[AngelinaLip]

I am in the middle of a major swing change.

When I started playing 9 years ago, I hit consistent slices. Over time, with practice, I was able to hit the ball straight. I then decided I needed to develop a draw since I could already hit the fade on command. After months of working on it, I was able to hit really nice draws.

A few months ago, I realized I couldn't hit anything but draws and when they went bad, I hit snap-hooks or dead pulls. I decided to revamp my swing to get a more neutral swing. My eventual goal is to be able to hit straight shots and still work the ball a bit both right and left. I also want to make my swing more fluid.

It has required a lot of work, but I have reached the point I can hit it just like I want at the range. I am now trying to take my new swing to the course, but it is difficult. One misstep and I revert to my old setup and swing. I feel caught in the middle. It is frustrating.

Can anyone give me hope? Has anyone else gone through this? How long did it take to ingrain the new swing?

[Feflyinvelf]

I am in the middle of a major swing change.

When I started playing 9 years ago, I hit consistent slices. Over time, with practice, I was able to hit the ball straight. I then decided I needed to develop a draw since I could already hit the fade on command. After months of working on it, I was able to hit really nice draws.

A few months ago, I realized I couldn't hit anything but draws and when they went bad, I hit snap-hooks or dead pulls. I decided to revamp my swing to get a more neutral swing. My eventual goal is to be able to hit straight shots and still work the ball a bit both right and left. I also want to make my swing more fluid.

It has required a lot of work, but I have reached the point I can hit it just like I want at the range. I am now trying to take my new swing to the course, but it is difficult. One misstep and I revert to my old setup and swing. I feel caught in the middle. It is frustrating.

Can anyone give me hope? Has anyone else gone through this? How long did it take to ingrain the new swing?

Do you have your swing on video and is there a way to link it so we can see it?

[MadMark]

Are you using a pre-shot routine for all your shots? When at the driving range are you aiming at a target? Every time I hit a crisp shot that does not go where I wanted it to go, it is usually caused by a poor pre-shot routine, and/or alignment problem.

[Tribas4u]

Are you doing this on your own or under the vision of an instructor?

[LeslieMoran]

I am in the middle of a major swing change.

When I started playing 9 years ago, I hit consistent slices. Over time, with practice, I was able to hit the ball straight. I then decided I needed to develop a draw since I could already hit the fade on command. After months of working on it, I was able to hit really nice draws.

A few months ago, I realized I couldn't hit anything but draws and when they went bad, I hit snap-hooks or dead pulls. I decided to revamp my swing to get a more neutral swing. My eventual goal is to be able to hit straight shots and still work the ball a bit both right and left. I also want to make my swing more fluid.

It has required a lot of work, but I have reached the point I can hit it just like I want at the range. I am now trying to take my new swing to the course, but it is difficult. One misstep and I revert to my old setup and swing. I feel caught in the middle. It is frustrating.

Can anyone give me hope? Has anyone else gone through this? How long did it take to ingrain the new swing?

First grab a 7 iron. If you can hit a 7 you can hit anything. Start from a square stance, good posture, shoulders hips knees feet all lined up parallel to your target line, arms hanging straight down from your shoulders, club at a 45* angle down to the ball. Make sure you are balanced and stable on your feet, feet spread no more than shoulder width apart, your weight should be back more toward your heels, never up on your toes. You should be able to wiggle your toes in your shoes in a properly balanced stance, if you cannot then you have too much weight forward. Have someone push you or pull you from in front or behind or both to see if you are tippy, if you are then get reset and get the weight centered so you are not. Aim the clubface at the target with the ball positioned just to the right of your left knee, maybe 1 or 2 ball widths, not dead center, everything else should be straight and square lined up with your target line, neutral grip, both arms straight, no bend at the elbows. Start straight back from the ball along your target line with shoulders, arms, hands and club all one piece. At about waist high be sure you are rotating arms and hands as you go back so that the toe of the club is pointing up and then continue the turn until your left shoulder is under your chin, left arm is straight and right arm is bent with the club shaft parallel to your target line. Make sure also that when you feel any tension in your hips because of the shoulder turn that you allow your left knee to break in toward the ball just enough to ease that pressure - never let that knee bend behind the ball, always straight down towards the ball, this discourages swaying back or forward off the ball. At the top, however far back you can go, make sure your feet are set firmly on the ground and that you start down by allowing that left knee to straighten back out, this will start your hips turning back to the left ahead of the club head slightly, then pull the club down starting with pressure in your left shoulder, and pull straight down at the back of the ball, relaxed hands and arms, it should feel as though you are trying to drive the butt end of the club handle into the back of the ball. At this point you are committed, just swing hard through the ball and keep your feet firm on the ground, after contact allow the club momentum to pull your right hand up over your left shoulder and your right foot to come up on the toe, don't try to do this just let it happen. This is a swing that works every time and everything else is just tweaks and modifications. Hope this helps.

[bawayTeen]

I would post some information for our Ask the Pro section and let Andy help you. He is an extremely good teaching professional that helps people every day.

[duawLauff]

I am going through the same thing, C-Tech. I have had a couple of break through rounds but I have had, and have to continue you to be extremely patient.

The thing is I know what I am doing wrong, I know how to fix it...but I don't always do it! For me, I have to have faith and trust that my new swing will work without any interference from me. When I allow it to happen it works very well. When I interfere it doesn't. When I hit that snap hook I know exactly why and say to myself, "duh".

My new swing goes against almost everything I have done in the past, which I suppose is why it is so hard to overcome. I realize, however, if I am going to get better I have to be patient (a four letter word if there ever was one!).

I wish us both luck as we go through our changes, and please let us know how you are progressing. :-)

[Dodoerabe]

It depends on if you are doing this with an instructor or by yourself. If you are doing it all on your own, I have not idea how long it will take. The problem by doing it yourself is that you can't see what you are doing. If you have a video camera you should take some swing videos and see if you notice anything off, and what stuff is good.

I worked with an instructor off and on for a year doing 8-9 one hour sessions over that time. Towards the end, when I was just about there, we would go to the range and he would just stand behind me while I hit balls. If I did something wrong he would tell me. Then it took me another full year to figure it out on my own so that it was repeatable. After that, everything is fine. Granted, I didn't play or hit the range nearly as much as most people. If I would have put in more time, it probably wouldn't have taken so long.

The biggest thing I have found is to be able to recognize the faults when they happen. I got to the point with the lessons where even I could isolate the mistakes. Do I swing perfectly each time? Not even close. But when something goes wrong, I know what I did wrong and what to do to fix it.

Yes, there is hope. It will just take some time.