Backyard chipping ruined full swing

Hey all,

Has this happened to anyone over the course of the COVID lock-down? Before quarantine my full swing was as good as it's ever been. I had spent a bunch of time practicing indoors over the winter here in Canada. I hit this nice neutral push draws, irons and wedges especially were my strength. My index was down to 6, and I had done a few Trackman Combines and scored +2 and +1, with again a particularly strong performance on the shots between 90 and 180.

Cue COVID hitting. Now stuck at home for a few months. I figured this would be a great time to work on my chipping, which had been a weakness. I learn to use the bounce, to deliver loft, to hit out of bad lies in the yard. I chipped pretty much every day for about an hour during my lunch break. I got really good at hitting chip shots.

Now, courses are back open. I can't hit a draw to save my life. I've lost at least a club if not two clubs of distance. I deliver everything like a chip. Face open. I can move my path any way I want but suddenly I'm incapable of delivering a face closed to a path. I'm just so frustrated that all the work I've put into improving my full swing over these last few years seems to have just completely disappeared . Has this happened to anyone here? And if so were you able to fix it and how?

Thanks for any input. I was looking forward to this golf season more than any before and now it's turned into a nightmare.

I even have that happen on the range. If I hit too many chip/pitch shots, when I go back to full swings I have trouble adjusting.

Your swing is not gone. You have to train your brain to switch between „hitting modes“. Muscle memory is a bitch. Start with half swings and work your way up. That’s how I get back to normal.

I said the same thing about hitting into a net for a couple of weeks and not seeing where my ball went I started shanking.After a few times going back to basics at the range my swing is starting to come around again,so don’t fret you will straighten it out.

No offense to LukeDonalds Tiger there is no such thing as muscle memory.

What works for me is never wearing my glove when I'm working around the green. It acts as a reminder that I'm not going to use a full swing. I also do it on the rare occasions on the fairway when I want a chip or a punch out.

Unfortunately it doesn't help with my current problem. Whilst my driving and long irons are good now, I've started being handsy/flippy with my mid irons. I'm either not using my hips at all or am stalling before impact. It's not all the time but it's several times a round :(

Don't happen to use hinge and hold chipping/pitching do you? I can see that messing with you

Hogan claimed that the waggle was just as important as the swing in terms if fundamentals to golf. Perhaps if you learn to waggle before each shot your body can adjust to different shots easier. If your chip waggle is one way and your fill iron waggle is another your body can make the switch

No actually the opposite haha. Really spent time learning how to really use the bounce. I just completely forgot how to deliver a square face. Essentially my full swing has turned into a high speed flop shot. Looked at it on video a bit and it's clear I'm just leaving the face wide open, which makes sense considering using the bounce in chipping requires delivering loft and not shutting the face down. As others have said in this thread it's a matter of getting back to basics and getting reps in. But it's incredibly frustrating to have something you were pretty good at 3 months ago disappear completely.

You’re probably right, it’s more the part of the brain where we store the physical part of certain skills. Biking, swimming, throwing a ball a certain distance etc. Those complex movements you have to learn and don’t really forget.

It’s just that it’s hard to switch back when you practice one thing exclusively for a while.

Be patient. Your swing will gradually emerge as you play more real golf. Don't panic and start fiddling.

That's weird because it's the complete opposite of what I experienced.

Instead of banging balls at the range, which I would ordinarily do, every morning and afternoon during lockdown, I dedicated myself to pitching in the park behind my house.

I started seeing gains after the 1st week. I would throw down 5 balls and my dispersion got tighter and tighter. I started alternating: punch, stock, flop. Playing with different releases.

Then, I moved on to full swing thoughts and it was incredible how much it stuck and how I could sense changes at the slower speed of a 30-50 yard pitch shot.

Without hitting ONE ball at the range or course until mid May (Massachusetts), and stepping on the 1st tee without warmups, I broke my personal bests at 2 of the toughest courses I play from the tips, with positive impact on driving, fairway woods, irons, and pitches.

I even had a round where I hit all the fairways - something I have never done before.

Lockdown has tremendously changed how I plan to further improve my golf game.

Guess it depends on how u chip. My chipping is a mini full swing so chipping is great warm up /practice.

If I hit a lot of flop shots this happens to me. I must hit flop shots with more of an arms swing and when I go back to the full swing...it’s hosel adjacent pushes. I have to remind myself to rotate my chest and stay connected. Some practice “swings” with my arms crossed across my chest usually get me back toward the center of the face.

Had same thing happen to me a couple years ago. My problem was not closing the club face. I reinstituted the "motorcycle drill" and it cured my problem.

When chipping you wont/dont get a lot of body rotation that helps to close the club face.

How to close the club face How to Close the Club Face

Wrist flexing: Motorcycle Move Analysishttps://youtu.be/MNpOGqOvOEE

Yeah this is exactly what it is for me. I used to have a strong grip so I didn't really need to do much flexing of the left wrist. But hitting all these chips in the backyard I actually moved to a much more neutral grip without thinking about it, and was suddenly leaving the face wide open on full swings. I've had a few range sessions and it's slowly coming back

After my chipping caused problem, I went back to my strong grip, which was causing unwanted & unexpected draws. Went to a neutral grip which eliminated the draws but began creating a small fade from time to time. The fades like the draws are mostly set up position & grip.

The chipping problem really helped provide me with a much greater understanding of the fundamentals. It wasnt fun when the problem existed, but the results from curing it have certainly paid off. Today I am capable of hitting draws & fades about 80%+ of the time, and now I'm working on different ball flights. This mostly grew out of the aftermath of practice chipping and the associated problems that it incurred.

I’m going through the exact same thing myself. I’ve lost about 2 clubs distance-wise and over 3 recent rounds since opening, I’ve had only a handful of solid shots. Flipping at everything.
I’m going the route @farmer says above...just being patient with it. I think it’s just rust and I need to get playing again. One of the struggles for me is I’m a range rat, and I still can’t go to the range - public ones are closed and my club is limited because of carts being needed for play. So I’m looking at as an extended period of knocking off the rust.

Chipping and pitching should be a mini version of your swing (not talking flop shots or specialty shots around green). What this is telling you is that it isn't. Put the wedge down for a bit and work on the irons. Then take that and shorten it up for the wedges.

I guess I'm in a different camp. I often go back to chipping and pitching lots of balls when I feel my full swing is staring to go away on me. I actually really enjoy hitting all sorts of sub-full swing shots, from chips to 75% wedges. I don't know the theory behind this, but it feels to me like this allows me to "re-ground" where the proper contact point of a clubhead is and how to get my hands and body to deliver it there, repeatably. I typically then find my full swing finds its way back more easily and with less frustration.

It's not unusual for me to spend a full range bucket hitting these sorts of shots before going back to my full swing.

(This process was introduced to me many years ago during lessons I was taking at the time, and it just stuck with me.)

Corona got another.... you're flight has been booked to the chop tour and you're flying economy