Groove YOUR Swing?

[chrisgaddy]

I've been playing golf since March of 2005. I take lessons every 3 or 4 weeks, practice often, play every weekend, and play at least 5 days a week in the summer. I got my handicap down to a 9.25 this summer but it's nearing 10 again.

Just recently I've fought the following:
pushing my knee out in my backswing
turning my shoulders around
hitting at the ball
raising up
sliding my hips
picking the club up

As I thought of these problems I got to wondering how many more problems I'll have to overcome before my swing is more permanent. I realize it will never be permanent, just somewhat reliable.

So how long did it take you to groove your swing?

 

[Fitzpatrick]

My new swing is about six weeks old, and it's getting to the point where it doesn't feel as awkward as it did at first, but my ballflight still needs straightening out. My old swing was a 'round the body one-plane deal, and it worked well enough to get me to about a 13 handicap. However, over last year, I started to hit more at the ball rather than through it, as well as digging a pool with my divot. As a result, I started to get awful tendonitis in my elbow and my left wrist got sore after about 15 holes or so and my handicap climbed back up to around a 15. This year, my pro and I are working on a more upright swing, with me swinging the club more along the target line. The biggest trick is for me to keep the clubface square at the top, whereas I have a tendency to close it, thus resulting in a hook. I anticipate several more weeks of swinging in front of a mirror and hitting at the range before things get worked out.

 

[warbirdlover]

What you are saying is understandable. I've had my current "basic" swing (only very slight modifications) for probably 20 years. Maybe the last 10 it's been "grooved" somewhat. I've played for 40. The pros and really good young players almost ALL started at a very young age and that was all they did all summer. A scratch player who taught me my swing said when he was 8 years old he would ride his bike to the golf course every day and play all day long all summer vacation (they had a special deal for youngsters I guess) and got good enough to play college golf. I didn't start until I was out of highschool, about 19 years old and then didn't get serious until a year later. I had no teacher or lessons (I didn't have much money) so didn't get help until much later. Repetition... swinging over and over and over will eventually set your swing. That's why getting initial help from a pro is so important. It's very hard to break bad habits.

 

[mont86]

Good post Chris, seems like you fix one and somethibg else creeps in,
I expect I'll always be working on fixing something in my swing.

 

[emc]

My swing is always a work in progress with lessons every 2 or 3 weeks. It straightens me out before something too major in my swing comes along

 

[chrisgaddy]

My new swing is about six weeks old, and it's getting to the point where it doesn't feel as awkward as it did at first, but my ballflight still needs straightening out. My old swing was a 'round the body one-plane deal, and it worked well enough to get me to about a 13 handicap. However, over last year, I started to hit more at the ball rather than through it, as well as digging a pool with my divot. As a result, I started to get awful tendonitis in my elbow and my left wrist got sore after about 15 holes or so and my handicap climbed back up to around a 15. This year, my pro and I are working on a more upright swing, with me swinging the club more along the target line. The biggest trick is for me to keep the clubface square at the top, whereas I have a tendency to close it, thus resulting in a hook. I anticipate several more weeks of swinging in front of a mirror and hitting at the range before things get worked out.

Were you taking lessons to get to 13? If so, was it your idea to change your swing or your pros? My Pro is great identifying my problems and I'm usually swinging well within 10 minutes of a lesson. I always walk away wondering if he band-aids me or if 2 years is really not enough time.

 

[ezra76]

Mine is always a work in progress. Never had a lesson, just trial and error, picking up tips and watching others. I started playing 3yrs. ago, I had no accuracy but would hit a few 290yd. drives per round, in the fairway, 1st month I picked it up. Drive it inside 100yds., chunk my way to a double, that was my game. I'm working on repeatability and simplification now. I really should get a few lessons but I've come pretty far on my own. Problem is I never really know when or where my swing will show up or fall apart. I'm just as likely to shoot 97 as I am 77.

 

[warbirdlover]

I'm just as likely to shoot 97 as I am 77.

ezra76

AMEN brother!! (You're not alone)

 

[Fitzpatrick]

Were you taking lessons to get to 13? If so, was it your idea to change your swing or your pros? My Pro is great identifying my problems and I'm usually swinging well within 10 minutes of a lesson. I always walk away wondering if he band-aids me or if 2 years is really not enough time.

It's kind of a bit more like what Ezra said. I was mostly trying new things over a period of time and found a swing that worked for the most part most of the time. I wasn't taking lessons, per se, but I would play a lot with my uncle, who is a 3-handicap, and I would get tips once in a while. But for the most part, I just worked things out on my own. However, I'm getting somewhat regular lessons now, as I'm rebuilding something, and I could easily ruin my game by trying to work things out on my own again, especially with this nagging tendonitis.

 

[Hangfire]

AMEN brother!! (You're not alone)

Hear hear!

 

[JEFF4i]

I've been playing golf since March of 2005. I take lessons every 3 or 4 weeks, practice often, play every weekend, and play at least 5 days a week in the summer. I got my handicap down to a 9.25 this summer but it's nearing 10 again.

Just recently I've fought the following:
pushing my knee out in my backswing
turning my shoulders around
hitting at the ball
raising up
sliding my hips
picking the club up

As I thought of these problems I got to wondering how many more problems I'll have to overcome before my swing is more permanent. I realize it will never be permanent, just somewhat reliable.

So how long did it take you to groove your swing?

I think it's safe to say that a vast majority of golfer's swings are a work in progress. Nothing static, because, few flaws, and ideas, always arise.

Also, my question is, turning your shoulders how? A strong shoulder turn is very very good.

 

[cypressperch]

Please do not take offense, but

something is pretty out of whack if we start a round and there is a possibility that we can shoot anywhere from 77 to 97. There are a few people I know who do that on purpose to improve their chances of winning in events using handicaps. I doubt if anyone who spends time here is that type of "golfer."

Many ideas come to my mind on this topic, so I am just going to start a list which others can add to.

1. I believe that a lot of instruction today (teaching pros, videos, books, magazine articles, etc.) have contradictions in them. If you are picking and choosing things from different sources, I doubt if all the pieces are going to fit. I would choose a book that has stood up well with the passing of time, and stick to that book. My favorite is John Jacobs' THE GOLF SWING SIMPLIFIED. Most would probably go with Hogans' book on the five lessons, and though I think Hogan is harder to follow than Jacobs, Hogan's book has certainly stood the test of time. A good teaching pro is hard to beat, but a poor one is not worth anything.

2. What you do on the practice tee is very important. Pick one thing to work on for each session that is new. When you think you have it down, do not stop like Nicklaus advises until you have first tested yourself. A good test is to hit three shots incorporating the new idea at three different targets from the one you were aiming at during the learning phase. Not varying targets (and varying shots too) is the biggest error in how many practice. And many are attempting to cram too many different new things in at once. If you pass the test, then by all means, do as Nicklaus says and move on to something else.

3. Develop a good pre-shot routine, and use this on every shot both on the course and the range. Develop one that gets you lined up well with good posture, that avoids taking so long that tension builds, that includes visualization, then pull the trigger.

4. Watch the ball flight on every shot until the ball comes to a stop. The Jacobs book has the best summary of the "geometry of golf" that I have ever seen. If someone tells me their ball flight, I can just about tell them what has happened in their swing to produce that particular flight. It isn't that hard, and anyone can do it. Work on the things in practice that will get that ball flight to where you want it to be. Every practice will have that purpose so you will not be just a ball beater. Twenty well thought out shots with a purpose will yield better results than hundreds of beaten balls.

5. Never give up during a round. If you can shoot a 77 and you shoot a 97, I am very confident that you have given up to do so even if you do not know it. Getting overly negative is a form of giving up, so stay positive. I gave this Walter Hagen advice to many high school golfers I coached over a thirty year period, "If your handicap is a five for example, you will make at least five mistakes in a given round. Therefore, when you make a mistake do not let it get you down, but simply tell yourself that that is one of the five you are entitled to." If you happen to birdie a hole, you get to add another mistake to your alotment. Folks, if you want to shoot a ninety and the par is 72, you are allowed 18 mistakes! The person we are talking about will not shoot 97 if they keep this in mind.

6. Get good at damage control. If the guy afraid of a 97, is trying shots out of the woods that Tiger would have trouble with, he might shoot 107 or higher. It is smart to play smart golf.

7. If you shoot a high score on the front nine, you are going to shoot a low score on the back nine. Be confident about that. It is also true that if you shoot a low score on the front nine, probablility favors a high score on the back nine. This is absolutely the probablility IF YOUR HANDICAP IS OVER SEVERAL ROUNDS HONESTLY SCORED. You must grind it out as best you can no matter what the way things have gone. I have a three handicap, the last round I had was not that good, a 79. But I birdied the last three holes to shoot that. The odds were in my favor that I would get a break and drop a putt or two, and that is exactly what happened. Having said this about probability which is true, challenge yourself on every shot, and do not think about probability unless it is to your advantage like after a bad front nine.

8. Do not think about your final score. If you can get to where your final score is like a surprise, it is a near certainty that your scores will start to be lower, provided you give every shot your best. Following a good routine insures that that will be the case.

9. Do not think about your score or anything else that might create concerns that lead to tension and/or a loss of concentration. As you approach a shot, you definitely want to start thinking about that shot, but it is near impossible to concentrate with intensity for an entire round. Your mind needs some rest in there somewhere. What if you are in one of those tournaments where people get so carried away that eighteen holes can run six hours because the tournament doesn't have guts enough to penalize slow play. And if you are a really slow player when it is your turn to play, that might be the biggest reason for your high scores.

10. Make sure that your give yourself time for a good warm-up. In your warm-up, you might want to hit the shots that you will face on your first three or four holes. Hit some pitches and chips of different lengths. Before you leave the practice putting green, make five or six three footers in a row (or whatever length that allows you to make all of them) for confidence.
If the first tee shot requires a driver, I want my last four or five shots at the practice tee to be drives.

11. The warm-up is not a learning session. It is a warm-up. It is a time to find out what your tendency is on that given day. You go with that tendency. The warm-up is preceeded by stretching and maybe some exercise to get the blood flowing. You keep this the same before every round in order to have your body in the same state of readiness for every round. The idea being that the more consistent you are with everything involved in playing golf will improve your scoring consistency.

Good grief, that is more than enough to start. Sincerely, Cypressperch

 

[ezra76]

I carry too much baggage around in my head. Hit a drive OB, make a 7 or 8 on a 5 and my round is blown. I get frustrated, miss chips, miss putts just plain lose focus. To compound matters I start playing hyper-agressive to try to make up for a triple. Next par 5 there is no doubt in my mind, hit it as far as I can on the most agressive line and go for it in 2... another triple and here comes that 97 round. Now when I'm playing well I tend to play less agressive, play for par on the tougher holes. I may hit 3W or even 5W off the tee on a par 5, planning on 2 shots and wedge, almost a guarenteed par. Funny thing is that a large percetage of my low 80's rounds contain no birdies. Just half par, half bogey golf. That gets boring though, who wants to hit a 5W 230 dead center when there is a 307yd. drive somewhere in the 'ol bag of tricks.

 

[demon]

My new swing has been in play for about 17 years but I have been playing for 29 (now 35). This is when I really started getting into golf and went from about a 12 - 15 handicap down quickly to a 2 in about 2 years, then in about 4 years after that I hit +2. My swing is ingrained in my head and is automatic, the only problems I get is transfering my clubhead through the ball faster than my lower body. I had a regular swing coach when I was in San Jose CA and he had a nationwide tour players under his belt but I felt I could do better on my own with a video camera. It is hard finding a top notch swing coach that isnt very expensive. Havent had a lesson in 5 - 6 years and still maintain a +2.xx handicap oh, and I never have taken a lesson on wedge work or putting since my high school golf team coach gave me a few.

 

[cypressperch]

Ezra76, almost every thing that I wrote

will not apply to you. Man, you are a gambler to the core. I sense that you wouldn't mind shooting a hundred the round included an eagle in there. I had a lot of high school golfers (Yes, some might have been HIGH--school golfers.) that played that free wheeling way. Only problem is that I would be lucky to have four good players and the TEAM that won had the lowest total of the team's best four of five scores. If one of those gamblers lost a few gamblers, the whole team suffered. There were championships lost over those years by just one golfer trying to pull a shot out of his azz for possible individual glory. Consistency works wonders in team golf. The American Ryder Cup team may have a problelm in this area, who knows?

I would be a liar if I said that I do not "Go for it" from time to time. I never punch the ball back into the fairway from the woods without first looking down the line to the green and UP to see if there is a fairly big hole up in the trees. By hitting so many of those kinds of shots, it has almost become a good percentage shot. A knock-down type of shot with a four iron played in the back of the stance can go very straight and low and save well over a hundred yards over the safe punch to the fairway. But there are so many variables like water and sand at the end of those gambling type shots. If a punch out leaves you at 140 yards out, a nice eight iron and you are putting for a four from perhaps closer to the cup than if you had to hit your third from a hazard or deep bunker after threading a needle from the woods.

For the person who simply wants to consistently score at or fairly close to his or her potential, I will stand by what I have written. Some of you young high school or college players keep those things in mind about how your actions can determine the team's chances. Incidentally, I know college coaches who will not touch a gambler with a ten foot pole. Those coaches who will go with a gambler type will do so on a conditional basis. They will explain the team concept once or twice, and if you want to keep that scholarship, you had better follow that team concept!!!

Sincerely, Cypressperch