Thought I'd share my story

[AaA]

So a few months ago I was really struggling with my golf game. I was shanking the heck out of every thing and I couldn't understand why. A few months before that happened, I was playing moderatlely well. Usually shooting in the low 90's. Not great, but not too terrible.

Anyway, I just about gave up golf and I was really pissed because I love the game. But I simply could not hit the ball worth a damn. I put my clubs to the side for a while and didn't play. In the ensuing months, I got married, quit my job, and moved to southeastern CT. I've been in CT for about one month or so, and when I got here, I started getting the itch again. I went to a range by my house and swung my clubs for the first time in months. I did ok. Not great. But I was fed up and decided to go out and play. I ended up playing Shennecosset or something and did not play well at all. The shanks came back and so did my temper.

Since I do not currently have a job, while my wife is at work all day, I occassionaly make it to the driving range to kill some time and really try to work out my lost swing. One day something clicked. I completely and utterly relaxed my body. I am a tense person naturally and have a tendency to stiffen up when playing golf. So I barely held the club in my hand and just let things happen. I started with half swings. Then three quarter swings. I did this with nearly half a bucket. I was hitting my 3 iron 200 + yards with what seemed little effort. I know my swing is back when I can hit the 3 iron. What a great feeling.

So since that "moment", I've been to the range a few times and I have been hittin' em' quite well. My driver feels great and I'm just very confident in my stroke right now. Knowing that if I get in a jam, I just need to relax and take an abbreviated stroke and the ball will go just as far as it has in the past.

So I took all this good feeling and played a course called Elmridge (I know a few of you CT guys know this one; I think I've seen it mentioned here). I played the Blue course first and did ok. I made simple mistakes. I wasn't really on target with my driver although I was hitting it well. I had two 3-putts which really sucked. Never should have those in my opinion. At least, that's what I strive for. But at the end of 9, I was 9 over. Bogey golf. Ok, I'll take.

Then came the back 9 on the Red course which was a bit shorter. This is the reason I'm writing this post. I was a total of 2 over on the Red course to bring my total score to an 82. I think par with the two courses combined was 71. I felt great. I felt rejuvenated. I was averaging nearly 280yds off the tee and had two drives around 300 yds. No 3-putts on the back nine, and two 1-putts. I hit four greens in regulation on the back nine and came up a bit short on two more.

Anyway, I could ramble, but I thought I would share this with someone. It just goes to show that sometimes a little time off isn't such a bad thing. For those having trouble with their swing, I would suggest the half swing drill. I'm sure many of you have heard of this before, but I'm not too sure why it took me a while to actually put that into my practice routine.

I'm stoked about golf again and can't wait to get back out there. Just need to get a frickin' job first. Arrghhhh!!!

[BigJim13]

Originally Posted by AaA

So a few months ago I was really struggling with my golf game. I was shanking the heck out of every thing and I couldn't understand why. A few months before that happened, I was playing moderatlely well. Usually shooting in the low 90's. Not great, but not too terrible.

Anyway, I just about gave up golf and I was really pissed because I love the game. But I simply could not hit the ball worth a damn. I put my clubs to the side for a while and didn't play. In the ensuing months, I got married, quit my job, and moved to southeastern CT. I've been in CT for about one month or so, and when I got here, I started getting the itch again. I went to a range by my house and swung my clubs for the first time in months. I did ok. Not great. But I was fed up and decided to go out and play. I ended up playing Shennecosset or something and did not play well at all. The shanks came back and so did my temper.

Since I do not currently have a job, while my wife is at work all day, I occassionaly make it to the driving range to kill some time and really try to work out my lost swing. One day something clicked. I completely and utterly relaxed my body. I am a tense person naturally and have a tendency to stiffen up when playing golf. So I barely held the club in my hand and just let things happen. I started with half swings. Then three quarter swings. I did this with nearly half a bucket. I was hitting my 3 iron 200 + yards with what seemed little effort. I know my swing is back when I can hit the 3 iron. What a great feeling.

So since that "moment", I've been to the range a few times and I have been hittin' em' quite well. My driver feels great and I'm just very confident in my stroke right now. Knowing that if I get in a jam, I just need to relax and take an abbreviated stroke and the ball will go just as far as it has in the past.

So I took all this good feeling and played a course called Elmridge (I know a few of you CT guys know this one; I think I've seen it mentioned here). I played the Blue course first and did ok. I made simple mistakes. I wasn't really on target with my driver although I was hitting it well. I had two 3-putts which really sucked. Never should have those in my opinion. At least, that's what I strive for. But at the end of 9, I was 9 over. Bogey golf. Ok, I'll take.

Then came the back 9 on the Red course which was a bit shorter. This is the reason I'm writing this post. I was a total of 2 over on the Red course to bring my total score to an 82. I think par with the two courses combined was 71. I felt great. I felt rejuvenated. I was averaging nearly 280yds off the tee and had two drives around 300 yds. No 3-putts on the back nine, and two 1-putts. I hit four greens in regulation on the back nine and came up a bit short on two more.

Anyway, I could ramble, but I thought I would share this with someone. It just goes to show that sometimes a little time off isn't such a bad thing. For those having trouble with their swing, I would suggest the half swing drill. I'm sure many of you have heard of this before, but I'm not too sure why it took me a while to actually put that into my practice routine.

I'm stoked about golf again and can't wait to get back out there. Just need to get a frickin' job first. Arrghhhh!!!

Whats more impressive is that your wife lets you get away with not having a job and just playing golf all day I'm in love and havent even met her, just dont tell my wife...LOL

[bames]

Great story, and welcome. I know that nearly every time I've fallen on my face in golf, it has forced me to think about what was going wrong, and by correcting the mistake or flaw I have developed into a better golfer than previous to said flop.
I also believe that the newly obtained knowledge is crucial to problem solving in future similar cases. It is one thing to shank and not have a clew what happened, and another to be able to fix the problem.

[AaA]

I've golfed only twice and I tell her it makes me feel "not so depressed"! She's great about it, although she hates golf.

Like I said before, this will be my last round until I secure employment. Maybe it will motivate me more to find a job.

[Bravo]

AaA:

Three years ago, I decided to get lessons from an assistant pro at our place...we started the usual way, on the range where he watched me take a few swings...

Then, he stood about three feet behind me and told me to take the club back and stop. I did so and he grabbed the clubhead.

He says, "I want you to let go of the club"

I said, "Whaa"

He says "Let go of it"

I said, "Are you telling me you want to hold my club by the clubhead after I let go of the grip?" (I am puzzled as hell).

He says, "No I want your hands on the grip but I want you to let go of the club"

I am still kind of stumped and said, "OK John what's the point?"

"You are so tense and wound up you will never hit the ball with any distance or accuracy....you are wound up like a fighter...you've got to learn to get fluid"...

I am thinking..."totally weird lesson...nothing about mechanics, keep you head still, hand position, breaking wrists, hips, knees, etc".

He's trying to teach me to play by feel. I am a Type A personality and this is tough. His techniques are really strange compared to my previous lessons which were almost completely mechanical...

After about three months, I got better and started hitting the ball much longer and much straighter...

Among the tips he gave me was..."when you need to get just a little extra juice out of a shot, hold the club so lightly, that you seem to barely have a decent grip. It helps you create a "whip effect".

Some of the best advice I have ever gotten...you've got to be fluuuid to get power and hit it straight....

[bames]

Bravo, great advice - especially from one type A to another. That was something I really needed to hear.

I'm so mechanical sometimes - paralysis by analysis.

[Bravo]

Originally Posted by bames

Bravo, great advice - especially from one type A to another. That was something I really needed to hear.

I'm so mechanical sometimes - paralysis by analysis.

bames:

Another interesting lesson story that occurred a few years prior to this.

The pro at the time was a college classmate of mine. A sheer coincidence that he was on our staff...the Head Pro in fact.

He was giving me a lesson and I was asking tons and tons of questions.

At one point he says, "Shut up with all of the questions...you've already asked more than enough questions!"

Of course this is the kind of thing that friends can say to each other. There was no other member at the club he could say this kind of blunt thing to.

He recognized the same thing in me...trying to overanalyze the golf swing. Says, "John at some point you've got to learn to trust it and swing".

Then he gave me a weird but facinating factoid...

He says, "Go into the grill and look one the wall where the Club Champions are listed for the past 50 years. Very few of them are doctors, lawyers, engineers or accountants. Frankly, most of them are salesmen or have jobs like that".

I am thinking...."utterly strange"

He continues, "great amateurs are people who trust their swing and play by feel...doctors, lawyers, engineers etc always ask tons of questions during lessons and try to break the swing down into jillions of segments. They overanalyze and get too many swing thoughts. A salesman doesn't have to get analytical in his job and plays by feel while trusting his shot..."

And I have found this to be true over the years....

[DaveE]

Bravo, how long did it take for you to "let go of the club" as your pro suggested? I see some of that in myself so I'm going to give it a go.

[SiberianDVM]

doctors, lawyers, engineers etc always ask tons of questions during lessons and try to break the swing down into jillions of segments. They overanalyze and get too many swing thoughts

Well, I'm screwed.

[warbirdlover]

Me too!! What sport do we take up now?

[AaA]

Bravo:

You are so right. In my rambling, I negelected to mention just that. When you said "whipping effect" I knew exactly what you were talking about. When you're loose and can allow the club to travel freely, that is exactly what happens. The ball will go forever with such little effort. It was nice to hear your story.

[WMitch6]

AaA - I've played Elmridge. Nice open course where you can just hit it and still find it. You might want to give Meadowbrook in RI a try. It's off I95 exit 3. Basic golf on what was once a nice course, but the last I heard it was only $15 to play.

[Farquod]

Originally Posted by DaveE

Bravo, how long did it take for you to "let go of the club" as your pro suggested?

Yah, mon. I sense a Judge Smails moment, the sun glinting intermittently off the S300 shaft as it spins gracefully through a cloudless, azure afternoon sky, coming to rest finally in the [INSERT ANATOMICAL FEATURE OR MECHANICAL ACCOUTREMENT] of a well-tailored yet somewhat surprised playing partner.

Good to see you back 3A. Now get a job!

[Bravo]

Originally Posted by AaA

Bravo:

You are so right. In my rambling, I negelected to mention just that. When you said "whipping effect" I knew exactly what you were talking about. When you're loose and can allow the club to travel freely, that is exactly what happens. The ball will go forever with such little effort. It was nice to hear your story.

AaA:

Yes and very specifically, if you have a loose grip, it enables you wrists to "hinge" to a greater angle and the greater the angle at the top, the more power is created upon bringing the club through the ball. Imagine a ball on the end of a string, and how much whip action can be created, the more that you are able to whip the ball as you hold onto the end of the rope. This same concept applies to wrist hinge and when you hold the club too tight, your tendons that attach your fingers to your elbow (running the lenghth of your forearm) make it difficult to hinge your wrists comfortably. As a result of this not only do your shots fly shorter, your ability to bring the clubface back to square at impact is lessened. Loosening up your hands and upper body permit not only longer shots but straighter shots at the same time. Tension in the hands, and upper body is the enemy of a good golf swing...

Keep it up...you are learning a valuable lesson early on and once you master this, you can build other skills on this foundation....

[Bravo]

Originally Posted by DaveE

Bravo, how long did it take for you to "let go of the club" as your pro suggested? I see some of that in myself so I'm going to give it a go.

Honestly it took me about three months of working hard on it...mostly on the range.

A couple of times I went to the range with just one club and hit balls for about an hour. I started out with my old, "clenched hands" and hit a few balls and they went the typical distance. Then, I would gradually loosen up the hands more to see what effect it had on distance and direction. Finally, I did what he said when I needed a little extra distance...just barely held the club and concentrated on the "whip" down through the ball. Amazingly I found I could get up to 6-7 extra yards with a 7 iron by focusing only on this.

This has helped my long(er) irons quite a bit too on the par 3's. Our tenth is an uphill 185 yard shot to the back. I hit it regularly with my 4 iron and sometimes can get it there with my 5...

Dave...try some range time and start with your traditional grip pressure and then gradually loosen up to find the point where you are as loose as possible but can still maintain control of the club...i,e, it does not torque/twist out of your hands at impact. This is the ideal grip pressure...

The other thing I found was that a light grip pressure tends to reduce slices and blocks because it allows the clubface to square back up easier. When holding the club too hard, it is tougher to get back to square resulting in an open face at impact.