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Hooker - Going back to my roots

Good luck Ole Gray, at first the thread title was questionable :bulgy-eyes:, but now I understand. I hope you can find your swing again and play the best golf of your life!

I can't wait for Mrs. Graybush hahaha, oh that crazy Graybush
Ole Gray said:
This golfing year has been pretty much a disaster for my golf game. I decided early in 2012 to change my swing drastically and stay with it for a year. Learning how to fade the ball was a HUGE deal for me to stick with. I had battles going back and forth between the two swings until finally I got totally out of sync. There was no trust what so ever in where to aim my shots. Nothing but uncertainty filled my mind on the tee box.

Move back a year ago and there was only one way my ball flight was going, which was right to left. Making a commitment to consistently cut the ball was a bad mistake. So in short I'm all screwed up with no consistency what so ever. I got to go back to being a hooker, so I'm signing up for lessons tomorrow (course closed on Monday) to revamp my swing, back to my natural and comfort zone type swing. Sure I had bad days with the old hook but I had many more good rounds, playing a shot that felt normal. The monster hook was what I was trying to get rid of but it only showed it's ugly head when my swing got way too fast. Most of the time when in sync, it was the baby draw and oh my goodness that sweet little thing looked and felt might good. I got to go back!

I'm going to post my progress after a few lessons. I can't wait to start the 2013 golf season back in the saddle again!

For those of you who knew her, Mrs Graybush is coming back in 2013 :D
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I understand completely, a swing in flux. Plus that bad knee keeps things in flux as well. Is anything more difficult than a hooker trying to avoid flux?

I'm kind of in the same place, trying to get back to where I was 6 months ago. The return journey is looking pretty long right now.
 
When you find what is missing from your original baby draw swing let me know cause I've lost mine also ,ha,ha . Good luck in your search for the Ol' swing back Ol' Gray !
 
Swing changes are very difficult. All that muscle memory is hard to fight. Good luck with your lessons!
 
Welcome back Mrs. Graybush! This post hits me right between the eyes too buddy, my game has become a mess, I think it may be time to get in a few lessons myself. I have become so confused about and mechanical with my swing that I cannot relax and get out of my own way.

I agree 100% with Donne, you absolutely need to go back to being the old hooker that you were :smile:
 
Lefty78 said:
I understand completely, a swing in flux. Plus that bad knee keeps things in flux as well. Is anything more difficult than a hooker trying to avoid flux?

I'm kind of in the same place, trying to get back to where I was 6 months ago. The return journey is looking pretty long right now.
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Yea you know how that bad knee can affect balance etc. It really sucks but I'm trying to hold off until age 65 before getting a total knee replacement.


Intimadator2007 said:
When you find what is missing from your original baby draw swing let me know cause I've lost mine also ,ha,ha . Good luck in your search for the Ol' swing back Ol' Gray !
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Thanks Dale Earnhardt's twin! It's going to come back because I was born a hooker :thumb:


cpljohnst said:
Swing changes are very difficult. All that muscle memory is hard to fight. Good luck with your lessons!
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You got that right! I took a year working on a fade and now it feels awkward setting up for a right to left shot. I'll get there with some lessons and practice.
 
Going back to your comfort zone. Good for you. I, also, have a draw with a 'hook' waiting for a 'way-too-fast attempt to get more' swing. I had also toyed with the idea to learn to shape my drives, but I think I'll stick with what I've got.

BTW, don't worry about the knee replacement. I had one, and may have my other knee done, too. It hurt like H*ll during the first part of the rehab. But, I can depend upon it now without being scared that it'll collaspe on me without notice. Good luck with the replacement.
 
OG, first off i wanna say i feel your pain. i played in a scramble yesterday and for the first 3 holes i struggled since i am practicing on a new swing i had to go back to my old swing to save our round. i was slicing and topping balls it was frustrating and i know how it feels to have so many thoughts in your head on the tee box or standing over a shot. I would lie if i didn't tell you i was scared about changing my swing. i am rereading a book about swing changes and how long it really takes to master a new swing and even one small part of the swing. The other thing is after trying to change my swing last winter i saw how SLOW and little progress can take place even though i put in TONS of reps and practice time working on what i needed to do. I think most people don't have what it takes to fully commit to a complete swing change. this is not a shot at you or anyone else. Honestly i dunno if i have it in me either. The amount of time i have put in and although i see a difference in the video i am still NO where close to where i need to be to move forward on my swing. i have been working on my back swing for 2 years now and i still am not where i should be to start working on another part of my swing. its almost embarrassing going to my lessons and i find myself having second thoughts on my lessons. or at least changing my swing. i don't want to end up where you are right now not knowing where the ball will go when i take a swing at the ball. its frustrating and i'm torn. but i think i will stick with it at least over the winter and see where things are once my season starts again this spring. Good luck getting things turned around i hope its easy to fix and you can start enjoying your game again. Looking forward to seeing your hooking down in Myrtle for the invitational.
 
Canio said:
Going back to your comfort zone. Good for you. I, also, have a draw with a 'hook' waiting for a 'way-too-fast attempt to get more' swing. I had also toyed with the idea to learn to shape my drives, but I think I'll stick with what I've got.

BTW, don't worry about the knee replacement. I had one, and may have my other knee done, too. It hurt like H*ll during the first part of the rehab. But, I can depend upon it now without being scared that it'll collaspe on me without notice. Good luck with the replacement.
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I really need to get it replaced now however I'm waiting on medicare to kick in (@ age 65) to supplement my retirement insurance, so the cost factor will be pretty much null. I have very little if any balance which wrecks the heck out of my swing. It's hard for me to rotate around my right side/leg, without sliding which is not good. Anyways I can live with the balance issue until I get my new knee. I just want my natural swing back so I will have a fighting chance at consistency.


Buckjob said:
OG, first off i wanna say i feel your pain. i played in a scramble yesterday and for the first 3 holes i struggled since i am practicing on a new swing i had to go back to my old swing to save our round. i was slicing and topping balls it was frustrating and i know how it feels to have so many thoughts in your head on the tee box or standing over a shot. I would lie if i didn't tell you i was scared about changing my swing. i am rereading a book about swing changes and how long it really takes to master a new swing and even one small part of the swing. The other thing is after trying to change my swing last winter i saw how SLOW and little progress can take place even though i put in TONS of reps and practice time working on what i needed to do. I think most people don't have what it takes to fully commit to a complete swing change. this is not a shot at you or anyone else. Honestly i dunno if i have it in me either. The amount of time i have put in and although i see a difference in the video i am still NO where close to where i need to be to move forward on my swing. i have been working on my back swing for 2 years now and i still am not where i should be to start working on another part of my swing. its almost embarrassing going to my lessons and i find myself having second thoughts on my lessons. or at least changing my swing. i don't want to end up where you are right now not knowing where the ball will go when i take a swing at the ball. its frustrating and i'm torn. but i think i will stick with it at least over the winter and see where things are once my season starts again this spring. Good luck getting things turned around i hope its easy to fix and you can start enjoying your game again. Looking forward to seeing your hooking down in Myrtle for the invitational.
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Buck -- It truly is a journey going through any type of swing modification where small or a total rebuild. You will know when what you are trying to change is not going to suit your style. It hit me in the head several times this year but I was determined to make it through one year and try. Maybe I should have set a two year limit on the swing change but I'm getting in the prime of my life. I want to enjoy every bit because you never know when health issue can pop up and take you out of the game.

I have some veterans affairs business today and once I get that taken care of, I'm heading straight to the golf course to line up a lesson. I just need a little jump start from my pro, to get me back to my hooking days :D. Good luck buddy with your ongoing project and remember, life is too short to fight your natural tendencies. As others have said on here and I have found to be so true, go with what you bring to the table and enjoy golf.
 
I know what it feels like to want something different OG. I play a draw as well and last year I wanted very badly to get a small fade going. Felt like maybe it was more controllable. Well I ended up just not knowing where the heck the ball was going to go. So I think now the plan is to just accept what I have and work with it.
 
Ole Gray said:
I really need to get it replaced now however I'm waiting on medicare to kick in (@ age 65) to supplement my retirement insurance, so the cost factor will be pretty much null. I have very little if any balance which wrecks the heck out of my swing. It's hard for me to rotate around my right side/leg, without sliding which is not good. Anyways I can live with the balance issue until I get my new knee. I just want my natural swing back so I will have a fighting chance at consistency.





Buck -- It truly is a journey going through any type of swing modification where small or a total rebuild. You will know when what you are trying to change is not going to suit your style. It hit me in the head several times this year but I was determined to make it through one year and try. Maybe I should have set a two year limit on the swing change but I'm getting in the prime of my life. I want to enjoy every bit because you never know when health issue can pop up and take you out of the game.

I have some veterans affairs business today and once I get that taken care of, I'm heading straight to the golf course to line up a lesson. I just need a little jump start from my pro, to get me back to my hooking days :D. Good luck buddy with your ongoing project and remember, life is too short to fight your natural tendencies. As others have said on here and I have found to be so true, go with what you bring to the table and enjoy golf.
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i may just do that OG i will give it at least this off season to see how things go.... i agree with you though i just hope this will help me become even better and more consistent if i can manage to get over the hump. Guess we will see.
 
Ole Gray said:
This golfing year has been pretty much a disaster for my golf game. I decided early in 2012 to change my swing drastically and stay with it for a year. Learning how to fade the ball was a HUGE deal for me to stick with. I had battles going back and forth between the two swings until finally I got totally out of sync. There was no trust what so ever in where to aim my shots. Nothing but uncertainty filled my mind on the tee box.

Move back a year ago and there was only one way my ball flight was going, which was right to left. Making a commitment to consistently cut the ball was a bad mistake. So in short I'm all screwed up with no consistency what so ever. I got to go back to being a hooker, so I'm signing up for lessons tomorrow (course closed on Monday) to revamp my swing, back to my natural and comfort zone type swing. Sure I had bad days with the old hook but I had many more good rounds, playing a shot that felt normal. The monster hook was what I was trying to get rid of but it only showed it's ugly head when my swing got way too fast. Most of the time when in sync, it was the baby draw and oh my goodness that sweet little thing looked and felt might good. I got to go back!

I'm going to post my progress after a few lessons. I can't wait to start the 2013 golf season back in the saddle again!

For those of you who knew her, Mrs Graybush is coming back in 2013 :D
Click to expand...

I feel your pain, Gray. This pretty much mirrors my progression from a year ago, although I don't have the luxury of claiming any good rounds with my hook - it was too drastic and uncontrollable to ever be useful. About halfway through my lessons I got to a point where ball flight was a reasonably reliable baby draw, at least with the irons. Oh, what a glorious time...having some sense of confidence about flight pattern and being able to play to eliminate half one's trouble.

I'm curious, did you have a 'signature' portion of your old swing which brought on the hook? Maybe an over the top move leading to corrections, or was your swing pretty technically solid and that was just your ball flight pattern?
 
Good luck OG. Hopefully the lessons will give you that confidence back as you stand on the tee. It's a long road.
 
Mrs. Graybush FTW!!
 
good luck, sometimes I wish I was a hooker!
 
Looking forward to following along with this. I will be on a similar plan. Ending 2011 I was very happy with my game. Made some changes to try and improve for 2012 and found my normal right to left had turned into Jake Straight. Good luck with the changes.
 
Awesome title! I also really fight a hook and last spring/early summer it got so bad that I was worthless with anything higher than a 6 iron. Thankfully lessons and a grip change have helped, but it still creeps back at the most inopportune moments.
 
This seems like exactly what happened to Martin Kaymer (except he was a fader trying to draw the ball). He had to go back to the original stuff before getting better again. Good luch Gray.
 
I read OG's first post in this thread and thought to myself "wow, that sounds like something I could write." I favor the draw much more than the fade, and it comes from the fact that I come well from the inside on my downswing. I can try to hit the biggest slice in the world (at least that's what it feels like for me) and still only hit a small fade. However, I've had too many times this year where my swing has gotten so flat that I can only hit big draws or big blocks. My coach and I are working on getting me "more neutral", but even then, I will still hit a draw much more often than a fade. I want to get like you, OG, so that I can take away one side of the golf course, especially off of the tee. I wish you the best of luck!
 
I feel your pain, OG. Ever since I picked the game back up a few years back, I always played a nice fade. Somehow, a few months into this season, I started drawing the ball all the time. I was really dumbfounded on where I picked this up from and didn't feel like I was doing anything different. It was manageable at first. And then that draw, started turning into dead low pulls and big sweeping hooks. I battled those nasty SOB's pretty much all year. In Ohio, I hit the ball really well with the driver for the most part, but I was hitting these big sweeping draws and hooks on the course. I don't mind hitting a draw, but I just wish I was a little more consistent in doing so and could at least plan for it. Now I get over the ball, and I really have no idea on how to even hit a fade, when in the past, I could hit one on demand.
 
Thanks guys and some great comments on here. I talked to my pro today and he is confident that he can get me back on a consistent ball flight relatively soon. He said that since my past strength was a draw, it would be much easier to get me back, than trying to coach someone who has hit a cut all their lives. It will be next Tuesday before we get the lessons started. I played today and hit some pretty good shots with even a few draws here and there. Sometimes I lined up for the draw and hit a big push so I definitely need some professional guidance to build my confidence back.
 
No golf today or tomorrow and starting my preparation for 2013 Tuesday :blob:! I'm excited to get this train back on the right track. I got a brand new coach who understands my goal, so no funky stuff trying to over haul my swing. I am very encouraged and ready to begin getting back to where I was. I will no doubt have to get my irons bent, to accommodate what we are working on.
 
Ole Gray said:
No golf today or tomorrow and starting my preparation for 2013 Tuesday :blob:! I'm excited to get this train back on the right track. I got a brand new coach who understands my goal, so no funky stuff trying to over haul my swing. I am very encouraged and ready to begin getting back to where I was. I will no doubt have to get my irons bent, to accommodate what we are working on.
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Really??? Did you have them bent before to promote a fade?
 
Just need to keep the hands more quiet and control the tempo
 
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