Trying to Reconstruct my Swing

[Keith Tobberman]

Hello,
I cannot play golf for another 5 months or so because of the snow here (in Maine.) Anyway, This coming year is going to be my 3rd or 4th year. I have had times where I can hit the ball well. A couple of seasons ago, at one point, I could drive the ball around 240 yards and straight most times. But last season, out of the 20-30 times I played, I literally had not 1 hit with anything (other than a putter) that I was happy with. I practice and practice and cannot find my groove. What do you suggest I do to kind of begin again and turn back to the basics? What should I work on to bring me back to good fundamentals?

-Thanks

[jambalaya]

Re: Trying to Reconstruct my Swing

Of the following, which steps have you taken to learn the swing so far:

Lessons
Practice (How much)
Books
Articles
Golf Forums (That's a yes)
Gadgets
Videos

I know the feeling of going through periods where you just can't seem to hit the ball solid. Yuk! Keep learning about the swing and keep trying things that seem hit upon a problem you are having. Ingrain the basics of the swing into your head. I would suggest starting the year off with some lessons to get you started. Lessons won't always pay off immediately but they will probably give you some direction.

[Keith Tobberman]

Re: Trying to Reconstruct my Swing

I haven't swung a golf club in over 3 months because it is winter, but before and during the golfing season I practice countless hours, I have also spent many many hours reading about the proper swing on the internet and watching shows on the Golf Channel. I had a Refiner trainer and sold it right after because it never helped. I love the game though, and I am not a quitter, so I never really get frustrated to the point of not wanting to play. I just have LOTS of drive to become good and I do whatever I can to develop a good golf game.

-Thanks

[BrianW]

Re: Trying to Reconstruct my Swing

I haven't swung a golf club in over 3 months because it is winter, but before and during the golfing season I practice countless hours, I have also spent many many hours reading about the proper swing on the internet and watching shows on the Golf Channel. I had a Refiner trainer and sold it right after because it never helped. I love the game though, and I am not a quitter, so I never really get frustrated to the point of not wanting to play. I just have LOTS of drive to become good and I do whatever I can to develop a good golf game.

-Thanks

Hi Keith,

Get the 3 Skills book and start using that system of learning. It will allow you to completely empty your head of complicated swing thoughts and will show you how to be a good ball striker in a very easy to understand way.

[Neil18]

Re: Trying to Reconstruct my Swing

You have an opportunity here Keith.

Use the time you have wisely. If you don't already, eat well and do a little exercise. If you do already, rejoice! You have even less work to do! Also, do review your grip thoroughly. A good grip leads to many good things. A bad one never gets us started right.

Aside from that, really take some time out to have an honest look at where your golf game is. Set a direction for your full swing and set an amount of time to practice on your short game, when the weather allows.

With your full swing, you have a chance to change your perception of what you're trying to do whilst you're away from the game. Use it wisely. Quite often many errors come from having a poor mental picture of what we are trying to achieve. If you can change your mental picture before you pick up a club you will have done a lot of good work and saved yourself a lot of range time in summer, time you can spend playing the course and on your short game practice.

An exercise:

How would you sum up your swinging action, to yourself, in a couple of/a few sentences?

E.g. I sum mine up as: moving my arms to the top with the support of the body, then swinging my arms down and through the ball, building speed all the time, with the body facilitating the ever-faster-swinging arms. Keep my right elbow in.

There's obviously a touch more to it than that, but through trial and error and coaching, the above is how simple I now keep my perception of my swing. For my swing, having been through almost all the complicated bits (surely please God!!!!), it really doesn't need to be more complex than this in my head. I'll eventually take out the "keep my right elbow in" bit as this is what I'm working on right now, so all the time I'm trying to make the perception of my swing more simple. It makes its' application simple, in return.

I suppose I'm asking you what your general picture of your swing is, and a)whether you think it's right for you, b) reflects what you want to achieve and c) provides the desired results. If the answer to a) and b) is yes, but c) is no, you have more looking to do. Answer a, b and c "yes" and you're there.

Sometimes when we really look, we can be surprised how far away we are from where we want to be, but also encouraged by the things we have going for us.

The difficult part comes in learning all the things we need to learn in order to make it simple! Paradox much??

I've resigned to calling it "unlearning". You can see from my signature that I'm a Star Wars fan, so I hear Yoda........."you must unlearn what you have learned"

How true.

Finally:

"I just have LOTS of drive to become good and I do whatever I can to develop a good golf game"

In that case you're half way there. The rest just takes time, a little bravery, and well placed doses of self-honesty.

I sincerely hope you find what you're looking for.

[Neil18]

Re: Trying to Reconstruct my Swing

.................................................. .....................or just do what Brian said.......................

[Keith Tobberman]

Re: Trying to Reconstruct my Swing

Thanks so much for the great replies. They literally mean a lot to me. Thanks for the encouragement.

[jambalaya]

Re: Trying to Reconstruct my Swing

Your study is probably getting you a good idea of the basics of the swing. Keep studying and practicing. After a certain point improvement comes from a series of subtle changes that add up to a swing with which you are comfortable and produce results. I would suggest a couple of lessons that include video taped analysis of your swing. It's kind of amazing to see how we are actually swinging the club opposed to how we think we are swinging. I have gone on a similar journey that you are on right now. Good luck.

[dnoonan]

Re: Trying to Reconstruct my Swing

Keith - I'm in the same boat you are. I live in Connecticut and we have 3 feet of snow on the ground. But I would suggest working on your body motion inside. One drill - cross your arms on your chest and assume your golf posture. Work on turning your left shoulder over a flexed right knee. Assuming you swing right handed. Work on turning back and then thru to a full finish with your body facing the target and all your weight on your left side. You may also use a club across your back for the same result.

[Avid Golfer]

Re: Trying to Reconstruct my Swing

Hello,
I cannot play golf for another 5 months or so because of the snow here (in Maine.) Anyway, This coming year is going to be my 3rd or 4th year. I have had times where I can hit the ball well. A couple of seasons ago, at one point, I could drive the ball around 240 yards and straight most times. But last season, out of the 20-30 times I played, I literally had not 1 hit with anything (other than a putter) that I was happy with. I practice and practice and cannot find my groove. What do you suggest I do to kind of begin again and turn back to the basics? What should I work on to bring me back to good fundamentals?

-Thanks

I recommend you focus on the basics and fundamentals related to setup (grip, posture, aim, alignment, ball position, and balance) checking them in a mirror (and/or video). Make sure you have a constant pre-shot routine that accounts for each of your basics, and rehearse that repeatedly. (I recommend mirroring the pre-shot routine of one of the pros listed below). In the mirror or video compare your setup to pictures of the pro of your choice.

For the mechanics of the swing I recommend you get a book or video by a Tour Pro that has been successful for many year. (I recommend Greg Norman, Nick Faldo, Ernie Els, Nick Price, or Steve Elkington as good choices. You also could go with a book of video of an instructor who has worked with those pros for a long time such as: Butch Harmon, David Leadbetter, Rick Smith, or Jim Mclean. However I think you will learn more from the instruction by the pros, for a lot of the material by instructors covers fixing/patch faults that you may or may not have over constructing repeating fundamentals.)

Much of what you see and hear on the golf channel doesn't focus on the fundamentals, and hasn't been proven to be useful under the pressure of tournament play over time by established tour pros.

If you like training aids I recommend you stick with ones geared toward the basics.

Grip:
Butch Harmon's right grip golf gloves. You can read about the correct grip, but by using these, and following the directions you can feel where the club should be positioned in your hands.

Alignment:
You can use a golf club

Posture, balance, and ball position:
Comparison to one of the golf books or videos. A golf club or two can also be useful to check angles and positions.

A weighted club might also be useful, but it is not necessary. In many cases I have seen people use weighted clubs to rehearse bad swings or positions, and make swings worse.

If you stick to established basics and fundamentals, and repeat them in your down time you should be headed in the direction to playing better golf.

[Leverpowergolfer]

Re: Trying to Reconstruct my Swing

A good time to check out Lever Power Golf and make the change

[klaymon]

Re: Trying to Reconstruct my Swing

I was in the exact same boat as you, Keith. I spent countless hours at the range and played every week. At one point I was doing OK, but then things started to decline and I could not hit the ball (topping and blading EVERYTHING, even my driver). I finally broke down and took one lesson. It was the best $30 I spent. I've played once since my lesson, and I've taken about 12-14 strokes off my game. I now have a swing I can trust and one that allows me to hit about 90% of my shots with clean contact as opposed to less than 25% before.

Get to an instructor and let them help you get some basics down. All the money you spend on gadgets could get you a few lessons that would be far more beneficial.