Can fixing one swing flaw create another?

General Discussion
#1

I swear when I fix something two more problems pop up. I have so many flaws that fixing one probably just makes the others more apparent, but it’s maddening. I also seem to fix something, but then go too far with the fix. Years ago this was: my slice became a draw (great!) and then turned into a hook (so bad I miss the slice) and now I have to re-learn the slice…seriously?!

I have always been too “handsy” and the pro I take lessons from (not often enough) told me that the main issue was that I was losing control of the club in the backswing. This is related to tempo too as I tend to jerk the club back and get even quicker in transition. So I worked on that and saw improvement. I was hitting shots farther and straighter and the big misses were much less frequent. Yay!

Unfortunately after a short stretch of decent rounds I started getting shorter and more crooked again. The huge misses didn’t return, but I was hitting mostly weak push cuts. Pro tells me I have pretty much zero leg action and I’m all arms, but not releasing the club…but my tempo isn’t bad and I’m not losing the club at the top of my backswing. So basically I traded 1 problem for another and now I’m working to re-learn my leg action and release the club. Sadly I can already tell that in trying to release the club, my hands are trying to get started too early…probably how I became handsy in the first place…sigh.

I seem to go through this every year. Maybe due in part to the 5 month layoff I “enjoy” in the winter. There are also big layoffs in May and June with neverending family and work stuff. I start out slouching, start standing taller and then I’m so upright that I’ve lost any athleticism in my setup and swing. I understand my swing and it’s problems better now, but I don’t seem to gain any ground.

Sorry for the rambling rant. Anyone else feel my pain?

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#2

The swing and results are about matchups. Good teachers will strengthen your matchups. So yes it is very common to fix something and have another issue pop up. Your matchups are now different. If you have fixed your takeaway and are in a good place with it then matching up your lower body movement with your new takeaway should provide the results you want. Of course that is not an easy fix. Just for reference I have been working on changing my body at impact for almost 2 years. Trying to do so is better in the end however there are a few other things I have to do in order to get the results.

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#3

I feel you. Golf is such a maddening game for me because I want to be so good and always improving, yet don’t have the time to put in the work every day or go through a massive swing change and correct “all the flaws”.
That is what actually lead me to Practical Golf. I love the approach of setting realistic expectations and getting back to just loving the game for what it is. I’ve learned sometimes it’s best to play with what I’ve got (ie…slightly closed face at address…and some other quirks) and figure out how to score with better driving and strategy.
Don’t get me wrong…golf swing still makes me mad as hell, but I’m a 12 handicap and may always be…but I’ve learned to just love the game regardless. I still try to improve all the time, but temper it much more now and am much more selective in those “fixes”.

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#4

Since I started playing again 3/12 years ago I have gone from hook to slice and back to hook repeatedly. The last time I deliberately changed my path to swing from the inside I learned the late hit and not to swing from the top. Now I am back to a fade but keeping my late hit which helps me hit the ball further.

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#5

I believe that the first correction may not be complete for a long time. You may see initial improvement, but its possible to backslide a bit, or to go too far beyond where you should be. Further, I don’t think fixing one fault causes a new fault to occur, but fixing a fault can expose another fault that’s already there. You probably had that lack of leg action all along, and that may have caused the tempo and “handsiness” that you’ve worked to correct.
I do believe that its difficult to work on a lot of changes at one time. Maybe you can work on a set-up change, and a swing change, but any more than that is unlikely to be productive. So a good pro tries his best to find the most important thing to change right now, and helps you to make that change. He may see a bunch of changes that will be required, and make a conscious choice as to which is the most important change to make first. Once you make that first change, and learned it well enough that its pretty much automatic, then you should move on to the NEXT most important change.

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#6

Time is a flat circle…

This is one reason i like adam youngs approach. You focus on skill development. While focusing on skill development you can pretty much focus on tweaking one variable or two

A really good instructor can get to the most important flaw and set up a constraint or feel or intent that allows you to self organize

It is a never ending process though

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#7

I guess it’s so frustrating as I feel like I’ve learned and improved a lot and I’m playing better, but then all of a sudden I can’t execute any more. I was hitting the driver great a few weeks ago and now at times I can barely make contact (seriously leaving 1/2 a ball mark on the toe of the driver).

I “feel” like I’m making the same swing, but clearly I’m not. And the drills and fixes that helped before aren’t helping now. This happens every year and I know I’ll find my way out of it eventually, but it would be nice to go a season without completely re-learning to swing a club.

#8

OK, move south, get a different job, and ditch the family. Easy!

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#9

I usually reset in that situation

1/2 swings off a tee with a tee gate around the ball (constraints)

1/2 swings with feet together

It is a do not pass go situation. I don’t take full swings until i can execute those drills

If i am still lost after some of my foundational drills, then i schedule a lesson

Edit: butt against an alignment stick is another one for me as i do fall back into goat humping (usually lots of heel strikes when that habit comes up)

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#10

One thing that I did a couple years ago was stop saying “fix” when it came to my swing. I know it’s just mind games, but since I started thinking in terms of “maintenance”, I get a lot less frustrated when I backslide. A fix sounds permanent and that just doesn’t happen with my swing.

Also +1 to papgeorgio. Reverting to 1/2 swings and then 3/4 swings is like magic. And how is that 3/4 swings go as far as full swings? Good contact makes a huge difference.

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#11

I have some drills I use (including 1/2 swings with feet together), but for some reason those were not helping as much last year or this year.

I should take more lessons and I had planned to do that, but golfers came out of the woodwork last year and it’s been tough to get lesson times. I am so glad I joined a club a few years ago or I would barely be able to get tee times. I have had a hard time finding a spot at the range and I NEVER had that issue until last year. There have been a # of times I’ve stopped at the range after work and could not find a place to park…that was unthinkable before the pandemic.

#12

I feel you… i just played an hour and fifteen minutes of golf during lunch and absolutely sprayed it!

Do as i say, not as i do

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#13

Honestly it sounds like you’re overthinking things. The golf swing is such a complex physical process that the more you think about the actual motions, the more unintended consequences you wind up with. Assuming you don’t have the time to practice like a tour pro, my recommendation would be just finding your “default” swing and follow Adam Young-ish practice routines to train your body to produce the results you want from it (but still having the default to fall back on).

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#14

Honestly you may be right. My range sessions were frustrating but I played today with good results. No tournaments just me and a friend and a very wet course. Hit the ball well but 3 putted too much on slow wet greens. No real swing issues…go figure

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#15

Well I mainly practiced half swings w/ feet together and 3/4 swings at most and played decently all weekend. Driver was not great, but good enough. Irons were decent. My biggest struggle was probably the short game as I neglected practicing that and the thick wet rough was brutal. Whatever huge problems I had at the range were left there.