I absolutely lost it today

[Highdraw34]

I thought I would share my expreince with some likeminded people. Want to see if anyone has had a day like I had today. I usually go to the range on M-W for atleat two hours and practice all aspects of my game. I have been reading 5 lessons lately and it has done wonders for my swing. I went to the range today and started with a large bucket. I hit 7-SW through about two thirds of the bucket and then I picked up the driver. I started by hitting a few good balls and then everything started snap hooking. I hit about 20 more balls with my driver to finish the bucket. My driver has been my achiles lately and it has really been keeping me from scoring. I just can't hold a fairway. I went and got a medium bucket after the large bucket and started that bucket with the driver. Nothing was conistant. Long but all over the place. I planned on hitting only ten drives from that bucket but when none of them worked out I just lost it. I was determined to fix it and two hours later I had hit about 300 drives. I bought two more large buckets and hit every ball of those buckets with my driver when that didn't work I hit every backup ball in my bag which was about fifty balls. My right arm is throbing at the elbow and I feel like I don't know what I am doing. All the other clubs are fine. I'll get back on the horse tommorrow for sure. I just wanted to rant and see if anyone else has had a similar experience.

 

[bdcrowe]

The trick here is to stop hitting, get your mind on something else, and totally forget about those balls. Seriously. This is how "slumps" start.

If you consistently hit your driver OK (better than today) then you have a decent swing, and today was the aberration. The last thing you want to do is get hung up on today, and start rebuilding a swing that usually works.

 

[ezra76]

Yes it has. Don't ever try to do that again, seriously. You obviously had a swing flaw going there. When that happens to me for a dozen or so shots I stop immediately. I hit the rest of my balls with a 1/2 and 3/4 wedge and call it a day. Don't ingrain a bad swing. On the other hand when you are swinging well, that's the time to keep going till your arm hurts.

 

[rob0225]

I'm by no means a pro, but that's probably one of the worst things to do if you have a glitch in your swing. If you can't get it figured out within about a dozen balls or so I would recommend to stop otherwise you start building muscle memory with a flaw in your swing.

Robert

 

[NBGolfer]

Yeah I have done similar things with my 3iron. Started with my GW and worked my way up and finished the bucket on my 3 iron trying to figure out why I was pushing the ball.
The bottom line is, if you have a glitch in your swing, sit back and try and fix it, but don't spend all day pounding balls, becuase your swing memory probably doesn't change from ball to ball. Just hit a few and try to work it out, if not let someone else watch your swing and maybe they can pick something out.
But my opinion is that it probably doesn't do much good pounding balls like that, other then get you more frustrate. Go back down to your 3/5 wood and hit a few with that to get back into the right mind set and then maybe move back up to the big stick, but I would def think there is no need to hit that many, becuase as your frustration grows your body was probably getting tierd as well which doesn't help. Just move over to chippin or putting and come back to it another time.

 

[SiberianDVM]

Are you sure you aren't a long lost family member? My mother's side of the family is famous for being extremely stubborn, and I inherited the trait. It's the Scots genes.

Seriously, ditto. Once you hit 5 bad shots in a row, STOP!! Pick up a different club, SWING IT waist high a few times like a baseball bat, then step up to the ball and make an easy swing. Good shot gauranteed!

Then do the same thing with the driver. SWING IT! not hit it.

 

[Highdraw34]

Good stuff, thanks. Today is a new day and I'll see how things are working.

 

[Augster]

HD,

I am doing something similiar on occasion.

I too am working on the 5 Lessons, and have never hit my irons better in my life. Total swing re-work. But with the driver, my consistancy is kaput. Snaps and occasionally fades. You just can't hit fairways if you don't ABSOLUTELY KNOW which way your ball is going to curve. Taking out half the course as Hogan put it.

The cure, I am finding, is to retard your hip movement just a little, little bit. My iron swing feels like I am starting my downswing with a good strong left hip movement to the left. (Like the bungee drawing on page 91.) With the driver, I am starting to think of a little looser elastic band, not quite so taught, and it's making my driver swing a bit smoother, without the pulls and the snappers.

Give it a try.

 

[Highdraw34]

HD,

I am doing something similiar on occasion.

I too am working on the 5 Lessons, and have never hit my irons better in my life. Total swing re-work. But with the driver, my consistancy is kaput. Snaps and occasionally fades. You just can't hit fairways if you don't ABSOLUTELY KNOW which way your ball is going to curve. Taking out half the course as Hogan put it.

The cure, I am finding, is to retard your hip movement just a little, little bit. My iron swing feels like I am starting my downswing with a good strong left hip movement to the left. (Like the bungee drawing on page 91.) With the driver, I am starting to think of a little looser elastic band, not quite so taught, and it's making my driver swing a bit smoother, without the pulls and the snappers.

Give it a try.

This is the EXACT problem that I am having. Before I started reading 5 lessons my driver swing was great. Now I have the snaps and pushes. I am going to try the retadation of my hips. Are you retarding your hip movement on the backswing or on the downswing or both? I have an tournament coming up and if I can get this driver issue fixed then I will run away with it.

 

[Loop]

Ugh....
Hogan's 5 is way overrated.
Try to synchronize your arms with your torso in the downswing.
And make sure to complete your backswing. If you fire your hips before your hands reach the top, you'll make a steep out-to-in as the hands will start from too high => Hook, pull, slice.... you name it...

 

[Ravenous Bugblatter Beast]

Don't be afraid, sometimes, to take a little break. I had a miserable day on the course 8 days ago, a day after I shot my lowest-ever 83. All last week, I didn't even practice except for some shot pitch shots and chips on Saturday this last weekend.

I didn't even take a full swing until I stepped up to the ball on the tee at the first hole yesterday. I shot 84 and had 36 putts. Funny game.