Messed my swing, what should i do?

[iotiX]

Well, i've been hitting the best i've ever hit this year, and then my coach tells me that i have this giant loop in my swing. So he tells me to do a drill where i take my swing back about half way, and the club should be pointing at my target, and the club face should be pointing up. I did that, and when he was satisfied, he said to just complete my rotation of my shoulders for the full swing, and swing. At practice, it worked beautifully. The shots went straight. He suggested that i keep doing it in my backyard so i did. But now, the problem is that i can barely make contact with the ball now. It seems that no matter what i try to do, i hit the ball and it just skips away, or sometimes i just chunk it. What should i do to try to fix this mess? I was hitting so well, or at least i thought, and this just messed everything up...

[leebev]

Re: Messed my swing, what should i do?

Don't listen to your coach !! Only joking .

It's very difficult when you have a swing altered from what feels comfortable to you. It can throw your game right out the window, which it appears to have done. Looking at your profile, I see you do not have a handicap, so I do not know at what level you are at. So when you say you were hitting the best you have ever hit, what was different?

Your coach has given you good advice, and if in practice it was working, then it is unlikely that you are transferring the new technique to the golf course. This may be for the very simple reason that you are worrying about all the new instruction, that you are tensing up and forgetting to relax and enjoy the game. A swing lasts a couple of seconds, and this is not the time to be worrying where the club head is pointing. As long as your grip & set up are fine, rotate the hips and shoulders and swing comfortably. If you are trying to check each part of the back swing as you do it, you are more likely than not swaying the hips.

Cheers.
Lee.

[iotiX]

Re: Messed my swing, what should i do?

Thanks for the reply. After some hits in my backyard (simple chipping, and I have a net to practice a little), it seems that i was indeed a little too tense about the whole thing. I relaxed up a lot, got a good night's sleep for the first time in a week (school demands hard hours) and it's gotten better. I'm hitting them fine now, except that i'm making a bigger divot than usual. I used to hit little to no divot, but now this medium sized piece of dirt and grass pops out each shot. Is this divot too big? What should i do if it is? The divot in the ground is about half an inch (at least) to 1.5 inches (max) deep.

[iotiX]

Re: Messed my swing, what should i do?

Thanks for the help and support guys. I just went to the range, and my swing feels more natural and improved. I'm even hitting it BETTER and straighter than i was before, which is great for me. Getting frustrated and angry never helped me, and once i relaxed and got some well needed sleep, my swing has only gotten better.

[Simon Woo]

Re: Messed my swing, what should i do?

I'm curious about this "fanning" technique. We are normally advised to have the toe instead of the face pointing up at that point in the backswing, right?