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Just completely lost... time for a break?

Jzier139

Jzier139

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New Jersey, United States
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8.0 GHIN
I'm in the midst of the worse golf I have played in 2 years. I'm pretty sure it's 90% mental which is causing 10% mechanical issues.
It started 6 rounds ago when I was a chip and putt away from breaking 80 for 1st time and instead, thinned a 20 ft chip 30ft past hole and ended with exactly 80. Then, 2 rounds later my brand new Vr Pro driver breaks and hence the repair nightmare I explained in the thread I started "Broken Nike Vr Pro Driver". Ever since putting the VR driver into play I was longer and more consistent with driver than ever before. I went from using 3wood almost all the time except on holes where it was absolutely necessary to pulling driver on holes I should have taken 3wood. This ne found love affair and confidence with driver trickled down through the bag and even putting.
I'm still without the Vr Pro and have been forced to bring back my TM R9. Instantly the old driver game returned and that new found confidence went bye-bye. Don't get me wrong, I am not making excuses and saying it's all due to the driver issue, I'm definitely not because I have absolutely no idea what it is. All I do know is irons shots that I was hitting flush... I'm hitting thin, fat and off the heel. Sand shots I walked up and stuck I now blade or flop just out of the bunker. Putts i was draining... I'm not standing over scared to pull the trigger on. The rounds are getting drastically worse too. At first I went from 82-85 to 85-88 to 97 and yes...100!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Finally my question... has anyone ever just gone from doing everything right to being absolutely lost and if so what did you do to get back on track? You guys suggest playing through the agony or taking a break and stepping away for a while?
 
I have never gone through rounds where I did everything right, but have had many a bad stretch. Heck I do it frequently. I just move on past it. Its something I guess I do rather well. To me every shot is independent of itself. So no matter how bad one is, the next is different. I have never let a bad round affect me and really never let a good round affect me either.

I have played for too long to realize just easily I can go 35 on the front and 55 on the back or vice versa.
 
I have had some struggles recently myself. Bad rounds with putting about a month ago but got that fixed...then it's irons....now it's getting off the tee. Just like you have to forget about a bad shot, you have to forget about a bad round. Are you taking the time to go to the range and try to get it sorted out? That has helped me multiple times lately.

You can obviously play well if you are close to breaking 80...just don't sweat it and look at the next time out as a new opportunity. May not break 90 next time out but take one shot at a time and don't harp on the bad ones - IT DOES NO GOOD.

Best of luck in getting it straightened out!!
 
My personal experience is that when my swing is off like you are describing (hitting thin, fat, off the heel, etc.) that a 10 day break can do wonders. Also, just curious if you are having any physical issues right now - in particular your back and/or neck. Seems like when my swing is out of whack, that it all stems from my back, which limits my shoulder turn, and things go south from there (for me).

Good luck getting it all back. One thing I know from experience is that it WILL come back.
 
Oh yes, I've been there! The more I push, the worse I get. When I'm relaxed I play so much better. I've had many set backs as I have taken lessons and feel like I have to start over at times. My handicap went from 24 to 12.9 and back up to 17.9 and is now back to 13.8. I've been on a big roller coaster. It's a process for sure but don't give up. Your game will be back. I'm just going to let the process happen no matter how long it takes. I'm not giving up. There is always something in my game that is improving and something that is "off" but I'm hoping eventually I will figure it out enough to be more consistent. A little break always help clear the mind. If it was easy it would be too boring!
 
i have been there this year as well, just stick with it and your swing will return and your luck will change for the better.
 
Remember that thread a few weeks back about math? You only need to be off a little to make it a lot 200 yards out. Muscle fatigue, soreness, hell, a blister on your big toe can cause a swing difference. There are so many factors that we take for granted that can cause swing problems. As stated, back, shoulder, and neck are the biggies. Try taking a break and practice chipping and putting for a week. Then go shoot a low round!
 
I'm going through a really bad stretch myself. I wish I could say it doesn't affect me but it does, a lot. I don't enjoy golf when I don't know where the ball is going. I was playing pretty decent, low to mid 80's and then took a lesson and I've been screwed up since. I went from playing by feel to being mechanical. I'm so inconsistent now its not even funny. I'm trying to work through it. I wish you luck with your off spell.
 
I'm finally seeing the light after MONTHS of what you're going through. At one point, I'd go to the range for a long session, and go from really striking the ball well to shanking everything until I gave up and left. For me it was a couple things. Overanalyzing. Swing changes that aren't necessary. Timid swings. Bad swings..

So far the best thing I did was take a lesson. Having a PGA pro tell me some of my errors really gave me the opportunity to focus on my legitimate errors and ignore the rest of my game, giving my natural swing a chance to get back into form. Loads of range time made the difference I think, along with just committing to the swing you know you've got.
 
Dude I am in the exact same boat as you. I started out this year shooting around my handicap or better (40-41 for 9 holes). Then a few weeks ago I had like 4 rounds in a row where I shot over 60 for 9 holes. Then I found my swing again, parred 14 holes in a row in 2 separate 9-hole rounds, and was shooting 38-41 each time I played 9 holes for like 2 weeks. Now for the last week I lost it again, and I'm shooting around 50. I went from hitting every fairway in league one week to not hitting a single fairway last week, and yesterday I only hit 2 fairways, with several sh*nks throughout my round. I keep trying to put it behind me but I just can't figure it out. Its like I find the perfect groove again, and then 2 rounds later that swing quits working for me. But I feel like I'm doing the exact same thing I was doing before when I shot great. It sucks because I was planning on doing an Amateur tournament next month and I was pretty confident I would win but now I don't know if I should waste my time with a $150 entry fee. ARGH!
 
Hey Brother, It could be alot of the stress of the new addition. Extending your family is no small thing on the mind. It didnt matter if it was the 1st or my last kid. Stress of that and the job ,i was lucky to remember how to spell my name. Your game will come back. Clear your mind.....
 
JB said:
I have never gone through rounds where I did everything right, but have had many a bad stretch. Heck I do it frequently. I just move on past it. Its something I guess I do rather well. To me every shot is independent of itself. So no matter how bad one is, the next is different. I have never let a bad round affect me and really never let a good round affect me either.

I have played for too long to realize just easily I can go 35 on the front and 55 on the back or vice versa.
Click to expand...

Even when I'm playing well that's one of my achilles' heel(s). Even in this bad stretch, just last Friday I was +1 through 7. Snap hooked one OB left, 2nd into sand which came to rest against the lip (frustration level rising), 2 sand shots and 2 putts later I'm now +4. Double the 9th because mentally I'm still on the 8th tee box watching my snap hook and well the end result was an 88, my (at the time) high round since last June.
 
wcueb923 said:
Hey Brother, It could be alot of the stress of the new addition. Extending your family is no small thing on the mind. It didnt matter if it was the 1st or my last kid. Stress of that and the job ,i was lucky to remember how to spell my name. Your game will come back. Clear your mind.....
Click to expand...

Wish it were that simple... the course is my escape. Can honestly say all I think about out there is golf.
 
Canadan said:
I'm finally seeing the light after MONTHS of what you're going through. At one point, I'd go to the range for a long session, and go from really striking the ball well to shanking everything until I gave up and left. For me it was a couple things. Overanalyzing. Swing changes that aren't necessary. Timid swings. Bad swings..

So far the best thing I did was take a lesson. Having a PGA pro tell me some of my errors really gave me the opportunity to focus on my legitimate errors and ignore the rest of my game, giving my natural swing a chance to get back into form. Loads of range time made the difference I think, along with just committing to the swing you know you've got.
Click to expand...

In addition to what I originally posted, during my golftec lessons we've been working on shortening my back swing. I'm not John Daly long but they want me shorter than I am, I tend to sometime scross the line. Since then ball striking is horrible. After Monday's stellar 100 I called my instructor there who we've become great friends and he stayed until 8pm so I could come in. The sudden hooks was of course due to me all of a sudden swinging outside-in. Why all of a sudden?...explanation I got was with the shortening of the back swing I have less time to let the club loop inside thuse I have to exaggerate it more than I was prior to the change. After just over an hr I was back to inside-out 4-6 degrees. Today... no more hooks but everything else was still poor.
 
RadRob said:
My personal experience is that when my swing is off like you are describing (hitting thin, fat, off the heel, etc.) that a 10 day break can do wonders. Also, just curious if you are having any physical issues right now - in particular your back and/or neck. Seems like when my swing is out of whack, that it all stems from my back, which limits my shoulder turn, and things go south from there (for me).

Good luck getting it all back. One thing I know from experience is that it WILL come back.
Click to expand...

I have a compressed disc in my neck but it's nothing new since it was caused when I rolled my truck at age 17. Stiffness, need to crack, etc is not anymore than it was when I was playing well. Funny thing is a end of last year it flared and I went to got adjusted... according to chiropractor, both hips and shoulder were "out" as he put it and he adjusted my upper, lower and mid back as well as my neck several times each that session. I felt awesome and figured it would aid in better play... nope... played poorly for about a month. Ironically, I went back for an adjustment 3 weeks ago. Guess I'm "bassackwards" and play better all jacked up
 
mcook77 said:
I have had some struggles recently myself. Bad rounds with putting about a month ago but got that fixed...then it's irons....now it's getting off the tee. Just like you have to forget about a bad shot, you have to forget about a bad round. Are you taking the time to go to the range and try to get it sorted out? That has helped me multiple times lately.

You can obviously play well if you are close to breaking 80...just don't sweat it and look at the next time out as a new opportunity. May not break 90 next time out but take one shot at a time and don't harp on the bad ones - IT DOES NO GOOD.

Best of luck in getting it straightened out!!
Click to expand...

I have a net and launch vector x launch monitor in garage and am golftec 1-2x week. Both yield positive results. Why i'm convinced its mental
 
Jzier139 said:
In addition to what I originally posted, during my golftec lessons we've been working on shortening my back swing. I'm not John Daly long but they want me shorter than I am, I tend to sometime scross the line. Since then ball striking is horrible. After Monday's stellar 100 I called my instructor there who we've become great friends and he stayed until 8pm so I could come in. The sudden hooks was of course due to me all of a sudden swinging outside-in. Why all of a sudden?...explanation I got was with the shortening of the back swing I have less time to let the club loop inside thuse I have to exaggerate it more than I was prior to the change. After just over an hr I was back to inside-out 4-6 degrees. Today... no more hooks but everything else was still poor.
Click to expand...

You have a swing video? I don't get all this talk about shortening a swing.. I tried to do it a couple times and it turned into a serious of violent slices and one cranky Canadian.
 
Canadan said:
You have a swing video? I don't get all this talk about shortening a swing.. I tried to do it a couple times and it turned into a serious of violent slices and one cranky Canadian.
Click to expand...

 
a lot of people have given some good input, but here is something i got from alex cejka last week when i had time to catch up with him in memphis. my biggest issue has been the fact that when i am playing in a tournament that doesnt matter much or even just casually, it seems like shooting a couple under par is like a walk in the park. college tournaments and us am/open qualifiers are a different story. not that i end up way off the map scoring wise, but i have trouble getting a hot start and usually have to dig myself out of a 3 over through 3 kinda situation. i asked him how the pros are able to take the focus from the warmup to the course or maybe find the zone right from the get-go. his response was something everybody can find some value in. he told me that a lot of the guys warming up before they tee off on tour are just getting loose, talking to one another, and maybe even goofing off a little. what i often forget is that its called warming up for a reason. its simply to get your body stretched up and ready to go attack 18 holes, not a situation in which you must pull off every shot. that helped me a ton because i have always been anal about warming up for a certain period of time and i always based my attitude on how i was hitting the ball on the range. now i have found relaxation in warming up and try to just keep it light and harmless.

this advice might be good for you because all of us struggle at some point, and golf is just a game. its meant to be fun and owes us nothing. sometimes its easy to get finnicky over the little details and try to be too perfect and precise. a good friend of mine playing on the nationwide tour, Roberto Castro, once told me a story about how he shanked the ball on the range for about 30 minutes then went out and won a tournament. it was because he wasnt worried about it and had confidence in the fact that he is a great player. a lot of times just letting loose and focusing more on your state of mind than how your hitting it is the key
 
I agree that it sounds as if it's mostly mental. You seem to assign too much to the bad shots and not nearly enough to the good. I get the impression that as you're going along well in the beginning, you're just waiting/expecting something bad to happen. When it invariably does (it's golf, afterall) you seem to mentally check out a bit, accepting your fate as you wallow in frustration.

I'd suggest you try to do something to short circuit the negative thinking. Play a round or a few without keeping score. Bring a camera. Rather than your goal being to make perfect golf shots, try to make perfect golf shots of a different kind. Try to capture the essence of the game. Allow your mind to wander toward the landscape, nature, your surroundings. Get over your ball, concentrate, try to hit your shot, sure. But make your main goal something else. If you can't make yourself care less, try to make yourself care more about something else.

I've done this very thing and was amazed by the results in my game. Once I tripped the circuit, I was able to get back to the way I know how to play, everytime.

Good luck.
 
Well... Heading out there again today to see if I can put an end to this bad golf play. Playing with my Golftec coach who I've become good friends with. Hopefully he see's what I've been missing.
 
Good luck jzier, let us know how it goes.
 
I feel your pain man. I am going through an awful stretch of putting right now. Cannot get a ball even close to the hole. I'm just going to grind it out and keep practicing. Bad golf is much better than most everything else
 
I've been golfing for 35 years and in those 35 years, I've dicovered that golf can often be day to day as far as playing good goes. We all have high and lows. I found out a long time ago that I was never going to be Arnold Palmer.

If your index is correct, you will play slightly above it most of the time. Every now and then a great round will show up and I just smile a lot and enjoy it when it comes, while at the same time, I never let the bad ones get me down because I know that most of the time I'll play to or be close to my index and that is good enough for me.

I would never think about laying off. I just go play and play through the down days. It always turns around. Keep playing!
 
Got back on the horse today... 81 and I left a few out there. Course actually ha aerated greens on the back 9. Aerated greens in June?!? Oh well!
 
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