Why can't I just keep doing what works?

[bumpnrun]

I am not a feel player. I started playing a few years ago and although people tell me I have a nice swing, nothing about it feels like it happens naturally.

It seems like I go through this endless cycle of, working hard and starting to play well when I read a "tip" in a Golf Magazine or see something on TV and my swing is completely shot. It is as if a swing change happens on a subconscious level and takes weeks to undo.

Does this happen to anybody else? How do you stop it?

 

[TC]

I am much more of a feel player myself and I don't read tips or watch instructional shows. I like to simplify things, it's what works for me though. I think that if you are standing over a golf ball and you have a bunch of stuff running through your head, you're doomed. I like the mantra, KISS (keep it simple stupid)

 

[blugold]

As a person who suffered from Golf Digest's tips from the pros section, go get a lesson and practice. Practice. Don't just go to the range and launch driver after driver after driver 100 times. Take your time and switch clubs, take a breather between balls. And stop over thinking.

 

[Golf Chick]

First off, reading tips from golf digest will mess with you I just look at the pictures now I have my days where I'm spot on with my swing, and yesterday, for example, I just couldn't hit the ball if my life depended on it and I had such an AMAZING . Do you take lessons? I rely mainly on my instructor and having lessons to work on my swing. I don't bother with tips people give me or tips in magazines.

 

[bumpnrun]

First off, reading tips from golf digest will mess with you I just look at the pictures now I have my days where I'm spot on with my swing, and yesterday, for example, I just couldn't hit the ball if my life depended on it and I had such an AMAZING . Do you take lessons? I rely mainly on my instructor and having lessons to work on my swing. I don't bother with tips people give me or tips in magazines.

Thanks GC. I take a series of lessons several times a year and it always helps. I practice a lot and try to keep my mind clear on the course. I really don't feel like I own my swing yet though. There are times when it all comes together and I feel like I've got it, and then it's gone again. The temptation to try new "fixes" is hard to controll.

 

[Golf Chick]

Thanks GC. I take a series of lessons several times a year and it always helps. I practice a lot and try to keep my mind clear on the course. I really don't feel like I own my swing yet though. There are times when it all comes together and I feel like I've got it, and then it's gone again. The temptation to try new "fixes" is hard to controll.

It happens to me all the time :crying: I feel like I get it, and then I don't It comes and goes, but having an instructor make its less "down" times

 

[Golf 'N Gator]

I am not a feel player. I started playing a few years ago and although people tell me I have a nice swing, nothing about it feels like it happens naturally.

It seems like I go through this endless cycle of, working hard and starting to play well when I read a "tip" in a Golf Magazine or see something on TV and my swing is completely shot. It is as if a swing change happens on a subconscious level and takes weeks to undo.

Does this happen to anybody else? How do you stop it?

I only want swing advice from a real live professional teacher. I love golf magazine's and read Golf Week each week, but never read the "tip" type stuff. Without someone seeing YOUR swing, it is pretty hard to tell you what to change. Build your swing with a real live teacher and read with a grain of salt.

 

[the_paulo]

Its all about that control! Sounds like you've got to promise not to attempt to teach yourself. Play with the swing you bring to the course.

 

[bogey_russ]

happens to me even when i watch someone elses swing
its even worse when i play one of my brothers... that screws up my swing for weeks
i just play my own game and try not to get out of my comfort zone unless i need to

 

[jnug]

I have a suggestion that you may or may not like. Everybody is different. I would suggest that if you want to keep doing what you are doing, build your own book of swing cues. Instead of reading swing tips that seem to do more harm than good, you will end up building a book of your own swing tips that uses terms and definitions that you have determined to be effective for you. That way if your swing goes off on you, you can go to your reference guide to remind yourself of what specific elements of your swing should feel like and how they should be executed.

I am not suggesting that you avoid taking lessons. By all means find somebody that you are comfortable with and take lessons. However build your own book of terms, definitions and key elements of your swing written in your own language.

In my case my book is built around two basic ideas:
1. If I have been away from the clubs for awhile i am likely to make the same sorts of start up errors that I have made in the past. Hence part of my book is devoted to getting back up to speed after a layoff.
2. Once I have been back at it for awhile, there is a set of swing flaws that will start to leak into my swing that I need to get control of quickly before they begin to wreck havoc on me.

I wrote my book that way because I decided that structure is what would be effective for me. It includes cues to help me fix things when they have gone bad and cues to help me stay on track when I am going good.

Anyway you can structure it any way you want to and write it any way that you want to. That is one of the best things about it. Eventually it becomes a reference guide to your own swing written in your own way, using terms and definitions that trigger something that you understand immediately and that you can implement just as fast. It also in some sense becomes a history of the development of your swing.

 

[bumpnrun]

happens to me even when i watch someone elses swing
its even worse when i play one of my brothers... that screws up my swing for weeks
i just play my own game and try not to get out of my comfort zone unless i need to

That is exactly what happens. I played a round with a kid who had really fast tempo and was ruined after two holes. God forbid I turrn on the PGA tour and there is Tommy "Two Gloves" Gainey. I am done for a month.

 

[bumpnrun]

I have a suggestion that you may or may not like. Everybody is different. I would suggest that if you want to keep doing what you are doing, build your own book of swing cues. Instead of reading swing tips that seem to do more harm than good, you will end up building a book of your own swing tips that uses terms and definitions that you have determined to be effective for you. That way if your swing goes off on you, you can go to your reference guide to remind yourself of what specific elements of your swing should feel like and how they should be executed.

I am not suggesting that you avoid taking lessons. By all means find somebody that you are comfortable with and take lessons. However build your own book of terms, definitions and key elements of your swing written in your own language.

In my case my book is built around two basic ideas:
1. If I have been away from the clubs for awhile i am likely to make the same sorts of start up errors that I have made in the past. Hence part of my book is devoted to getting back up to speed after a layoff.
2. Once I have been back at it for awhile, there is a set of swing flaws that will start to leak into my swing that I need to get control of quickly before they begin to wreck havoc on me.

I wrote my book that way because I decided that structure is what would be effective for me. It includes cues to help me fix things when they have gone bad and cues to help me stay on track when I am going good.

Anyway you can structure it any way you want to and write it any way that you want to. That is one of the best things about it. Eventually it becomes a reference guide to your own swing written in your own way, using terms and definitions that trigger something that you understand immediately and that you can implement just as fast. It also in some sense becomes a history of the development of your swing.

Keeping a diary of sorts is a great idea. That way I can go back and reinforce the things that got me playing well in the first place. Thank you!

 

[bogey_russ]

the week before my brothers come to town im breaking 80 and shooting mid to low 80s
one of my brothers is a long hitter and can go low... the other has about equal distance
but as soon as we play... every shot is like a remax swing out of our shoes go for the fences until you have to putt type of round hahaha
we hardly ever break 100 against each other
so it takes forever to get the game back in shape after that
its all mental

 

[bumpnrun]

The other thing that can ruin a round is a good warm up at the range. Adreneline kicks in, tempo goes up and it take 5 holes of humiliation to slow down again.

 

[Smallville]

I'm always working on FINDING what works!

 

[T_REX]

I went through this majorly the past few months. I was at the point where I was CONSTANTLY watching golf videos, reading tips, and watching swings. Within a week I went from super hot, to ice cold. I could not even hit the ball, let alone score anything close to decent. Now, I'm nearly at the point where I was previously. I am relying more on my own feel than tips or other swings. My golf instructor helps me with the little things and corrects me when I lose my mind. The trick really is not to obsess about it. It's something that you have to feel.. Because you will never feel anything by trying to swing the way someone else does

 

[jnug]

you will never feel anything by trying to swing the way someone else does

Ain't that the truth

 

[thepete]

nothing about it feels like it happens naturally.

Well, it's not a natural motion for starters. I think my swing feels natural maybe two-three weeks per season, so I don't think you should expect it to feel natural.