Witnessed something interesting.

[fisher]

Played last night with one of my regular partners who is a low single digit handicapper.

He was hitting the ball absolutely flawlessly thru the first four holes. On the fifth hole he hit an absolutely perfect drive, only one problem, he was aimed perfectly at the right rough. Sure enough he hit a perfect driver into the right rough. It was purely an aim miss. For the rest of the round he messed with his swing which made his driving go down hill, still not terrible though but not what it had been early in the round.

It was very interesting seeing how a swing that wasn't a bad swing at all, just an aim issue set off a string of bad drives as he tried to manipulate the swing thinking it was the swing that was the problem.

It really got me thinking about how downhill chain reactions in my own game get set off.

[Johnny Par]

Couldn't agree more. Definitely a chain reaction.

However, the good players are the ones who can pin point exactly what the issue is and make adjustments. Unlike me, who thinks its one thing, tries it, doesn't work, next hole, try something else, doesn't work, etc.....domino effect

OR, do what the pros do. I was watching the tee it up with Tiger clinic featuring AK.

AK said, before a tourney, when he is on the range before tee off. If there is something wrong with his swing, he won't make swing adjustments and try and fight it through the round. Rather, he adjusts everything else. If by chance, that day, he is pulling shots, he won't try and fix it, he simply sets up to hit a pull and aim accordingly. I've definitely employed this during my round and it has helped tremendously.

[Rockford35]

I play with a guy that hits the straightest drives you've ever seen with his FT-i. Long, too. However, he's aimed at the left rough and pushes them into the middle. He does this only with his driver. The rest of the time, he's aimed perfectly.

Now, if someone says to him "You're aimed left", he's effed. I think his left aim is subconscious and he just does it without thinking about his feet. It feels right and it works. But if you bring it into the light, it gets into his kitchen and he's completely messed up.

Stupid, stupid game.

R35

[eclark53520]

There are a lot of decisions made in this world that act just like this.

See the outcome, assume you know what the culprit is, so you act on an assumption and cause more damage to the situation than you could ever dream to fix.

Almost always its better to go back to basics immediately and start there to fix a disruption. Start with the easy to fix stuff, alignment, grip, etc. If that doesn't fix it, then go on to the more technical areas of the swing.

Its an old saying, don't fix whats not broken(, and make sure you know whats broken before you try to fix anything)

[BrandonM7]

There are a lot of decisions made in this world that act just like this.

See the outcome, assume you know what the culprit is, so you act on an assumption and cause more damage to the situation than you could ever dream to fix.

Almost always its better to go back to basics immediately and start there to fix a disruption. Start with the easy to fix stuff, alignment, grip, etc. If that doesn't fix it, then go on to the more technical areas of the swing.

Its an old saying, don't fix whats not broken(, and make sure you know whats broken before you try to fix anything)

That, and don't try to "fix" something as soon as it happens. I play with a guy like that from time to time - every single swing he makes is trying to "fix" the last one. I'm not good enough to offer advice so I leave him be, but I can't help but think that maybe when one drive goes right you just ****ed up - you don't necessarily need to revamp your whole swing. At least wait until you hit a second one over there just in case it was a fluke. I always end up playing better than him, even though I KNOW he has way more good shots in him than I do. But he's always swinging a change when there's a club in his hand, so it's just random chance when he happens to use one of those good swings.

[WelshGolfer]

AK said, before a tourney, when he is on the range before tee off. If there is something wrong with his swing, he won't make swing adjustments and try and fight it through the round. Rather, he adjusts everything else. If by chance, that day, he is pulling shots, he won't try and fix it, he simply sets up to hit a pull and aim accordingly. I've definitely employed this during my round and it has helped tremendously.

When Paul Casey was on Playing Lessons from the Pros he said the same thing. He just goes with the way hes hitting it on that day.
I bet they are not the only pros who adopt this mentality.
Unfortunately my swing is so flawed that, when the wheels come off, there is no telling where the damn ball will go next!

[ezra76]

When Paul Casey was on Playing Lessons from the Pros he said the same thing. He just goes with the way hes hitting it on that day.
I bet they are not the only pros who adopt this mentality.
Unfortunately my swing is so flawed that, when the wheels come off, there is no telling where the damn ball will go next!

I just don't have enough room to play my misses. I can't aim towards the Atlantic and block it 120yds. right into the fairway.

[gwlee7]

One of the best explanations of the whole aim of the club setting off chain reactions (good or bad) comes from John Jacobs' book The Golf Swing Simplified.

"Clubface alignment is critical because, if the face of the club looks to the left or right of the target as you strike the ball, your instinctive reactions to the ball's flight will create errors in your swing path and angle of attack, while also impairing your clubhead speed."
p. 12

[Dusty90]

If I know which way my misses are going to go then it will be a good day.

However, the problem comes when I hook a ball on one hole and then slice it just as far on the next. That turns into a guessing game that doesn't ususally turn out that well for me. Although these days have been becoming less and less recently.

[Lefty_SnowBird]

I'm probably the best example of this. My swing looks flawless to most and overall, it is very solid...but lately, it seems bugs have infested my brain and I just couldn't hit a ball properly. Go to the driving range and everything is fine...back on the course and the questioning starts again. Gotta stop this crap! Had my last of 3 golf lessons last night and the guy told me there wasn't anything that I needed to change anymore. My swing is now textbook. Just have to watch tempo and open my front foot more (should help prevent blocks/hard hooks).

If I know which way my misses are going to go then it will be a good day.

However, the problem comes when I hook a ball on one hole and then slice it just as far on the next. That turns into a guessing game that doesn't ususally turn out that well for me. Although these days have been becoming less and less recently.

That's my problem too. My misses are both ways...and by a lot! It's either a block or a hard pull hook. So I just aim in the middle and hope for the best. My regular drive is dead straight, no fade, no draw. Just need to watch for a couple of things (ie. TEMPO!) and I should be fine.