How Do You Mentally Go Through a Major Swing Change...?

[PepsiDuck]

So I'm undergoing the painful process of undoing an overactive hip slide and turn ingrained from tens of thousands of balls over the past 20 years. I know physically what I have to do, and I know it takes time for the body to start doing what the mind wants it to do.

 

But how do you mentally tackle this...? I'm making slow but steady progress on the range, but when I get on the course, everything consistently falls apart. Do you even play while you're going through the change, and if not, when do you consider yourself "ready" to get back on the course?

 

Rounds have just been tests in frustration as every aspect of my game has suffered. Drives go OB on every other hole. Irons lose 1 club in distance. Short game is a joke because short game practice is merely a warmup to getting on the range. My putter only gets put into the bag before I tee off. All my time has been devoted to working on the full swing change, and seeing no results, or getting worse, on the course just makes it harder to trust the change.

 

So what do you all do when you're playing 15 shot handicap higher than you used to before the change...? Stop playing until your swing can keep the ball in play? Or just suffer through rounds until something clicks...?

 

Thanks again.

[silliwilli]

I am going through a big swing change, have been since August. I was trying to compete in our mens league/matchplay events all whilst making huge changes. Long story short, it drove me up the wall. I decided to take 2 weeks off and then knuckle down with my coach and not really play until next season (April 2015).

Now things are coming around and I take the swing out on the course to test it out, but only in friendly 9 holes with a friend, or even just playing 18 holes walking by myself. I'm pretty much going to continue this routine of mainly swing work until the season comes around and hopefully my changes will have settled in by then.

[Lefthook]

I just played through it. I hit a lot of terrible shots on the course, so obviously the score suffered. But I also hit a few great ones on most of the rounds. I also changed my focus somewhat. I figured I had collected enough scores in the low 80s and high 70s, so I toned down the scoring aspect and toned up the "learning how to play this game properly" aspect.

[SammyS]

Develop a PROCEDURE that you believe in.

Focus all your might on performing the procedure as planned.

Accept the results that this produces until you either 1) achieve the results that you desire or 2) no longer believe in the PROCEDURE that you are attempting.

This is why the PROCEDURE cannot be vague. The components must be identified and choreographed to be synchronized. FEEL IS NOT a clear enough GUIDE. She is a seductive temptress too difficult to manage with enough reliability

On a side note, you guys ever date girls like this ? it's about as mentally exhausting

[PepsiDuck]

[quote name='Lefthook' timestamp='1417986164' post='10558521']
I just played through it. I hit a lot of terrible shots on the course, so obviously the score suffered. But I also hit a few great ones on most of the rounds. I also changed my focus somewhat. I figured I had collected enough scores in the low 80s and high 70s, so I toned down the scoring aspect and toned up the "learning how to play this game properly" aspect.
[/quote]

A quick aside, but what is everyone's thoughts on posting scores while going through their swing change? We are active year round in SoCal, so I could effectively triple or quadruple my handicap with my scores in the mid-90's (even with ESC) coming from high 70s...and I'm not traveling for the holidays, so I was planning on practicing and playing through my two weeks off later this month...

[tdk8180]

You need to see EVERY swing on video, and adjust accordingly. You need to sync what you see on the tape with what you feel. Here's a little guide

Stage 1
Current Swing - Feels Right
Swing on Video - Fundamentally Totally Wrong
Execution - Solid (Because you're masking the problems with your raw talent to advance the ball)

Stage 2
New Swing - Feels Wrong and Uncomfortable
Swing on Video - Fundamentally Correct
Execution - Poor (Because you don't know how to translate those new feelings into good timing and tempo)

Stage 3
New Swing - Feels Right
Swing on Video - Fundamentally Right
Execution - Avg (Close to getting the triggers to start the swing, and start the downswing, not quite there.)

Stage 4
New Swing - Feels Right
Swing on Video - Fundamentally Right
Execution - Good

Youre done.

GolfTec can help you accomplish this. Its essential to see each and every swing on tape. You will not believe what you feel doesn't translate to what you see swing to swing. It forces you to change and forces your brain to accept what you are doing is correct. Tape don't lie...you suck. Fix it.

[Michael C.]

Pepsi,

There is a thread by Jim Waldron called the Arm Swing Illusion. Its about 80 pages but in the last 10 or 15 he talks about the mental side of learning. It's interesting and may be helpful. In the pages I'm speaking of there is no swing theory so it should jive with what you're trying to learn or change. Patience, my friend.

[JNZ]

I suggest playing less and practicing more (1:3 at least). The chances of having a good round are minimal so there will always be some frustration but I find there is often a good range session which helps with confidence.That said I think you still need rounds to keep the short game in place regardless of how much practice you do, and if you are hitting it bad then you will get plenty of short game work playing. I wouldn't play any tournaments but would still post scores, not doing so just doesn't feel right to me.

[Lefthook]

[quote name='PepsiDuck' timestamp='1417987271' post='10558589']
[quote name='Lefthook' timestamp='1417986164' post='10558521']
I just played through it. I hit a lot of terrible shots on the course, so obviously the score suffered. But I also hit a few great ones on most of the rounds. I also changed my focus somewhat. I figured I had collected enough scores in the low 80s and high 70s, so I toned down the scoring aspect and toned up the "learning how to play this game properly" aspect.
[/quote]

A quick aside, but what is everyone's thoughts on posting scores while going through their swing change? We are active year round in SoCal, so I could effectively triple or quadruple my handicap with my scores in the mid-90's (even with ESC) coming from high 70s...and I'm not traveling for the holidays, so I was planning on practicing and playing through my two weeks off later this month...
[/quote]

I posted scores, but I had enough decent rounds to keep the ghin close to where it had been before.

[PepsiDuck]

[quote name='JNZ' timestamp='1417988426' post='10558659']
I suggest playing less and practicing more (1:3 at least). The chances of having a good round are minimal so there will always be some frustration but I find there is often a good range session which helps with confidence.That said I think you still need rounds to keep the short game in place regardless of how much practice you do, and if you are hitting it bad then you will get plenty of short game work playing. I wouldn't play any tournaments but would still post scores, not doing so just doesn't feel right to me.
[/quote]

I practice on average 4-5 days a week for about 2 hours each session and then usually play one round a week. Since I saw Monte about one month ago, most of that practice time has been allotted to full swing time at the range. 85% full swing / 15% chipping / 0% putting.

I think that's what the most frustrating part is...putting in that much practice time and completely losing it on the course...it feels like the more I practice the worse I get...

[JNZ]

[quote name='PepsiDuck' timestamp='1417996161' post='10559211']
I practice on average 4-5 days a week for about 2 hours each session and then usually play one round a week. Since I saw Monte about one month ago, most of that practice time has been allotted to full swing time at the range. 85% full swing / 15% chipping / 0% putting.

I think that's what the most frustrating part is...putting in that much practice time and completely losing it on the course...it feels like the more I practice the worse I get...
[/quote]

Wow that is a heap of practice and I can appreciate why it is frustrating. Personally (and this may be sacrilegious) I think some people over practice on the range and would benefit from more quiet contemplation about what they are trying to do, just sitting and thinking about what they are trying to implement, mulling it over.

[jurr80]

The hardest part of the process is the most fruitful, and that is the abandonment of the familiar route through the golf ball.

When you step up to that golf ball on the driving range, the thought of shanking, duffing, and topping shots is terrifying. You have ingrained SOMETHING over your golfing life that has at least made contact and has gone somewhere relatively straight. It may be 10-30 yards less than you are actually capable of, but you're not chopping the ball all over the range.

The biggest gains I have made in growth is when I abandon that fear and say, "screw it, I'm doing this move, and it's going to suck".

Especially for those of us with a casting/flipping/hit impulse tendency, that is the scariest part. Those moves have been ingrained, and it takes an entirely different feel to do things correctly. To really pull your core into a good impact position, one where you're able to strike the ball with true compression, takes a feeling of abandonment. Your hands are past that ball when contact is made. You have no control of that club head once you let it go. You just hope that you took it back on decent angles.

Letting go of that fear and trusting the process is a huge thing for me.
I don't want to shank a ball 20 times or hit worm burners, but sometimes it takes a little tough medicine to get to that moment where you say, "oh, now I get it". The moment that little change clicks is gold.

[bph7]

I can't believe no one has said this, but maybe the changes are just a disaster and that's why they are making you so bad at golf? Are you working with an instructor? Are you sure said instructor isn't an idiot (a lot of them are)? Most golf instructors who understand cause and effect can implement a swing change without having to tear it all down, and certainly with no need to get much worse in the process. That's what I think the most likely issue is, it should not be acceptable to get that much worse...

[PepsiDuck]

[quote name='bph7' timestamp='1418002122' post='10559639']
I can't believe no one has said this, but maybe the changes are just a disaster and that's why they are making you so bad at golf? Are you working with an instructor? Are you sure said instructor isn't an idiot (a lot of them are)? Most golf instructors who understand cause and effect can implement a swing change without having to tear it all down, and certainly with no need to get much worse in the process. That's what I think the most likely issue is, it should not be acceptable to get that much worse...
[/quote]

Yes, I'm working with Monte...and I am 100% confident that the changes he's made are the direction I need to go...

Before his change, I could shoot a few over on my home course where an errant drive would mean an approach shot from the next fairway over. That margin of error on practically every hole allowed me to swing a less tentatively. But put me in a tournament situation on a tighter course and I'd fall apart.

Now after the change, I'm hitting more errant drives now I'm "in between" my old method and his new method. Iron shots are also a lot more inconsistent, so I'll hit some reasonably solidly and then others not so well... Short game weakness is then further revealed when I'm forced to get up and down on every hole for double bogey...

[PepsiDuck]

[quote name='Lefthook' timestamp='1417993031' post='10558957']
I posted scores, but I had enough decent rounds to keep the ghin close to where it had been before.
[/quote]

Lately, I rarely get a score for 18 holes at a time...by hole 11 or 12, I've thrown the scorecard away and just tried keeping shots in play.

[nitram]

You have to [u]convince[/u] yourself (easy for me to say) that you're changing your swing for the right reason. You need to play but not under pressure, simply because playing a round is the only way I've found to truly focus on one shot at a time. When you add tourney pressure, you'll think of everything from, "where am I on the leaderboard and calcutta" to "man, I really suck today, why am I here"? Been there and done both. And you have to be easy on yourself.

Just remember, there is a reason you've decided to change your swing. You have to stick with the original plan or you will drive yourself INSANE.

[Dixie Flatline]

[quote name='PepsiDuck' timestamp='1417983879' post='10558365']
So I'm undergoing the painful process of undoing an overactive hip slide and turn ingrained from tens of thousands of balls over the past 20 years. I know physically what I have to do, and I know it takes time for the body to start doing what the mind wants it to do.

But how do you mentally tackle this...? I'm making slow but steady progress on the range, but when I get on the course, everything consistently falls apart. Do you even play while you're going through the change, and if not, when do you consider yourself "ready" to get back on the course?

Rounds have just been tests in frustration as every aspect of my game has suffered. Drives go OB on every other hole. Irons lose 1 club in distance. Short game is a joke because short game practice is merely a warmup to getting on the range. My putter only gets put into the bag before I tee off. All my time has been devoted to working on the full swing change, and seeing no results, or getting worse, on the course just makes it harder to trust the change.

So what do you all do when you're playing 15 shot handicap higher than you used to before the change...? Stop playing until your swing can keep the ball in play? Or just suffer through rounds until something clicks...?

Thanks again.
[/quote]

If you are putting that much time in and your scores and ball striking is that much worse, you may want to go back for a check up lesson. If you are a 4, you shouldn't be playing like a 15-20 just because you are "learning" a new move, especially not if you are practicing for 8-10 hours per week. It just doesn't add up. To me, that suggests that either the new move isn't a good one or you aren't doing it correctly, even in practice.

I know you have to learn new patterns and trust it and that's a process, but it shouldn't be 10-15 shots per round harder. When I went through a major change about 10 years ago, my average didn't move up that much, maybe a shot or two for a brief period, then went down. My bad shots with the new swing weren't too much worse and I'd only hit one or two really bad shot (penalty inducing) per round. But at the same time I was doing that, I was starting to hit some shots that were much better than before, so the result was almost a wash. And slowly the bad shots started getting better.

Of course, you may just be at a place where you can't effectively play because you don't trust anything mentally. In that case, you just need to let it go (the pressure of trying to shoot a score) and get back to the old cliche of one shot at a time. Your goal should be to just execute the new swing at a particular target with a particular club (which really should be the goal all the time).

Maybe try to play some rounds alone in the evening where you hit 2-3 balls and don't actually putt out or keep score until you get some good memories going.

[Mcaesq]

Hey Pepsi, I totally feel your pain. I was a 5 index who was mad about how I could shoot 75 one day and over 90 the next, so I went to a Monte clinic. He pointed out that I had the set of flaws that are extremely common on this site (restricted hip turn, lean towards target, early extension) and gave me some feels and drills to work on it. I knew he was right because (1) I can watch video of my own swing and see the same problems (2) I wanted to fix it but hadn't been able to do so.

That being said, it's a crappy process that I'm not entirely done with. I went from shooting in the 70s to failing to break 90 for a month or two. I would randomly shank the ball (sometimes 10+ times a round) and hit my irons the worst I have in years. Nonetheless, the end result has been progress. I'm hitting my driver the best I ever have, and my wedges/irons are getting better every week. I say this only to tell you that I very very much empathize with what you're feeling.

As for mental adjustments, recognize that one month is a short time to implement a large change. With the amount you practice, I bet you're pretty close to really feeling it click.

Here are some things you may want to consider:
(1) Do more chipping and putting. Trust me, you'll enjoy practicing more and improve faster if you spend less time on the full range. When I first started working on changes, I would spend 100% of my time working on my full swing. Often, I'd really feel like I was making progress, then totally backslide after about an hour because I was tired or not focusing enough on doing what I was supposed to be doing. There's an additional mental benefit here: you'll practice things where you're really just grooving good habits rather than actively trying to change bad ones. It'll help you stay positive.
(2) Do more pitches. Based on your handicap, I assume your 100 yards and in game has to be at least decent, so hit more partial shots, which should help with feeling when your lower body is overactive.
(3) Do more practice at home, less at the range. I think a big chunk of my improvement has come from taking practice swings at home and swinging without a club. Practicing the correct body movement and feels can help make a strange movement seem familiar. When I practice without a club, I really feel my turn on the inside of my right leg and in my right hip. I don't get the same feeling all the time on the course, but when I do, I pure the ball. That feeling of knowing "yes, this is the right position" can be grooved without hitting balls on the range.
(4) Take video, but not too much. I video my swing every week or two. I think doing it more often than that isn't really helpful and makes you lose the forest for the trees. I'll compare the previous week to this week and make sure I'm making progress: Is my head moving less towards my target, is it moving less towards the ball? Figure out one or two things you can look at and celebrate your progress. I would see a bit of progress every week, but if you compare my August swing to my December swing, it is light years better.

Realize that it'll come and go in flashes. This weekend, I shot 74 on Saturday and 81 on Sunday on the same course (and the 75 was from the tips--7100 yards, the 81 was from 6550). I could really feel that I was doing what I was supposed to do during the Saturday round, but the feeling went away Sunday and I could tell I returned to my old habits. Just accept that it'll happen and be confident that the lower rounds will become more prevalent and the higher ones will become less so as you continue to groove the change.

Since we're about the same handicap, dealing with the same general issues, and working with the same guy, I'd be happy to chat via PM if you'd like.

One other thing to people who say that a major swing change shouldn't make that huge of a difference, I beg to differ. For example, Jordan Speith had to get rid of his reverse pivot and said that he spent [i]weeks[/i] hitting balls where he couldn't get it more than 10 feet off the ground.

He became an accomplished player with that old swing, but only because of raw talent and good timing. Spieth, then 12, won his age division at his last event before visiting McCormick – the Starburst Junior, one of Texas’ top junior events – by 19 shots.
There were some tough times as McCormick made dramatic changes to Spieth’s swing, which is now a traditional, on-plane action.
Spieth started the change by performing just one drill – swinging with a rubber ball between his arms – for several weeks. This helped him swing his arms on the proper plane, but the early results weren’t pretty.
“I was chunking it, skulling it,” Spieth said. “I was just trying to find the ball. I’d get so many stares when I hit balls on the range. I would literally go down to the range and hit 50 balls and not get one of them off the ground.”
Spieth’s shots are airborne again, and his revamped swing has made him one of golf’s most promising young talents." http://golfweek.com/news/2011/sep/14/your-game-jordan-spieth/

edit: Actually couldn't find a story saying how long he was in a funk, will leave time guess in original post. Here's another quote from Speith re: swing changes though

"I had a big loop in my swing, a very weak grip, misaligned, shoulders open and hit kind of push draws," says Spieth. The same push draw had produced a 62 the summer he was 12. "I went to Cam, and he asked me what my goals were. I said I want to be the best player in the world someday. He said, 'OK, then we're going to have to make some changes, and it's going to be difficult. It's probably going to take a little while and you may not play your best golf for a while.' I just went to the range, and I'd hit bags of balls, a bunch of 7-irons, and they wouldn't go higher than this off the ground," says Spieth, holding his arm out at his side.

[PingG10guy]

Mentally...you go through the swing change sideways.

[ezpz]

It can be tough but just try to be motivated by your progress. Video swings and check if you actually are improving and don't neglect short game and playing, just because you are adjusting doesnt mean you can't play (even though you might not play as well as you'd hope).

[PepsiDuck]

[quote name='Dixie Flatline' timestamp='1418072317' post='10563607']
If you are putting that much time in and your scores and ball striking is that much worse, you may want to go back for a check up lesson. If you are a 4, you shouldn't be playing like a 15-20 just because you are "learning" a new move, especially not if you are practicing for 8-10 hours per week. It just doesn't add up. To me, that suggests that either the new move isn't a good one or you aren't doing it correctly, even in practice.
[/quote]

15 shots really isn't that hard to tack onto a score...hitting just less than a quarter of the tee shots on driving holes OB (4 shots) adds 8 strokes...then having to chip out of trouble for the drives that actually stay in play adds another 3 or 4 shots...then missing half of the greens you usually hit because of poor iron shots and only getting up and down 25% of the time adds another 3 or 4 shots...15-20 shots is very easy to find even for a low handicapper...

[Fejnam]

On 12/7/2014 at 10:02 AM, Lefthook said:

I just played through it. I hit a lot of terrible shots on the course, so obviously the score suffered. But I also hit a few great ones on most of the rounds. I also changed my focus somewhat. I figured I had collected enough scores in the low 80s and high 70s, so I toned down the scoring aspect and toned up the "learning how to play this game properly" aspect.

I appreciate this. I have been shooting mid to low 80s and couldn’t seem to get lower. I discovered a pretty big swing flaw and am now implementing change. I played today and shot 88. The problem was I was even after 5, so I thought I had the golden ticket…..then everything went sideways on me. Toning down the focus on scoring in trade for focus on playing properly is the mental approach I need to take. 

[MelloYello]

On 12/7/2014 at 10:24 AM, PepsiDuck said:

So I'm undergoing the painful process of undoing an overactive hip slide and turn ingrained from tens of thousands of balls over the past 20 years. I know physically what I have to do, and I know it takes time for the body to start doing what the mind wants it to do.

 

But how do you mentally tackle this...? I'm making slow but steady progress on the range, but when I get on the course, everything consistently falls apart. Do you even play while you're going through the change, and if not, when do you consider yourself "ready" to get back on the course?

 

Rounds have just been tests in frustration as every aspect of my game has suffered. Drives go OB on every other hole. Irons lose 1 club in distance. Short game is a joke because short game practice is merely a warmup to getting on the range. My putter only gets put into the bag before I tee off. All my time has been devoted to working on the full swing change, and seeing no results, or getting worse, on the course just makes it harder to trust the change.

 

So what do you all do when you're playing 15 shot handicap higher than you used to before the change...? Stop playing until your swing can keep the ball in play? Or just suffer through rounds until something clicks...?

 

Thanks again.

 

 

Sounds to me like you're over-thinking it.

 

Contrary to the hyperbolic descriptions people use, there is no "major" change you should ever attempt in one fell swoop, only a series of small changes that build upon themselves over time. You've got the rest of your life to work with your swing. Time is your friend.

 

A lot can be accomplished in just a year's time but that still means taking it week-by-week and month-by-month with a lot of discipline. And here, discipline means taking small bites. Here, cutting corners is trying to do it too much at once. 

 

At no point should you be attempting to change your motion to the extent that it robs you of your ability to play.

 

This advice goes for basically everything in life: work performance, social life, diet, working out, golf swing. If you want to change something as foundational as a golf swing it has to be done in small bites over a period of time with the discipline being your willing to stick to that long-term plan. 

 

[LukeDonaldsTiger]

He‘ll answer in 2032 to stick to the rhythm. I can’t wait!

[virtuoso]

That’s awesome that it says above: “8 years later…”

[PepsiDuck]

On 7/15/2023 at 5:32 PM, LukeDonaldsTiger said:

He‘ll answer in 2032 to stick to the rhythm. I can’t wait!

 

😂 I could just defer until then...

 

On 7/15/2023 at 6:03 PM, virtuoso said:

That’s awesome that it says above: “8 years later…”

 

And surprisingly enough, I'm still trying to play golf... 😂

 

In the last eight years (and mostly in the last couple), my mindset and perspective on golf has changed drastically...I've gone from near-daily range sessions and multiple rounds a week to getting out on the course once or twice a month with the men's club and sneaking in a range session every now and then.  Golf just isn't as much a part of my life as it used to be, and I'm able to enjoy it more for what it is.

[LukeDonaldsTiger]

So the swing change didn't work? Sorry man, I had to.

 

Good for you, I sometimes wish I could take it easier! Granted, 8 years is a long time, I'll check back here to see where I'm at then...

 

Enjoy your golf, everybody!

[PepsiDuck]

2 hours ago, LukeDonaldsTiger said:

So the swing change didn't work? Sorry man, I had to.

 

Good for you, I sometimes wish I could take it easier! Granted, 8 years is a long time, I'll check back here to see where I'm at then...

 

Enjoy your golf, everybody!

 

Let's just say it's still a work in progress... 😂