Golf Swing Issues...
by Gary
(Illinois. USA)
I was completely comfortable with my swing at the beginning of last season.... flatter then normal and standing a little further away from the ball. It worked well for me and I was a 6 handicap.
Well, I took a lesson to have a look at something and ended up screwing up everything!
Since then I have battled all year to gain my consistency back. Every time I went to the range I was dead on with striking and swinging, not really paying attention to what I did or changed. Then I would go out and try to mimic what I did on the range and nothing felt the same.
I feel my swing is very inconsistent and taking a bigger back swing then usual. My wedges pop up, (I think my down swing is too steep on a straight line back to the ball) and I am all over the place with my mid to higher irons. I used to be very consistent in this area.
I have been reading a few tips and trying to keep it simple. Recently, I read a great tip by Anthony Kim to keep your swing consistent. He suggests the following:
Too keep your swing consistent, imagine/or pinch your elbows together like they were tied with a rope, and keep that triangle/pendulum constant throughout your back swing.
I need something to keep my swing consistent throughout my iron play, and something that will be easy to remember to clear my head of a bunch of stuff.
Do you have any thoughts Louis?
Gary quoted:
Every time I went to the range I was dead on with striking and swinging, not really paying attention to what I did or changed. Then I would go out and try to mimic what I did on the range and nothing felt the same.
Louis’s Answer:
Gary, this is the very reason I decided to write an ebook on how to take your game from the practice range to the course. I hope to release it by end of March 2010.
In the meanwhile I can give you some answers to this very common problem.
You need to be mentally in a “playing golf ” frame of mind when you go to the range and not in a "practice hitting balls" mode. There is a huge difference in the two mindsets that play havoc with your mind.
A “hitting ball”s mode will make you better at hitting balls but not at playing golf! Replace the words “driving range” with “golf course” in your mind because practicing is playing golf, it is not practice! This is most important to understand.
Here are some tips to help you get into the “playing golf mode” when you go the range.
As an example, if you go the range for an hour then divide that hour as follows:
1) 20 minutes for maintenance practice. Immerse yourself in skill improvement, be fully focused the same way you would be when playing.
If you were asked what you are working on, what would you say?
Just hitting balls? Or, I am working on my takeaway speed!
Make this practice session more difficult and focused than an actual play situation.
Playing golf and practicing it demands physical, emotional, mental, and social focus and a good spirit for the game itself. Immerse yourself into it.
2)Prepare to play – (20 minutes) Here, you want to simulate actually playing golf. After all that is why you are at the range right! The more emotion you can put into this area the more you will improve on the golf course, although you are not on the course!
Change clubs and your targets all the time.
Most sports are practiced and simulated like you were actually playing the game. Baseball, football and hockey come to mind, but golf is practice away from the golf course. This makes it harder to simulate actual play conditions.
Next you want to learn and tune into new skills as part of your maintenance practice Example, play the flop shot correctly.
3)Lastly, (20 minutes) specific practice involves simulating shots that will be required on a particular style course you will be playing. Alternately, there may be certain shots you guess at playing and never pull them off. Draws and fades for example. At some major tournaments putting and chipping simulation is vital to deal with quick greens and severe rough conditions.
Don't forget the short game. You should be spending most of your time simulating all kinds of short shots.
Introduce a gap between the shots you hit. This simulates actual play conditions. When you on the range the tendency is to hit one shot after another. On the golf course you only have one chance to pull off a particular shot and there is a consequence to that result. In practice those gaps between shots are important.
Practice like you are playing golf, physically, and mentally. The quality of your practice will improve if you approach it differently and that is more important then the quantity of balls you "hit"!
Gary says:
Recently, I read a great tip by Anthony Kim. He suggests the following:
Too keep your swing consistent, imagine/or pinch your elbows together like they were tied with a rope, and keep that triangle/pendulum constant throughout your back swing.
Louis reply
This is an excellent tip, Ben Hogan said the same thing in his book The 5 fundamentals of modern golf, but keeping the arms together in the swing is overlooked by a lot of golfers. What is meant by this tip, is to help you to keep your arm swing and body turn in sync with one another.
The hands, arms and shoulders should move together in the back swing and then they will most likely stay together in the down swing. This gives your hands added support and momentum to hit the ball. The best is, this in sync move does not need huge effort, only good timing.
With the arms/elbows staying together in your swing you will have a less chance of over swinging the arms, and the together feeling will automatically keep the shoulder turn in sync with the arms.
I always say, stay with what works and don't change much unless it really does not work anymore.
I trust my answers have been helpful!
Good luck, and thanks for your contribution.
