From a +2.4 to shooting 90s - Complete and total loss of my game this year

[jim rockford]

OP, i feel for you. thx for sharing :)

 

i find this mind-boggling........... i would have thought that you might have yips but still play ok (see kevin na). and i've caddied alot on mini-tours and seen some veteran players take 45 seconds addressing the ball. so i think i understand.

 

are the strokes gone everywhere?

 

i do know that some top NCAA players have tried to improve their games too quickly as pros and lost their games long before getting on the PGA tour. i.e. really want to work the ball well both ways, but then it screws up their swing badly. better to do it as established player with $5MM in the bank.......

[gentles]

@bogeypro said:

> > @Obee said:

> > Interesting. Where are your misses with irons?

> >

>

> I’ll hit it thin or high rights. I never hit hooks.

>

> I feel like my left arm is pinned to me too much. My right elbow never seems to move in front so I can’t get any shaft mean.

>

 

Do you have a vid from when you were playing well? I'd be very cautious changing anything that was part of your swing when you were hitting it well. Thin and high right means clubface is open at impact and arc height is high (or angle of attack to far up).

 

What shot shape did you used to hit / do you like to see?

[bogeypro]

I used to play a draw. Now, I’m feeling like my body takes off and my arms stay behind.

[tthomasgolfer605]

Just a little more spine tilt to your right at address will help you turn better. Shoulders are probably open too causing you to get out of sequence.

[bogeypro]

Going for a lesson today with my instructor that helped me previously.

[bogeypro]

Couple still shots from my lesson today.

 

Bottom line, I was getting lazy and not finishing my shoulder turn in the back swing. Then, my sequence was off in the downswing so my arms were behind. This was causing me to flip.

 

I have a good drill to fix it, but I’m open to any others.

 

 

[tpadget3]

I’m sorry. But I have to break in here.This game is sooooo layered with skill , circumstance and mental acuity. Sure. A complete mental breakdown might be an ok description.... but it’s not in the way I think you mean. It’s not an outwardly visible tantrum , or fit. It’s just a loss of focus to the point of no longer caring. Or not having the ability to care or regain enough focus to slow down and score again.I myself enjoyed a tournament low of 65 two christmases ago in a small club event. Then followed that with a nice 92 in the opening round of the county AM the next spring. And i felt good going in. then Went 79 75 the next two days. And I’m currently pushing for a scoring average under par. I’m not a guy you’d watch hit balls and think could shoot 92 if a truck hit me before the round. But I’ve had it happen each year since then at least once in real comp. it’s an out of body experience , and if you haven’t experienced it. Count your blessings. I was told the same “ if you 3 putt that much you can’t have a solid stroke “. And “ you must be a vanity cap “ is my personal favorite.At any rate all those nuggets of wisdom are bullshat. It can happen to anyone.I agree 100%. I myself used to have a +3.4 official GSGA handicap about 6 years ago and now it is around 4-6 unofficial because I work full time and don't have the luxury of playing almost every day like I did then. My swing was completely related to timing as it had a lot of moving parts and I also took medication while in college to help with ADD so that helped me stay focused throughout the entire round. Fast forward to now and I no longer take anything because I can cope without it while working but it has severely impacted my ability to maintain focus during an 18 hole round of golf. Usually the later in a round it gets, I find myself just "going through the motions" instead of taking my time and actually going through a routine where I swing the club until I find the "slot" I want the club to be at right before and at impact.

[Ri_Redneck]

I started out as a feel player. It was fine until you lost the feel and then everything went to crap. I finally decided to video my swing and memorize how the positions felt when I was striking the ball really well. I now had a standard to go by. If things started feeling a bit off, then I went back to the video to see what I was doing wrong. There was always something every time. Some simple move that I had inadvertently changed. Setup, backswing, transition, etc. it was always there when things went south, but I could find it now and fix it quickly. Made all the difference in the world.

BT

[Pepperturbo]

Similar to the OP I have been blessed with hand/eye coordination, rhythm and strength; also self-taught and low-mid single digit. What I wasn't conscious of was how much those physical attributes influenced my game until last year when my scores suddenly starting climbing, for no apparent reason. Fortunately for me my Orthopedic Surgeon and MD buddies noticed something and said they need to have an MRI look. They quickly identified the problem and the next thing I knew I was under the knife. Now that its fixed my game and strength is slowly returning scores are turning around too. Though my experience is not the same as the OP suddenly going from +2 to carding 90's, the fear of our trusted games abruptly disappearing seriously disturbs the mind.

What my clinical experience finds odd about the OP's story is when we're blessed with coordination and rhythm, etc., those God-given natural attributes never leave us. They are only out of connected view of our "minds" control. Even then, when someone has a game built on senses or "feel" (that's what hand/eye coordination and rhythm are) that someone doesn't suddenly turn-into a "mechanical" person lacking rhythm or coordination. The part I wonder about is suddenly going from a feel player to a mechanical player thinking that's the answer and will last. My 2cents.

[Jkfuller]

nice job, looking forward to seeing the before and after swings

[tacklingdummy]

I'm in a similar boat. I have had tendonitis in my elbow for around 15 years. Last three years the pain has been really bad, so I stopped playing golf pretty much. I'd only play or hit balls every few months to check if I could play, but every time has been a no go. So, golf game has fell off the planet. I recently got a cortisone and it definitely helped the pain, but still feel tightness and little pain. However, I just started to get back to playing since not feeling as much pain. When you play regularly, your thoughts are organized better, your body is more on autopilot, and you just don't over think things too much. If my arm is healthy, I'm sure I can get my game back but it will take a while.

[Pepperturbo]

@bladehunter you say "It’s just a loss of focus to the point of no longer caring. Or not having the ability to care or regain enough focus to slow down and score again." What you say there is NOT cause but effect or the result of some underlying influence.

[BeerPerHole]

To be as good as you were without a really sound swing sounds very unusual to me. Best of luck. Try to have fun...

[CDLgolf]

Not sure if youve tried it but I went to graphite shafts in all my clubs 2 years ago and all tendonitis pain in my wrists and elbows went away.