We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Do you notice what you are doing wrong when you don't strike the ball well?

Luchnia

Luchnia

You will never conquer golf.
Joined
Jan 8, 2020
Messages
5,940
Reaction score
3,945
Location
Virginia
Handicap
14.5
My buddy started off good the other day but his game fell to pieces after about the 6th hole. I had a few rough holes, but all in all my game is starting to be fairly consistent. When it isn't I am getting to the point where if I simply think a bit I can figure out what I am doing wrong, although not all the time. Normally once I get home and think through my errant shots, I figure out what I did wrong.

I had a few chunked mid to long irons last weekend and after some thought I realized I was putting a bit too much pressure on my back foot thus the chunks. Before I could not really self evaluate what needed changing. I had two chunked wedge shots and realized I did not compensate for the lie angle and pressure on lead foot.

It seems so many guys like my buddy simply cannot tell what is causing what. Is it possible to know your swing well enough as an amateur to know what needs a quick change to correct something? I am hoping to prove to myself this can be done and possible be done while you are playing. Maybe I am being way too optimistic :cool:
 
it depends on the miss, but mostly yes. Now if I can adjust to it quickly enough is a different story.
 
Noticing what you are doing wrong and correcting it can be 2 different things. This is where my game falls apart.
 
I will give you another example that I was able to catch on the course the other day. I had a few errant drives and it dawned on me that I had changed my pre-shot slightly. I went back to my proper pre-shot setup and all was well with the world again. I just hope I can continue to take this type of thing to the course. I have not been so fortunate in the past to catch things that quickly.
 
No, I cannot self diagnose my mishits just yet. I think this will come with more experience and some coaching as well.
 
I usually can, but if I can't I just try to get the ball in the hole the best that I can and sometimes it just comes around by doing that.
 
since I got my gc2 launch monitor I would say yes. I know when I never struck a ball well if its going to slice or hook, or was heavy, thin. I practice a lot by hitting a shot and guessing the ball flight before I look at the screen. And after I can look at the numbers to see how much of something I did or didn't do. Best purchase I've ever made for golf products period!
 
Being able to self-diagnose problems is a huge benefit, especially if you can adopt a "fix" on the fly, or have a go-to swing or reliable method to fall back on (e.g. I will choke way up, take an extra club and swing 75% when things are shaky; I can't mess up too badly and sometimes start playing very well that way).
 
I keep wondering if tempo and rhythm are the tough ones to correct. My rhythm and tempo seemed to be off one day and I still played well, but for some strange reason I could never get it back even though I was well aware that it was off. It was even off from the driver down to the putter too. The "sync" simply was not there. I am guessing that was something going on with my internal tempo clock that day.
 
I've been playing a long time, so usually I can figure out where I went wrong. I tend to sway when I get tired which affects me late in the round, so I've been trying to prevent that with pre-swing thoughts. I am heading to a golf school, so hopefully they can give me some tips on how to get more consistent and get me over a hump.
 
Generally yes. Most of the time I know at impact. There are some shots where I am at a loss for the impact specifics but usually the big picture is that I did something silly.

I've been hitting frequently this winter on GCQuad. Putting on the dots, I have been able to better translate feel to the nitty gritty. That has been brilliant info for me.
 
My issues usually come from a mental space. Take my winter sim league for example. First eight weeks I played down to a +2 handicap (I'm a 12.7 outside so if lie never mattered and anything inside 4 feet was a gimme, damn I'd be good :ROFLMAO:). These last three weeks have been like I'm a completely different golfer. I'm putting good swings out there but I have it in my head before we even start that "I hope this isn't a bad week". I'm losing from the start and just need to clean up my mental attitude quite a bit. My mental issue is that playoffs were coming soon and I didn't want to miss out on them so I started changing things that never needed changing.

I've always had mishits and stuff as everyone does and I usually know what's going wrong. My issue is not letting those things get in my head and make me change my swing for no reason which ends up compounding my mistakes
 
Most times, yes. I can tell by the ball flight and direction.
 
yes and no. what did I do wrong? usually. like, "I hit that one off the toe" or "got ahead of that one." the why is what I think very few of us can accurately diagnose.
 
I wish that I did notice something when I made a bad shot.
In the past, it was lifting my left heel on my backswing.'
Once I consciously made sure that I was keeping the foot flat, the reason for the bad shots became a mystery.
 
Probably not, and I think most that do are wrong about the fault, it's very difficult to self-diagnose a swing because most have many issues, so saying "I did this" may really be a symptom of another fault, golf is hard.
 
Using my phone to record myself swing at the driving range last year really helped. Watching the video back at home I could compare the good drives with the super slices and see the differences in the swings so I knew what to focus on at the next range session.
 
Very much depends on the miss. With the dreaded slice off the tee it could be a million things and the danger is trying to tinker with things out on the course. If a tiny grip or alignment change doesn’t sort the problem then it’s probably not going to be my day.

With irons I have a terrible tendency to stand up through the shot rather than keeping in posture which causes all sorts of problems. I’d that happens then just concentrating on posture tends to sort things out.
 
yes i can feel it when i miss hit or keep the face open / closed usually take a stroke or two to correct it thou :(
 
Sometimes it's something simple and I can diagnose and correct it mid-round. But unless it's something obvious, I'm really, reeaalllyyy reluctant to start diagnosing and trying to fix my swing during a round. I start overthinking/overanalyzing, and things go even further downhill.
 
Usually yes. My bad shot is a low left hook. It’s often when left hand creeps into a strong position. My posture can also get a little sloppy which can affect my strike. Fairly simple fixes generally.
 
not normally.
 
95% of the time when I mishit a golf ball it is because I've gotten to quick with my tempo. I have to keep reminding myself to slow down. Sometimes though it's like trying to stop a moving train. :LOL:
 
I know what the miss is, but cannot always diagnose what is causing the miss. I fought heel strikes for over a year and finally, a friend diagnosed it, after I had gone to multiple coaches/instructors. Now I know what is causing it and feel that I can at least partially, if not fully correct it mid-round.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top