When Your Golf Swing Goes Bad (I mean really bad)

I was having the damnest time recently with my swing – really coming over the top in a wickedly fashion and having the ball too far forward which was causing me to “flick at the ball’ with my hands, therefore, I was not getting a solid strike to the ball. The ball could have gone anywhere – and did. Some good, mostly bad.

It was really driving me mental and culminated in my breaking my driver after I slammed it into the ground in a round a few weeks ago. (see the pic below)

Actually this is the 1st time I have ever done this and not proud of it at all. It’s just what happened. So I took a few weeks off and did what any recreational player should do – go see a PGA professional.

I think this is even more critical if we don’t play on a somewhat regular basis as it is SO easy to drift away from solid fundamentals. And there are certain fundamentals we need to practice (and be reminded of) because, particularly in golf, even the smallest things will get us to overcompensate is SO many different ways.

Interestingly, what happened to me this time (and I was very cognizant of it) was my mind started to “tell a story” about what was happening. That I have a little arthritis in my right hip, I’m getting older and therefore it’s OK to lose 20 yards on your drive, that I’m just not he player I used to be, etc. etc. All nonsense – and not necessary.

It was really getting wicked. But one way to halt this dead in it’s tracks is to see a PGA pro. He immediately saw things that started to become comfortable to me – like having quite a closed stance and having the ball well forward with my irons.

Once I moved the ball back in my stance (with my short-mid irons) and got he shaft leaning forward at impact immediately the feeling of a solidly compressed golf ball started to come back. And it was IMMEDIATE. That’s how quickly a pro can help.

The other thing was opening my shoulders a bit so I have a better path through the ball. Funny, all of a sudden (I’m left-handed) I could see a new vast amount of space over my right shoulder – as previously my stance was become so increasingly closed.

Really for them, I suspect, this stuff is rather easy to see on the amateur/recreational level where things can get exaggerated very quickly. With a professional on the other hand, things become a lot more subtle as they have a well set pattern in place of solid ball striking but it’s STILL the same process – something has crept in (somehow) and it’s producing un-consistent shots.

For the pros it’s all about precision. If they are not precise in their ball-striking, they won’t get the proper distance and the 15-30 foot puts they need to make to score. And this won’t feed the family. No wonder they all have “entourages” they assemble. They need to be constantly monitored like a hospital patient.

That is really the fun and maddening part of golf right there. When you’re on the game (and controlling your golf ball)becomes a sublime experience – it’s almost magical. But when your off it’s like (as a friend once said) “hitting frogs with a stick”

So if your game starts to head South for you, don’t wait too long to see your local PGA pro. They’ll immediately come up with a plan for you and instantly stop all the nasty “brain chatter” we create for ourselves.

Although it’s always a work in progress and I’m not quite there yet, ultimately it was never as bad as I thought or was “making” it up to be. Just a few simple tweaks. Amazing.

Related posts:

1. What’s Bad For The Country Is Bad For Golf
2. Golfers and Bad Backs
3. Improve Your Golf Swing Transition
4. Improve Your Golf Swing Tempo
5. The X Factor in the Golf Swing

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