Should I just hang it up? Seriously.

[BTP]

@ZGriswold83 I'm right there with you man. The whole taxing on the body job, kids, don't get to play or practice much; overall dull-drums. I can tell you what worked for me to get my game somewhat back to what it was (consistently breaking 80)...

 

I changed my whole swing philosophy. I began implementing Monte's NTC for better or for worse because I was committed to it and truly believe it is the gold standard swing protocol.

 

I started with short chips and just began chipping everyday working the wrist action even if it was just 5 minutes here and there every day, inside or outside didn't matter.

 

I would travel with my orange whip and get out of the car on breaks and swing the orange whip. Little things like this are what helped me enjoy the game and play better. I know I have to stretch more, so I do so everyday with light calisthenics and especially stretching after golf or activity. I continue strengthening exercises working on functional golf movements for stability rotation.

 

Most importantly though, having the mindset of committing to something and being determined that you will do it knowing that it may get worse before it gets better. Stick through the process and know that you will get better for all the effort you put into it, even in the short frame opportunities you have. You clearly have it in you so commit to something and do it. For me, 30 minutes each day or every other day is what I have available to get better so I take advantage.

[David Miller]

I absolutely love this forum. Lots of good advice given. 

 

Take a long break (at least a year) from the game. I have a vastly different story but when I play too much I get in my head, expect to play too well, and don't appreciate the game as much for what it is. Slow down, and fall in love with it again. 

[drb1956]

What is the one reason you play this game? Is it to beat your buddies, or to beat the course, or maybe to beat your personal best? Look, we all are getting older, and none of our games are what they once were. So, what do you do? Adjust! Golf is a game of constant adjustments, through a round, from course to course. Put your ego aside, along with all that stuff in your brain about how you used to play! Adjust your game to how you have to play now. Quit trying to swing for the fences, and work on a swing that will work with the body you have now. So, you have to take more club to get the distances you need. Who cares? As long as you are in the fairway, you will have a great opportunity for good shot at the green. Readjust your club distances, and get on with it. I really never had much of a golf ego, so if I have to take 2 clubs more than my buddies, who cares. I only have ever had an 80 mph swing speed, and could play in the high 80's, but not so much anymore. I don't play enough, and just not as consistent as I used to be. On average, I take 1 more club than my buddies. I could care less! I play what I need to execute my shot. I'm not playing for them! Get all that "I used to play this way" crap out of your head, and play with what you have now. If you love the game, and you want to play, well into your 80's, ADJUST, and get on with it! There is enough tech out there that you can buy a game persay, but you still have to practice with your NEW swing. And most of all, ENJOY!! A bad day on the course IS still better than a good day at work!

[ZGriswold83]

9 hours ago, samwm said:

 

I read your post, but I'm still curious about where you're losing most of your shots these days. That'll be your starting point here. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mostly a pull and hooks if I keep a smooth tempo. If I swing hard it's a slice.

[ZGriswold83]

2 hours ago, bluedot said:

My theory is that there comes a point with a “homemade” swing where our hand and body speed can’t save a bad swing anymore.  You can still have ok rounds, but the number of disasters multiplies, and some days you can’t play at all.

 

There are two paths forward on this, but both require some time and effort.  One is spending some time and money with a teaching pro and learning to swing all over again.  For most homemade guys, this is going to mean better use of the shoulders and hips, and less of a timing-based arm swing. 
 

The other piece, WAY too often ignored IMO, is making sure that your body isn’t limiting your swing.  As we age, and especially if our job involves a lot of sitting, we lose mobility, even if we’re still reasonably strong and reasonably flexible.  Maybe the most frequent culprit in this is hip mobility; if your hips don’t move properly, the only way to get your body out of the way of your arms is to early extent; you use your lumbar spine to clear your upper body by coming up and out.  The results are EXACTLY what you describe; lots of low right scuds that don’t get airborne, two-way misses because you are flipping your hands to try to save the shot, and a sore back because you are using your lumbar spine instead of your thoracic spine.  
 

The trick to all of this is finding somebody(s) who can assess your swing and your body and tell you what’s going on and what to do about it.  You can tell from the previous responses that what you’re going thru isn’t uncommon at all.  

This is exactly what I am going through. I found a new a new teacher and I'm going for lessons starting next week. Hopefully he can work with me around my limits.

[ZGriswold83]

1 hour ago, BTP said:

@ZGriswold83 I'm right there with you man. The whole taxing on the body job, kids, don't get to play or practice much; overall dull-drums. I can tell you what worked for me to get my game somewhat back to what it was (consistently breaking 80)...

 

I changed my whole swing philosophy. I began implementing Monte's NTC for better or for worse because I was committed to it and truly believe it is the gold standard swing protocol.

 

I started with short chips and just began chipping everyday working the wrist action even if it was just 5 minutes here and there every day, inside or outside didn't matter.

 

I would travel with my orange whip and get out of the car on breaks and swing the orange whip. Little things like this are what helped me enjoy the game and play better. I know I have to stretch more, so I do so everyday with light calisthenics and especially stretching after golf or activity. I continue strengthening exercises working on functional golf movements for stability rotation.

 

Most importantly though, having the mindset of committing to something and being determined that you will do it knowing that it may get worse before it gets better. Stick through the process and know that you will get better for all the effort you put into it, even in the short frame opportunities you have. You clearly have it in you so commit to something and do it. For me, 30 minutes each day or every other day is what I have available to get better so I take advantage.

I also do believe in NTC, I just can't seem to put it in practice. I have a really hard time not thinking about those movements when I am taking a swing. I can do the drills, I understand why, but when it comes time to pull the trigger on a full swing, it's like I'm paralyzed with swing thoughts. I play my best when I have one swing thought and I am still searching for it.

[phizzy30]

Golf is a total mind f***.  The nice thing is that if your a good golfer at a young age and you keep playing, you will maintain it.  The problem that arises is that if you stop playing for a long time, it can go either way and you can either regain the form you once had or never get it back and suck for the rest of your life.  It seems like you're going the way of the ladder unfortunately.  At best, you will eventually figure it out sometime down the line if you keep working at it.  At worst, your mediocrity will continue to the point where you go into the depths of despair and hate yourself for spending so much time and resources.  I would give it a few more months.  If you still don't see any progress, then consider quitting. 

[Nels55]

3 hours ago, bluedot said:

My theory is that there comes a point with a “homemade” swing where our hand and body speed can’t save a bad swing anymore.  You can still have ok rounds, but the number of disasters multiplies, and some days you can’t play at all.

 

There are two paths forward on this, but both require some time and effort.  One is spending some time and money with a teaching pro and learning to swing all over again.  For most homemade guys, this is going to mean better use of the shoulders and hips, and less of a timing-based arm swing. 
 

The other piece, WAY too often ignored IMO, is making sure that your body isn’t limiting your swing.  As we age, and especially if our job involves a lot of sitting, we lose mobility, even if we’re still reasonably strong and reasonably flexible.  Maybe the most frequent culprit in this is hip mobility; if your hips don’t move properly, the only way to get your body out of the way of your arms is to early extent; you use your lumbar spine to clear your upper body by coming up and out.  The results are EXACTLY what you describe; lots of low right scuds that don’t get airborne, two-way misses because you are flipping your hands to try to save the shot, and a sore back because you are using your lumbar spine instead of your thoracic spine.  
 

The trick to all of this is finding somebody(s) who can assess your swing and your body and tell you what’s going on and what to do about it.  You can tell from the previous responses that what you’re going thru isn’t uncommon at all.  

I am 67 years old and I am hitting the ball farther then I ever have.  I also shot the lowest round of my life recently (1 under par brag here, and it ain't passive!).  I give a lot of credit for these things to Dr. Kwon's videos on youtube and also muscle activation technique.  M.A.T. work has made a huge difference in hip mobility and overall back fitness. 

 

That said I have been limited in my playing the last couple of weeks due to lower back pain.  I had not seen my M.A.T. person for several months and had lost some muscle function.  I have had several sessions since the back locked up and I am feeling better.  The main problem seems to have been poor swing technique though.  My swing had become too flat with some significant reverse C which is not what Kwon teaches but that sort of thing can happen to those of us who are essentially self taught.  I got a bit over confident and quit looking at video and went on my own feels which resulted in poor swing technique and some lower back pain.  Feeling a lot better today and I believe that I have my swing back on track.  Time will tell. 

 

Anyway aside from my boring story here I think that playing by feel can be dangerous and it is probably better to have some sort of structure and hopefully another pair of eyes so I definitely agree with your advice to find somebody to assess your swing.

[bluedot]

1 hour ago, Nels55 said:

I am 67 years old and I am hitting the ball farther then I ever have.  I also shot the lowest round of my life recently (1 under par brag here, and it ain't passive!).  I give a lot of credit for these things to Dr. Kwon's videos on youtube and also muscle activation technique.  M.A.T. work has made a huge difference in hip mobility and overall back fitness. 

 

That said I have been limited in my playing the last couple of weeks due to lower back pain.  I had not seen my M.A.T. person for several months and had lost some muscle function.  I have had several sessions since the back locked up and I am feeling better.  The main problem seems to have been poor swing technique though.  My swing had become too flat with some significant reverse C which is not what Kwon teaches but that sort of thing can happen to those of us who are essentially self taught.  I got a bit over confident and quit looking at video and went on my own feels which resulted in poor swing technique and some lower back pain.  Feeling a lot better today and I believe that I have my swing back on track.  Time will tell. 

 

Anyway aside from my boring story here I think that playing by feel can be dangerous and it is probably better to have some sort of structure and hopefully another pair of eyes so I definitely agree with your advice to find somebody to assess your swing.

When golfers get low back pain from playing, and barring any other injury to the lower back, it is pretty much ALWAYS a swing issue.  But the swing issue, whether early extension or reverse C, is often a hip mobility issue.  If your hips aren’t (or can’t!) move properly, it puts all sorts of pressure on the lower back to get the upper body out of the way.  That’s both potentially painful for the lower back, and a terribly bad way to try to hit a golf ball.  It might work ok(ish) off the tee, but shots off the ground become fugly…

[Nels55]

1 hour ago, bluedot said:

When golfers get low back pain from playing, and barring any other injury to the lower back, it is pretty much ALWAYS a swing issue.  But the swing issue, whether early extension or reverse C, is often a hip mobility issue.  If your hips aren’t (or can’t!) move properly, it puts all sorts of pressure on the lower back to get the upper body out of the way.  That’s both potentially painful for the lower back, and a terribly bad way to try to hit a golf ball.  It might work ok(ish) off the tee, but shots off the ground become fugly…

Hip mobility is the first thing that was worked on for my lower back pain when I first started M.A.T. definitely a huge factor.  

 

I have found that the most pain free way to golf is to use an arm swing and just sort of let my body follow.  I can hit it pretty well that way but I don't have any consistency.  To play well I have to use my body more which requires good swing mechanics in order to keep my lower back feeling good.

[BTP]

21 hours ago, ZGriswold83 said:

I also do believe in NTC, I just can't seem to put it in practice. I have a really hard time not thinking about those movements when I am taking a swing. I can do the drills, I understand why, but when it comes time to pull the trigger on a full swing, it's like I'm paralyzed with swing thoughts. I play my best when I have one swing thought and I am still searching for it.

 

When first starting to implement the swing I would go through the rehearsal steps especially the no turn and cast as my pre-shot movements before hitting each range ball. I had a very hard time going against my impulse to overturn on the backswing. I literally felt like my lead arm was less than parallel to the ground before the transition. There were balls I swear I was standing over for almost a minute just trying to prepare mentally what I was attempting to feel. Eventually I got to where my swing felt shorter and was getting pure ballstriking but it literally felt like my backswing was shorter than Jon Ramn's.

 

The only thing I think now (more like feel) 1) Wait for my lead shoulder to reach my chin in the backswing and 2) Before transition feel like I cast hard, like you're throwing a long fishing pole cast.

 

Sounds like you just haven't trusted the swing yet and are having a hard time fighting your impulse. That is the hardest part of the NTC. Once you get it or rather find that FEEL you'll be golden. I initially switched to this type of swing because I wanted A) A swing that would hold up and be consistent and more importantly B) A swing that is less taxing on the body. Good luck in your process!

[ShowMe]

Try some Kineseology Tape (K-Tape) and a Theragun for your back.  I have a ruptured disc and two bulging discs, and those two things have been a godsend in controlling my lower back pain.