We've launched the new forums! Read more here

I forgot how to hit a shot today.

JoeyJoeJo

JoeyJoeJo

New member
Joined
Apr 14, 2013
Messages
1,760
Reaction score
0
Weirdest thing.... I'm happy with my short game, I can typically get the job done from 70yds and in, get compliments regularly, quite proud of it really.
But I'm practising this morning, and I start squirting half and quarter wedges off the hosel, 4, 5, 6 in row.

So got the balls back and proceeded to do exactly the same.

Got them back and stopped to think about it and for the life of me, I couldn't figure out what I do when it works, I guess I'd been in that place the psychologists speak about and hitting subconsciously, trusting my swing.
Which is great, really great, until you need to figure out what you're actually doing!!

I stood over these balls, trying to swing more upright, flatter, slower, faster, different feet, different hands, different wrists, different ball position, more open, more closed, just could not get it, I hit maybe 50 or 60, 3 or 4 were ok.
So I walked away but I already have a brain worm about it, I've got a match later, hopefully a break and a session at lunch will help....
 
Been there done that...recently. My swing was at an all time high. Took off 3 weeks after daughter was born and shot 79 in my first round back, which is big because I typically require LOTS of repetition. Then out of the blue one range session I hit EVERYTHING off the hosel. I ended up having 3 sessions in a row like that. Tried changing everything you could imagine and nothing good has come. I had probably a year straight of never scoring worse than 82-83 and over the course of 2-3 months just completely lost it. For the last 3-4 rounds I'm struggling to break 90 and looking bad doing it. And like you, my swing is aesthetically appealing, where I typically get 1-2 people asking if I played in college (at the range).

Unfortunately I don't have a solution. I seemed to have lost "it" 6-8 weeks ago and haven't been able to find it. The worst part is I was blaming it on lack of practice. That excuse went out the window when I started getting my practice back but just can't hit the ball well on the course.

And to top it off, my best friend, who also had a baby 6 weeks prior, is playing the best golf of his life. Shooting lights out in the mid 70's and playing tournaments. Just a couple months ago I was regularly beating him, now he's beating me by 10-15 strokes and I'm left wondering what happened.
 
I have been there except it wasn't practicing. It was during play. This was on chip shots about 5 to 10 yrds off the green. For about 5 straight shots I was thinning them over the green. I usually play the ball off my right foot (with my feet together). I just could not figure it out until on the 6th shot I realized that the ball was more forward. I changed my position and was finally able to hit a good shot. My point is to try not to force it and relax. You will figure it out soon. It is probably something very silly and stupid. Don't let it get in your head.
 
Went through a period like this earlier in the season. Root Cause was I was wrapping the club around my body rather than taking it back and up. Once I realized this I stopped taking the club back so flat and that resolved my hosel rockets off partial wedge shots
 
I have had similar problems in my game this season as well. I've changed about every club in my bag which has part of the blame(at least in my mind) and I just can't seem to put the whole thing together except for one round in Nashville over a week ago. I'm not getting to play a lot and that has to be part of it but other than changing grips or maybe a shaft or two I think that it's time to just settle down on the changing clubs and finally find one ball to stick too. I've tried several different balls this season and I still have two favorites to play 90% of the time. It all really is the battle with the mind game that seems to have the biggest part of the problem.
 
Thanks all, good to know not just me.

I know that things will go hot and cold but to be standing thinking "how the hell was I hiitting these yesterday" was almost like I was having some kind of neurological episode!

@jlukes I hit about a hundred off my garden mat at lunchtime and I think that was exactly it. I'm only able to hit quarter shots but only a couple squirted, hopefully bigger than that will also hold up but my concern now is overthinking it.....
 
I hear ya! I dread those days, when I forget how to play a shot, or even how to swing the club. Sometimes I would just completely freeze up. Get to the top of the swing, and my mind went completely blank.
 
Had this, and it was the start of hitting some hosel rockets on full shots....

As Jlukes said, check your path on the backswing and down swing.
 
I've been there as well. a few weeks ago met up with some THPers I hadn't played with in a while, wanting to show them how much I had improved... I proceeded to play like I had never picked up a club in my life. I think that sometimes we start to overthink our swing, which has a chain reaction - one tiny over correction leads to another which leads to another, and what seems like "should" be working just clearly won't. For me, the only thing that works is having a go-to "swing thought" that is about a feeling and not about a motion. when I'm swinging well, it feels like X. so, try to make it feel like X. don't worry about what all the moving parts are doing right now, just get to X. that seems to at least stop the bleeding.
 
This happens to EVERYONE. It's called golf. That's why Tiger Woods needs a swing coach.
 
Hit a few warming up and was fine but still messed up a couple on the course, will deffo be working on it the next couple of days.
 
Im in the same boat right now. Last round didn't miss one under 100. Think I'm catching hosel too low burners too the right. Started getting frustrated so I started working on the boat.
 
This has been the bane of my Golf existence, historically. My issue is usually sucking it back too far inside - when it's a half wedge shot, don't have enough time to reroute, and you're dead. That, plus I was tensing up and not letting my wrists hinge. That was a recipe for disaster.

I spend two range sessions just working on half shots, and that's helped me ingrain the right feel. You'll get there!
 
Borss said:
This happens to EVERYONE. It's called golf. That's why Tiger Woods needs a swing coach.
Click to expand...

I agree. Golf is day to day for everyone, even the world class players.
 
I get it, it's golf, but you should be able to figure things out when they go south.
About 2 years ago I was playing the best golf of my life, especially my irons, and on the back 9 of one round in the middle of the season I lost it.
I have never been able to get back to where I was with my ball-striking since. I do OK now but the consistency that I had then is gone.
 
braddman19 said:
I dread those days, when I forget how to play a shot, or even how to swing the club. Sometimes I would just completely freeze up. Get to the top of the swing, and my mind went completely blank.
Click to expand...

moosejaa said:
I get it, it's golf, but you should be able to figure things out when they go south.
Click to expand...

I think these are closest to what I'm getting at. Weeks of hitting decent shots without thinking too much about it, a couple of bad ones and then just standing, staring, swinging, a complete blank as to what to do.
I completely accept bad days and bad shots, it's more the absolute loss of any recollection of what you actually have to do to hit a shot.

It's like getting in a car, sitting in the driver seat and thinking "right, what now??" :)
 
This happens to me at least once a round. I'll stand over a shot and say, "Something's not right." Step back and take a practice swing that feels awful. Take another one...realize I've totally forgotten how to swing a golf club. Total mental freakout.
 
It happens and like Fast Eddie Felson said "The balls roll funny for everybody now and then". When that happens to me I just don't worry. I don't go practice something that went wrong once.

Most likely like you found, the next outing everything is fine. It happens to all of us once in a while.
 
Tedfroop said:
It happens and like Fast Eddie Felson said "The balls roll funny for everybody now and then". When that happens to me I just don't worry. I don't go practice something that went wrong once.

Most likely like you found, the next outing everything is fine. It happens to all of us once in a while.
Click to expand...

This is a good thing to remember. This happened to me today, and when I tried to work on/fix it mid round, things just got worse.after the round pitched a few balls down the fairway and hit them better than I had all round.
 
Here's the thing about 1/2 and 3/4 shots, they mainly arm swings. The lower body still has to release but the same torque from a full swing is not there. So since so much arm swing is involved it's easy to get a little off and outside the line or over the top.

Keep a consistent tempo, don't lunge at the ball and trust the distance the club traveled back will produce the proper distance. The weight should distributed evenly over both feet and your body should be slightly open to your target. Do not lean into the shot to get more yardage, allow the club to do the work.
 
Been there. My first day being a member at the course, went to warm up and was squirting everything. It was so embarrassing and I had no idea what was going on. Got to the first tee nervous as hell and just grabbed a 5i hoping to put it in play. Piped it 200 down the middle and shot about my average for the round with no hosel shots. Can't explain it, hasn't happened since.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Been there, done that, particularly at last year's MC.

For me, the cause is often tension. The more you miss, the tighter you get. Try to take a breath and relax. One good contact shot often leads to another and before you know it, you can't remember how you ever had a problem. A good way to get that good first contact shot is to use more club if the situation allows. Use more club, resulting in a smaller swing and the ball staying lower to the ground. That's much easier to execute when you're struggling than a must-be-hit-perfect 58-degree off a tight lie.
 
I have found that sometimes what is working goes south if I never understood the fundamentals of a shot. I was getting very good with my nine iron into the green. Then one day I hit a great shot, right on line, and flew over the pin and landed off the green. I could no longer hit short irons or wedges no matter what I did. So I started reading and developed a proper technique for fading into the pin area. Before that I had always hit it full and hard. Now it's less than full, open stance and easy swing with control. But I had to read about it so I would have a working knowledge of what was working and what wasn't. Everyone is different, but we all need an understanding of the fundamentals. And reference material.


thegolfwit@gmail
 
Tadashi70 said:
Here's the thing about 1/2 and 3/4 shots, they mainly arm swings. The lower body still has to release but the same torque from a full swing is not there. So since so much arm swing is involved it's easy to get a little off and outside the line or over the top.

Keep a consistent tempo, don't lunge at the ball and trust the distance the club traveled back will produce the proper distance. The weight should distributed evenly over both feet and your body should be slightly open to your target. Do not lean into the shot to get more yardage, allow the club to do the work.
Click to expand...

This is something I'm definitely going to think about today - I was really inconsistent with those shots last time out. Thanks, Freddie.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top