Swing has gotten off the rails a bit the past couple of rounds, especially with a bunch of dreaded two way misses off the tee. In my round this morning, I found myself constantly tweaking (never the best idea) and trying to fight fire with fire with very limited success.
Finally, on the thirteenth hole, I realized I was getting long with my backswing, over-rotating the shoulders in relation to my hip turn, leading to all kinds of weird motions to try to get to impact. A few practice swings focused on my hips and I got things more or less back on track for the final holes.
That’s good, but it really shouldn’t have taken me multiple holes/rounds to realize this is what was happening because it is pretty much ALWAYS the problem when I start losing my swing and has been the case my whole golfing life. It’s the essential swing component I always forget to remember (a fancy way to say the constant bad habit). I realize I’m doing it, feel like I fix it, start to work on other things, and then it sneaks right back into the swing. I think (hope?) pretty much all golfers have one of these problems at some level, so what’s yours?
I tend to make the same mistakes as well. Probably most golfers do. Whenever I take a lesson I feel like the pro is having me fix the same few issues. The first thing to watch is my setup; I tend to start slouching, but also go the other way and stand too tall and unathletic. I have tendency to jerk the club inside on the backswing and I overswing and lose control of the club. Of course when I smooth things out I then can start to sway and not turn. I swear I have a tendency to fix a problem, but then after a bit I go to far the opposite way so the problem is different, but related.
I too have a few recurring problems. I get a bit too far from the ball, or I get too vertical, or my rotation fails a bit. I’ve meant to keep a small notebook, swing keys to remember in times of trouble. But I forget to do it.
Maybe we should try tattoos on the inner arm or something. I could do “swing with your hips” in fancy scrollwork.
I had a similar experience at a simulator this past weekend (courses closed in Upstate NY, expecting 8-12 inches of snow tomorrow night!). But it’s something that must have been creeping into my setup, my shoulders were open compared to my feet. And I could barely find the club face. Luckily I was playing with someone who knows my swing, and he pieced it together. But horribly frustrating way to start the off-season
If I didn’t have a good warmup session on the range my tendency is to get crazy strong with my grip in an effort to really try guiding the golf ball around the course. More often than not I just hit whip hooks and get mad. Calm down, loosen the grip, play better.
But it’s the recurring mistake I make over and over.
You got me thinking about tattoo on the inner arm now lol. My wife wants a tattoo and she’s pushing me to join her in getting one, but I’ve had zero interest. Some swing reminders though…hmmmm.
Tempo. Every time. Getting too fast with hands. Takes a complete reflection on my round at least 24hrs later to figure it out. Look back over 12-18mths in my golf journal and it’s clear as daylight. Somehow, nothing ever triggers my brain mid-round to slow down. Currently experimenting with Tour Tempo tones.
Stop ordering doubles