be sure it will, but be sure that it can, and that you have arms, a torso, legs, and a golf club with which it could be done. Just put it together.

FLUB do I wanna play golf.

[Pa Jayhawk]

Not sure this is the answer you are looking for, but from reading your post I can't help but think that your problem may be entirely related to your focus and mental game, and not your physical game or golf swing. I can't say I am in much of a different situation, as usually when my scores add up it is not because of my swing or even my course management, but instead losing focus on what I am trying to accomplish and concentrating more on what I am trying to avoid.

If you think this may in fact be part of the case, I would highly recommend a little reading about mental game and possibly starting out with this one in particular:
Amazon.com: Golf is Not a Game of Perfect: Dr. Bob Rotella: Books
I read it last winter and would rate it up there with Hogans Five Fundamentals, and Harvey Penicks books for must haves for the game of golf and what has seriously helped my game and something I fall back on when I need to work out the kinks. It probably has helped my game more than either of the other two, as it was one of the few things I ever practiced that truely put my mind at ease on the course, and the information is entirely too simple.

Tour Tempo is another that really helped my game, but is not something that would necessarily help every golfer, but simply those that have an issue with tempo.

[eclark53520]

I agree with Pa...Your thinking "Dont duf it into the water" instead of what u should be thinking "Put it on the green"

Usually wheni think to myself dont go right, i hit it right...simple fix in theory...but hard to implement.

[IrishGolfer]

It is all about getting a good pre shot routine. Anal as it sounds, it involves tricking the mind into "turning on before your shot" through some physical and mental maneuvers.

Picturing the shot in mind, the conditions, the club. Focusing on a target from behind the ball, setting up to the ball, pre-shot routine and then pulling the trigger.

I remember someone saying you could time Nicklaus to a fraction of a second from the time he selected a club to the time he hit it. This was not by luck, it was through a good pre-shot routine.

[mddubya]

Thanks for the tips guys. I'll pick up that book and give it a read. I think you all hit it right on the head. As long as I stick to the same routine before each shot I do a lot better. And eclark, you're right. During my ill fated tournament I had nailed a perfect drive and was looking at a pretty easy shot at the green, except I was right in front of a lake. I thought, don't top this one Mark, you can guess what I did!

[BladerHater]

Go to the book Golf is not a game in Perfect and then read the last page full of little quirks then guarantee a few strokes off the scorecard, i know shrinks sound dumb and pointless but not this one

[ezra76]

Originally Posted by IrishGolfer

It is all about getting a good pre shot routine. Anal as it sounds, it involves tricking the mind into "turning on before your shot" through some physical and mental maneuvers.

Picturing the shot in mind, the conditions, the club. Focusing on a target from behind the ball, setting up to the ball, pre-shot routine and then pulling the trigger.

I remember someone saying you could time Nicklaus to a fraction of a second from the time he selected a club to the time he hit it. This was not by luck, it was through a good pre-shot routine.

No need for my post after this I suppose...

Preshot has helped me immensely. I take one swing with my left hand only, take my grip with the right and a practice swing with my right thumb and forefinger off the club. Set the clubface at the target, take stance, waggle with right thumb and forefinger off the club, hit the shot.

I've got the bad shots also. Sometimes I have to just use some course management on holes where there is trouble. Such as laying up to water or even a very crowned or elevated green. Some holes are not birdie holes for me, I need to play them conservatively for a higher par % rather than a higher birdie % but a way higher bogey, or double %.

[DaGris]

its amazing what you can do if you keep your head down...when I mess up, I looked up......if I keep my head down, I play great.

[Pa Jayhawk]

Originally Posted by DaGris

its amazing what you can do if you keep your head down...when I mess up, I looked up......if I keep my head down, I play great.

This goes back to the other philosophy I have read and mentioned in Harvey Penick, and likely relates somewhat to the Rotella Book on trying to rid your mind of the harmful thoughts.

Originally Posted by Harvey Penick - Little Red Book

Looking up is the biggest alibi ever invented to explain a terrible shot.

By the time you look up, you've already made the mistake that caused the bad shot

When I tell a student to keep his eye on the ball, it is usually to give him something to think about that won't do any harm.

I've known only three or four top players who say they actually see the ball when they hit it. Even Ben Hogan told me he loses sight of the ball "somewhere in the downswing"

[Eracer]

Originally Posted by Pa Jayhawk

This goes back to the other philosophy I have read and mentioned in Harvey Penick, and likely relates somewhat to the Rotella Book on trying to rid your mind of the harmful thoughts.

"Keeping your head down" really means "stop bobbing your head up and down like one of those stupid ostrich looking things that dip into a glass of water!"

[Bignose]

mddubya, a big part of the issue here is the pressures of playing a real round. What you need to do is simulate the pressures of a round while you practice -- it won't ever be exactly the same but the more you can practice pressure situations, the better you'll be able to adapt to them. The reason I say it won't ever be the same is because while you practice, your body is naturally more relaxed. It's just practice after all. You aren't thinking about how you need to get the ball over the hazard, or even get the ball on the green. You're just hitting the ball. This is why a lot of people have good range games but poor course games. One can groove a swing on the range, but without it having consequences regarding a score, bad shots can be shrugged off and ignored in light of hitting the next shot. And, reasonably often for decent players, that next shot is probably pretty good -- because they left the past in the past. During a round, with scorekeeping, that is naturally harder to do.

A few suggestions to help practice pressure situations. Do "x in a row" drills. Such as, "I'm not leaving this putting green until I sink 40 3 foot putts in a row" When you get up to 35, 36, 37 in a row, those next few are going to be full of pressure -- because you don't want to start over. And you have to make yourself start over when you miss. Don't chicken out. Obviously tailor the x to your ability. Start with 20 putts, for example. As you get better, you can increase the x, or increase the distance. Other ones would be 20 chips within 3 feet of the cup in a row, 15 pitches on the practice green in a row, 15 5 irons or drives (or 15 non-topped 3 woods) in a row at a specific target. Whatever it is, again, not chickening out is the most important thing -- if you have to go buy another bucket of balls to finish, so be it -- you have to fulfill your promise to yourself. And again, when you get to 3 left, 2 left, or only 1 left -- that shot will be full of pressure because you won't want to start counting at 1 again.

I also like simulating a round while at the range. Bring an old scorecard, to a course you know really well or one that has hole diagrams on it. And simulate playing the course. Tee off with driver or whatever is appropriate for the first hole. Estimate (realistically!) how far that shot went, and what approach you've left yourself. Now hit the club that corresponds to that approach shot. Always hit it at something, because you have to decide whether you got on the green or not. If your range has a chipping & putting area that'd be really great because you can complete the hole if you'd want to. Depending on your range and how many other people are there, you can really creative with this. If there aren't many people around, you can probably find lies that simulate hitting the ball into the rough or sidehill/uphill/downhill lies. If you hit one right down the pipe, maybe you should even simulate the ball ending up in a divot -- lots of divots at the range.

But, the idea is similar in that you want to simulate the pressures of a real round. Not just repetitive grooving of one motion over and over. But practicing with a purpose.

[mddubya]

Thanks for all the tips guys. I'm about to head to the bookstore to pick up the book, Golf is not a game of perfect. I just finished playing the best 9 holes I've ever played overall as far as ball striking goes. My drives were flying far and straight for the most part, and I was hitting my irons better than ever. Other than a couple of brain fades I was delighted with my round. And to be honest, the brain fades came right after the thought popped into my head, "I'm really playing good, this could be my lowest round ever". Naturally this was followed with a duffed 5 iron off the tee on the 175 yard par 3 followed by a shanked 9 iron because I was mad over the duffed 5 iron. And again I reached the water on the long par 4 with my perfectly struck drive so I guess I just played my last round on my home course from the whites. Looks like I'm going to have to move back to the tips to keep my drives in play. Although I was hoping to reach the green with a drive on the 307 yard par 3 once before I moved back. Today my drive came up 2 feet short of the green!

So I have come to the conclusion that most of the problems with my game are definitely between my ears. Come to think about it, that is the root of the majority of my problems most likely,