[vulikox]

So I was playing some of the best golf of my life this summer, shooting right about 80 all the time, with a few rounds here and there where I'd have a rough day. Well...now for the last month I have lost everything...can't hit one shot well. I have been shooting right around 100, so I took some time off. After 2 weeks off of not playing I decided to go to the range and not worry about swing thoughts, just go out there and swing. Well, I hit about 100 balls, and no joke...I hit 2 good balls out of those. Out of the other 98 shots, 50 of them got off the ground and I pushed them about 30 yards right, and the rest of them I hit fat, shanked, and one even just hit off the BACK of the hosel and went straight left (I've NEVER had that one happen to me before). So now here I am...I have been out of golf balls for the last 2 weeks because I lost so many during my last round out, and I don't have much extra cash to spend on a couple dozen golf balls right now because I just registered for my fall classes and have books to buy, so I'm not quite sure where to go from here. I know it sounds rediculous but I'm sure everyone has just had those days where you just want to throw in the towel. I usually keep my temper pretty well on the course or range, but tonight on the range it took everything I had not to snap one of my clubs in two because I was so angry. Usually when I can't swing well I just take some time to go back to my short irons and get a good tempo going and get some confidence up after I hit some good shots, but I can't even do that any more because I can't even hit a wedge. Even trying to hit some short half swings with the wedges were a good 10-15 yards right of my target. I obviously don't have money for a lesson because I can barely afford golf balls right now. I have had other people looks at my swing and they think it looks good, and unfortunately I have no clue how to upload a video the computer, otherwise I would upload a video on here to get some help from you. I am just so frustrated right now because there are several local tournaments coming up and I can't even play in them because I have no game whatsoever, and I'm supposed to be a 8.7 handicap (well, only because I have not entered my scores from the last month which would make that number skyrocket). I've lost my swing for a week or so before, but then it came right back. Now it has gone on for a month, and I just don't get it...

[xyupi]

When I have even the slightest problem, I seek the help of my PGA teaching pro. It takes him a matter of seconds to see what I'm doing wrong, while I have no idea. I would seek the help of a professional. You need a live person to see your swings. I like the idea of online stuff for some issues, but not with what you are saying is happening. I know there are qualified people here, but you will get too many answers and it will just make it worse.

[xtrslots]

Have you tried seeing a golf pro? I know money is kind of tight right now so I can understand why not. I think you need a second eye on this and I'm sure the answer is really simple and you just need someone else to spot it.

[Cersdog]

Sorry dude, I think we've all been there to some degree. Since it may not be financially feasible for you to get lessons, I'd suggest going back to the basics. Check everything at address (grip, ball position, alignment, etc). Then check the elements in your back swing, and so on. Sometimes it may be just a couple of small things that's throwing things out of whack. For me, hitting 1/2 and 3/4 shots helps me figure out what I'm doing wrong. Hang in there!

[Sheestgag]

Have you heard of swingacademy.com? Try uploading there.
Anyway, I share your pain. Started season off in low 80's and for about 15 rounds, never went above 85. Then, shot 80 on a very difficult course, having a chip and putt (which I ultimately botched) to break 80. After that I shot 88, 90, 97 and like yourself...100. I was at a point where I wanted to take a break. I had the advantage of lessons as I take lessons at Golftec but there was nothing really different in my from when I was playing well to then so I knew it was all in my head.
I ended up playing through it, adopting the "one shot at a time" mentality as in the past i would let one bad shot take me out of a hole and one bad hole take me out of the round. During your round what's you miss? You mentioned shanking at the range... that happening on the course too?

[vulikox]

I've tried using the V1 golf swing app on my android, and one thing I noticed originally was that I was coming too far inside on my backswing. So then I tried focusing on going straight back in my backswing, and it is pretty much impossible for me to do that without tilting forward (reverse-C as some people call it) which throws off the swing even more. I think my problem is I am too steep on my swing as well, but I try to have a wider swing and thats when I have an occassional good ball strike, but then I push it 30 yards right. I just can't figure it out no matter what I do...the other problem is that last year I looked for an instructor for a couple of lessons, and what I found is that there is no one around here that even uses a monitor. I found one instructor that uses a monitor and thats who I went to last year and that course has closed since then and he moved somewhere else. I have known other golfers that have seen other instructors around here and I have heard nothing good about them, so I don't even know who I would go see if I had the $$!

[Jxlacvio]

I would check around the local courses and driving ranges and see if any of them have a clinic they put on. I know my course has hour long clinics weekly that only cost $10. A private lesson would obviously be better but if its not possible its not possible. Maybe the pro at the clinic could get you straightened out pretty quickly.

[vulikox]

Have you heard of swingacademy.com? Try uploading there.
Anyway, I share your pain. Started season off in low 80's and for about 15 rounds, never went above 85. Then, shot 80 on a very difficult course, having a chip and putt (which I ultimately botched) to break 80. After that I shot 88, 90, 97 and like yourself...100. I was at a point where I wanted to take a break. I had the advantage of lessons as I take lessons at Golftec but there was nothing really different in my from when I was playing well to then so I knew it was all in my head.
I ended up playing through it, adopting the "one shot at a time" mentality as in the past i would let one bad shot take me out of a hole and one bad hole take me out of the round. During your round what's you miss? You mentioned shanking at the range... that happening on the course too?

Yeah it all started on the course, that is why I took a little break and then thought I'd hit the range. I had less shanks on the course, but pretty much everything was a 20-30 yard push. I REALLY wish I had a golftec around here. The nearest one is 2 hours away in Chicago.

[PerfectCreditForYou]

I don't know if it will help you, but I always return to the 3 o'clock to 9 o'clock swing with my feet very close together, if I hit 15 or 20 balls like that everything gets better pretty quickly. I usually hit at least 5 to 10 balls like that every range session. May as well give it a try, it certainly can't hurt.

[vulikox]

I will give it a try DawgDaddy, I may give the range another shot tomorrow. I am willing to try anything right now. I just spent some time recording my swing over and over with my camera and watching it back in slow mo, and no matter what I do to concentrate on bringing the club back straight I keep bringing it way inside. Its crazy. So thats probably my number one problem right there, but I can't even fix it when I concentrate on it! It looks like my spine angle is good throughout, and my transition looks pretty good, only problem is coming way too far inside. Anyone have any tips or drills to make sure I'm staying on plane?

[Sheestgag]

Yeah it all started on the course, that is why I took a little break and then thought I'd hit the range. I had less shanks on the course, but pretty much everything was a 20-30 yard push. I REALLY wish I had a golftec around here. The nearest one is 2 hours away in Chicago.

What's the flight like out to the right? Straight right or curving right? You definitely have a path / face angle problem or combo of both. Hopefully you find something in here that helps you out?
http://perfectgolfswingreview.net/ballflight.htm

[vulikox]

The flight to the right is just a straight push, it does not curve at all. If I just kept swinging like I have been over the last month I could make contact every time but it would be a push 20-30 yards right of my target. But I am trying to focus on not pushing it, which is why I am shanking so many since I am trying to manipulate my swing so much. I definitely have an in to out swing, but what is odd is that I have never had this problem before in my 3 years of playing golf. But now when I try to focus on making sure the club is straight back at 3 o'clock it feels completely awkward, and but even when I try and force that move then by the time I get back to the top I end up dropping it way inside again. I need a good drill to make sure I stay on plane.

EDIT: I see a lot of ads on TV for that dual-hinge medicus iron. Anyone have any experience with that? I have tinkered with it very briefly at Dicks Sporting Goods once because they sell them there, but they are quite expensive for a swing aid. However, if it will help get me back on plane I would do it in a heartbeat. Any thoughts on those?

What's the flight like out to the right? Straight right or curving right? You definitely have a path / face angle problem or combo of both. Hopefully you find something in here that helps you out?
http://perfectgolfswingreview.net/ballflight.htm

[inhitoemits]

I'm currently fighting a push as well, which is the result of an over the top move and subsequently 'chopping' down at the ball. Just a couple things to try that helped me in my lesson. Take a water bottle or bucket or whatever, and put it out beside you and in front to force your backswing to be a bit more upright. Turns out, my swing was too flat, leading to my over the top move. Also, stand a little further from the ball, and make up for that by bending a little more at the hips. Finally, fire the lower body first.

Those are just some thoughts from my lessons on a similar issue. Hope it helps and hope you find your swing.

[myspacepro]

One thing I learned a long time ago about myself and my swing is that I needed to establish what I now call my "Index Point" (IP).

This is a setup and swing that I know will work 100% of the time.
It's not a 100% swing (it's about 70% to 80%), and it's not going to produce anything other than a basic back-and-through motion with good solid contact and a predictable ball flight.
Unfortunately, to establish an IP you first have to be hitting the ball well with one or more clubs.
When you're doing that, take a long moment to burn a few things into your memory:
What's my ball position? Where are my feet?, Stance?, What kind of grip?, Takeaway? and whatever else you can think of that will serve as a reference point for when things go south.

When a swing goes off kilter and causes poor shots and ballstriking, it's most often a matter of fractions of an inch rather than something hugely different.
For instance, when I develop problems or glitches with my driver, I can almost always attribute them to one (or both) of two things which are; ball position relative to my left foot (I'm a righty) or ball position relative to how far I'm standing from the ball.
If I'm wiping tee shots, I'm usually standing too far from the ball. If I'm smothering tee shots, I'm too close and getting handcuffed.
If my drives go where I want them to go but with little power, it's usually because I have the ball teed too far forward.

I know how to identify all of this because I know where my IP is and when I hit two or more drives in a row with less than desirable results, I automatically go back to my IP and go through my little checklist and 9 out of 10 times I can easily find the flaw and correct it on the course. If I can't correct it, I go to "Plan B" which involves using a club that I absolutely know I can hit and for which my IP is relatively simple. For instance, if I can't fix my driver, I'll go to my 4-wood which sets up more like a mid to long iron for me and requires a very simple back-and-through swing which will get me solidly into the fairway with a touch of a draw and good enough distance to keep playing.

I have identified all of these swing keys and go-to clubs by paying close attention to things at the driving range and when I'm really "on" with a given club, I take a moment to commit as much of what I'm doing to memory as I can and I usually focus on one or two critical setup points (like ball position and rhythm) and I try to take a mental picture of what it looks like as well as a trying to memorize what it feels like.
I think of it as burning a backup disc for an operating system and I store it away for when the system crashes and then I simply load the backup disc and I can usually get things running again while out on the course or at least stabilize my game enough to finish without any train wrecks until I can get to a range and really have a look at things.

I know this is all after the fact stuff, but you WILL get things figured out again and when you do, be sure to take the time to identify an Index Point and commit as much of it to memory as you possibly can so that you'll be able to reboot when things get messed up in the future.
It's been said that the greatest asset a pro has is the ability to "fix himself" on the fly and there's no reason why amateurs shouldn't be able to do that as well.
But in order to do that, you'll first need to know how to get back to what works so that you can then fix what doesn't.

Hope this helps!

[KJnbceja]

Sorry to hear about your frustration bud I was there not too long ago myself. The only advice I can give is to just play through it. Try some rounds by yourself playing 2 balls to try and work it out. If your having money problems perhaps you should step away for a bit until your mindset is in a better place.

[neonasafluni]

I will give it a try DawgDaddy, I may give the range another shot tomorrow. I am willing to try anything right now. I just spent some time recording my swing over and over with my camera and watching it back in slow mo, and no matter what I do to concentrate on bringing the club back straight I keep bringing it way inside. Its crazy. So thats probably my number one problem right there, but I can't even fix it when I concentrate on it! It looks like my spine angle is good throughout, and my transition looks pretty good, only problem is coming way too far inside. Anyone have any tips or drills to make sure I'm staying on plane?

INgolfer: Sometimes this is an easy fix. If you have a good setup with proper shoulder plane, then doing more of a one-piece takeaway for the first 2 feet or so of the swing may help. There is an easy way to do this too. Feel like you are attaching your left bicep on top of (or adjacent/kittycorner) to your left pec. Keep those two muscles fused together in the fist part of the backswing. See if that helps you from taking it too inside.

Best of luck, man!

[ReginaPerss]

You can upload to a youtube account via your android phone. it's pretty simple and if you need help let me know.

Best thing you can do is not try and self diagnose. Usually you make a correction but it's hard to tell if you may have put a good swing mechanic at risk. Upload and video to youtube and post it in the golftec section. I know cost is an issue for lessons but also think it's definitely going to be more valuable than the medicus dual hinge. I have a feeling you can manipulate even a bad swing to get it to work properly.

[JRixlcvF]

Some great posts here, all good stuff, but a simple answer might be to check your posture and target line/club face alignment. I see a lot of guys struggle with making contact because they are off balance and fighting themselves all the way back and through the ball. The other thing I see is bad grips, every weekend I see people with a grip that is trying to compensate for bad posture, poor alignment and probably also a faulty swing plane. Good posture and a good grip cures at least half of the swing flaws that most beginners experience. Good posture alone doesn't guarantee a good swing but bad posture makes it just about impossible. The other half of the problems I see routinely are caused by tempo problems, swinging too hard which can throw upper and lower body out of synch or by trying to do too much with leg action. Too much wrist action at the top of the back swing is also a contact killer, if the club is flopping around at the top of the swing it can't get back to where you started from at address which is where the ball is. Keep wrists firm but not stiff. Simple is better and a smooth back and through from a solid starting point with minimal tension in the swing will solve a lot of ball striking problems.

[vulikox]

Thanks to some advice in the "Ask a Pro" section I have found a fix to my swing. I am back on plane, so things are looking better. It will take me a few rounds to get everything feeling natural, but my misses now are still going straight, I just catch some of them thin. I went ahead and bought some more balls now that I won't push all of them into the water or OB, so I am going to try and take it out to the course tomorrow and see how it goes. I am not expecting everything to be right back to normal since I am forcing myself to make the adjustment I need to make, but once everything starts feeling more natural everyone better watch out.

[Gosxjqum]

Thanks to some advice in the "Ask a Pro" section I have found a fix to my swing. I am back on plane, so things are looking better. It will take me a few rounds to get everything feeling natural, but my misses now are still going straight, I just catch some of them thin. I went ahead and bought some more balls now that I won't push all of them into the water or OB, so I am going to try and take it out to the course tomorrow and see how it goes. I am not expecting everything to be right back to normal since I am forcing myself to make the adjustment I need to make, but once everything starts feeling more natural everyone better watch out.

Was just about to suggest the Ask a Pro section!! Glad to hear you're getting it ironed out a bit dude.