[Bonny]

I'm a Tiger lover ! I watch what he has been through. One week he wins the tournament & next week, he doesn't make the cut. Not just him, many of the big names of golf. It really is, the game of golf. I think we all kind of have that love hate relationship. LOL

[fred53]

Originally Posted by justjim

You are doing the right thing by taking a lesson----may need a couple. I have been inconsistent for about six months now and need a couple of lessons myself. I found over the years that I sometimes have what Gary Player calls "paralysis of analysis". You might try playing a couple of rounds without thinking so much and just hit the ball and have some fun and see what happens.

paralysis "by" analysis...sorry just had to. :-)

[Golfer in Sanibel]

I quit playing golf for 18 years. Prior to that I was a 12 handicap. When I started up again, 5 years ago, I had spells of topping the ball and the same symptoms you describe until this spring. Shooting in the 90s and 100s. Joey Haydock found the reason. At the top of my backswing I was straightening my right knee. He said that I had about 6/10s of a second to raise it and about 2/10s of a second to get back down. I could get down some times and others I couldn't. Have someone video you and watch your right knee.

I couldn't feel the leg straighten. He had me stick a shaft in the ground at about a 45 degree angle so it went across the front of my left shin and behind my right knee. If I straightened my right knee the shaft would press on my left shin. I did about 50 swings a day like this for about ten days and have mostly fixed the problem. Also, I have shortened my backswing. I'm now a 17 and declining and playing my best golf since I restarted playing.

Good luck.

[Villager Audio Video]

Post up a video and let's have a look...

[Bay Kid]

I have the same problem every time my evil twin brother comes to play.

[ivanhoe]

Originally Posted by murray607

This is the second time this has happened to me in the past 3 years.

I am a 15 handicap playing decent golf (mid-80's to low 90's) as low as 82 until a couple weeks ago. Went out on first hole and birdied, parred #2 then came the bad stuff, finished with a 99!. I thought well it is just one game, but next day I am 104 then 106 and so it has gone on.

Initially I was topping my fairway woods and ok with driver and irons, then my irons started to also be an issue, as I was shanking and topping them too.
Driver was still ok as was my putter.

Yes, I am booked in with the pro.....but..............

I guess most people have gone through this at one time or another. 3 years ago a couple buckets of balls got me back on track, but this time I can't figure it out.

My swing doesn't seem to have changed and my tempo seems ok.

For those of you who have gone through this, what was likely cause? What checks have you instilled in yourself at set up etc. to prevent this happening again?

WATCH THE CLUB HEAD STRIKE THE BALL!

All your symptoms indicate address and vision correction needs.
Determine dominate eye and get your nose out of the shot!
Watch too for "flying right elbow" (assuming u r right handed player).

[murray607]

Originally Posted by Bonny

I'm a Tiger lover ! I watch what he has been through. One week he wins the tournament & next week, he doesn't make the cut. Not just him, many of the big names of golf. It really is, the game of golf. I think we all kind of have that love hate relationship. LOL

If only I was like Tiger. His worst game is still better than my best game lol

[murray607]

Originally Posted by Golfer in Sanibel

I quit playing golf for 18 years. Prior to that I was a 12 handicap. When I started up again, 5 years ago, I had spells of topping the ball and the same symptoms you describe until this spring. Shooting in the 90s and 100s. Joey Haydock found the reason. At the top of my backswing I was straightening my right knee. He said that I had about 6/10s of a second to raise it and about 2/10s of a second to get back down. I could get down some times and others I couldn't. Have someone video you and watch your right knee.

I couldn't feel the leg straighten. He had me stick a shaft in the ground at about a 45 degree angle so it went across the front of my left shin and behind my right knee. If I straightened my right knee the shaft would press on my left shin. I did about 50 swings a day like this for about ten days and have mostly fixed the problem. Also, I have shortened my backswing. I'm now a 17 and declining and playing my best golf since I restarted playing.

Good luck.

Now that sounds like something I may be doing. I used to straighten my right knee, but by putting more pressure on the ball of my right foot on the backswing, it preveneted that happening. Could be an old habit creeping back in

[murray607]

Originally Posted by ivanhoe

WATCH THE CLUB HEAD STRIKE THE BALL!

All your symptoms indicate address and vision correction needs.
Determine dominate eye and get your nose out of the shot!
Watch too for "flying right elbow" (assuming u r right handed player).

The right elbow is ok, but you may have something with the eye thing. I am right eye dominant and try to focus on a spot about 4-6 inches behind the ball

[murray607]

Originally Posted by murray607

The right elbow is ok, but you may have something with the eye thing. I am right eye dominant and try to focus on a spot about 4-6 inches behind the ball

Well it looks like I am back on track. The pro saw 2 things I had to work on.
One was that I was not finishing my back swing, which saw me releasing the club head a little too early (so he said) and caused me to top some shots.

The second was that I was pushing out too much on my downswing instead of allowing the club to release to the right, so I was shanking irons and fairway woods.

So my game is back................until the next time it falls apart............as you all say, that is golf.

[SandB]

Just came out of a similar problem. I found my swing had gotten a little too long which caused me to raise up slightly. Because of this I topped the ball or came over the top of it. To work my way out of the problem I went to the range and using a nine iron only I worked on a three quarter swing. Within a bucket I started to come right. I really need to concentrate on the course to keep the swing shorter but I am back in the 80's. Hope this helps.

[deltaguy]

Originally Posted by murray607

This is the second time this has happened to me in the past 3 years.

I am a 15 handicap playing decent golf (mid-80's to low 90's) as low as 82 until a couple weeks ago. Went out on first hole and birdied, parred #2 then came the bad stuff, finished with a 99!. I thought well it is just one game, but next day I am 104 then 106 and so it has gone on.

Initially I was topping my fairway woods and ok with driver and irons, then my irons started to also be an issue, as I was shanking and topping them too.
Driver was still ok as was my putter.

Yes, I am booked in with the pro.....but..............

I guess most people have gone through this at one time or another. 3 years ago a couple buckets of balls got me back on track, but this time I can't figure it out.

My swing doesn't seem to have changed and my tempo seems ok.

For those of you who have gone through this, what was likely cause? What checks have you instilled in yourself at set up etc. to prevent this happening again?

Age old remedy: Take two weeks off, then quit!

[murray607]

Originally Posted by deltaguy

Age old remedy: Take two weeks off, then quit!

I won't be giving up until they wrench my 7 iron form my cold dead hands......

[vinnie66]

Quit thinking so much, just swing easy and keep head down . Don't worry where it's going to start until you feel comfortable again.

[Irish Rover]

Shorten your swing, lighten your grip, and slow down - always works for me. By the way, these tips came from my pro. Good Luck.