- Joined
- Jun 13, 2017
- Messages
- 8,941
- Reaction score
- 16,770
- Location
- White Mountains of AZ
- Handicap
- 18.4
So, to preface, I've been trying to hit the range at least once a week. The snow has made that difficult but if the range is open, I go. To say that I've been struggling would be a major understatement. The past two times I've been to the range, you would think that I've never hit a golf ball in my life. It has been U G L Y ugly. Topped shots, fat shots, thinned shots, slices, hooks, worm burners, the whole gamut (except for shanks, thank God).
Yesterday was the first opportunity that I had to get to the range. I wasn't real excited about the prospect because we had a chance of thunderstorms and we had 45 mph gusts before I even left the house but I knew I had to get back out there and grind this thing out. I bought enough tokens for two buckets and headed to my little corner of the range. The session started just as I had thought it would.....army golf. The worst was the fact that I was chunking the s**t out of everything (something I rarely do as I typically don't take much of a divot at all....ever). I couldn't figure any of this out. I couldn't believe that I forgot how to hit a golf ball. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm no stick but I can usually get a ball in play. Most of these shots were so awful that they wouldn't have even stayed on a golf course. My swing plane was so inconsistent that a guess was the best that I could come up with as to where the ball was going to go. I felt like I was swinging on plane but one shot left, the next right, and none toward my target flag. That's just not golf, and it's the reason I haven't played in over a month. I can't take a swing like that to a golf course. I refuse to do it to myself or any other golfer I may get paired with.
So, with my frustration level at an all time high, I set my clubs down and lit a cigarette. "O.K." I thought to myself "what can we try to just re-build"? Well, when I was learning to play this game, the person who taught me the basics started with my grip. Now, I "currently" play with an interlock grip. I have for years. It just feels more natural to me. But that wasn't the grip I was taught to begin with. I was taught the overlap or Vardon grip. I figured "what the hell. you've got nothing to lose, at this point". So, I gathered myself mentally to just start over. I laid a club down on the range (I lost my range sticks somewhere last season) lined it up to a little pitching hoop about 50 yard down range, took my "new grip" and just took some easy, even tempo practice swings. "Damn, this feels odd" I'm thinking to myself. After about ten practice swings I set a ball down and went to work. First ball? Swish, right into the hoop. "Bull****", I thought to myself. Set another ball down and swung. A yard to the right. The next, one hopped it into the hoop. "You've got to be freaking kidding me", I'm thinking to myself. I hit about four more balls toward the hoop. Not a single one was more than two yards off-line.
I'm beside myself at this point. No WAY that a grip change is going to transform my swing. NO WAY. So, I set my wedge back in the bag and grabbed my 7 iron. Now, to this point I was BARELY getting my 7 iron to bounce up to the 150 yard target green (on a GOOD stroke). I re-aligned my club on the ground to the 150 yard flag, set a ball down, made sure to focus on a nice tempo and let it fly. The sound, my goodness the sound. You know when you hit an iron flush and all you feel is the "tick" of the ball off your club (not that ugly mishit "thwack" but that beautiful "tick")? And, what's this? A divot IN FRONT of where my ball was? Well, there it was, and my ball just bearing down at the target. "That's gonna hit the God damn flag", I thought to myself. Nope. flew the green by at least 10 yards (now, keep in mind the wind that I had mentioned before. Thankfully, it was mostly at my back so it had less effect left to right). I'm in complete disbelief at this point. I continue with about 10 more balls with the 7 iron. I got a little quick with a few swings and the results were predictable but, for the most part these balls were flying right down my "intended" swing plane. My worst shots on a good swing where no more than 5 or 6 yards off my intended line. Unbelieveable. So, I grab my hybrid. Now, keep in mind, I NEVER use this club. It's nothing but a pull hook or straight push club, for me. Re-aligning my aiming club to the 200 yard target green, I think to myself "O.K., this will be the litmus test. I line myself up making sure to REALLY focus on tempo and I let it go. I freaking missile straight at the flag. Hit the green about three yards to the right of the pin and bounced over. I'm almost on the verge of new father tears, at this point. I can't even fathom that something so simple is making this much of a difference.
I start working the rest of my bag with some mixed results but I can tell that I'm getting freaking tired, at this point. I've got about 15 balls left and I haven't touched my driver, yet. So I grab some tees and tee up a ball with the driver in hand. Dud after dud, after dud. The odd thing is that during my previous struggles, the driver was the only club that I was hitting "well". Now, I can't hit a single ball with that club in my hands but, with the new grip the rest of the bag seems to be "money". At this point, I've chalked it up to the fact that I'm dead tired and I'll re-visit the new grip with the driver at the next range session but, right now, I'm walking on air about the thought that I've got something to work with that is somewhat repeatable.
So, here are my questions to the forum: Which grip do you use? Have you always used your current grip? For those that have changed grips, did it ever have THAT much effect on your game. I'm really interested to hear what grip some of our lower handicap players use and why?
TLDR version: I changed my grip, it changed my swing. Who would have thought?
Yesterday was the first opportunity that I had to get to the range. I wasn't real excited about the prospect because we had a chance of thunderstorms and we had 45 mph gusts before I even left the house but I knew I had to get back out there and grind this thing out. I bought enough tokens for two buckets and headed to my little corner of the range. The session started just as I had thought it would.....army golf. The worst was the fact that I was chunking the s**t out of everything (something I rarely do as I typically don't take much of a divot at all....ever). I couldn't figure any of this out. I couldn't believe that I forgot how to hit a golf ball. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm no stick but I can usually get a ball in play. Most of these shots were so awful that they wouldn't have even stayed on a golf course. My swing plane was so inconsistent that a guess was the best that I could come up with as to where the ball was going to go. I felt like I was swinging on plane but one shot left, the next right, and none toward my target flag. That's just not golf, and it's the reason I haven't played in over a month. I can't take a swing like that to a golf course. I refuse to do it to myself or any other golfer I may get paired with.
So, with my frustration level at an all time high, I set my clubs down and lit a cigarette. "O.K." I thought to myself "what can we try to just re-build"? Well, when I was learning to play this game, the person who taught me the basics started with my grip. Now, I "currently" play with an interlock grip. I have for years. It just feels more natural to me. But that wasn't the grip I was taught to begin with. I was taught the overlap or Vardon grip. I figured "what the hell. you've got nothing to lose, at this point". So, I gathered myself mentally to just start over. I laid a club down on the range (I lost my range sticks somewhere last season) lined it up to a little pitching hoop about 50 yard down range, took my "new grip" and just took some easy, even tempo practice swings. "Damn, this feels odd" I'm thinking to myself. After about ten practice swings I set a ball down and went to work. First ball? Swish, right into the hoop. "Bull****", I thought to myself. Set another ball down and swung. A yard to the right. The next, one hopped it into the hoop. "You've got to be freaking kidding me", I'm thinking to myself. I hit about four more balls toward the hoop. Not a single one was more than two yards off-line.
I'm beside myself at this point. No WAY that a grip change is going to transform my swing. NO WAY. So, I set my wedge back in the bag and grabbed my 7 iron. Now, to this point I was BARELY getting my 7 iron to bounce up to the 150 yard target green (on a GOOD stroke). I re-aligned my club on the ground to the 150 yard flag, set a ball down, made sure to focus on a nice tempo and let it fly. The sound, my goodness the sound. You know when you hit an iron flush and all you feel is the "tick" of the ball off your club (not that ugly mishit "thwack" but that beautiful "tick")? And, what's this? A divot IN FRONT of where my ball was? Well, there it was, and my ball just bearing down at the target. "That's gonna hit the God damn flag", I thought to myself. Nope. flew the green by at least 10 yards (now, keep in mind the wind that I had mentioned before. Thankfully, it was mostly at my back so it had less effect left to right). I'm in complete disbelief at this point. I continue with about 10 more balls with the 7 iron. I got a little quick with a few swings and the results were predictable but, for the most part these balls were flying right down my "intended" swing plane. My worst shots on a good swing where no more than 5 or 6 yards off my intended line. Unbelieveable. So, I grab my hybrid. Now, keep in mind, I NEVER use this club. It's nothing but a pull hook or straight push club, for me. Re-aligning my aiming club to the 200 yard target green, I think to myself "O.K., this will be the litmus test. I line myself up making sure to REALLY focus on tempo and I let it go. I freaking missile straight at the flag. Hit the green about three yards to the right of the pin and bounced over. I'm almost on the verge of new father tears, at this point. I can't even fathom that something so simple is making this much of a difference.
I start working the rest of my bag with some mixed results but I can tell that I'm getting freaking tired, at this point. I've got about 15 balls left and I haven't touched my driver, yet. So I grab some tees and tee up a ball with the driver in hand. Dud after dud, after dud. The odd thing is that during my previous struggles, the driver was the only club that I was hitting "well". Now, I can't hit a single ball with that club in my hands but, with the new grip the rest of the bag seems to be "money". At this point, I've chalked it up to the fact that I'm dead tired and I'll re-visit the new grip with the driver at the next range session but, right now, I'm walking on air about the thought that I've got something to work with that is somewhat repeatable.
So, here are my questions to the forum: Which grip do you use? Have you always used your current grip? For those that have changed grips, did it ever have THAT much effect on your game. I'm really interested to hear what grip some of our lower handicap players use and why?
TLDR version: I changed my grip, it changed my swing. Who would have thought?