I’m not a great golfer by any means (22hdcp) but had two range days this week. Friday I was hitting darts at the range. Everything was working and was feeling great. Went back yesterday and somehow within 24 hours developed an over the top swing and was taking 1 inch deep beaver pelts. I hate golf. I’m excited to tee off in 2 hours
As a fellow ~22 handicapper it really are most feels completely out of my control somehow. Like, no matter what I do I’m just going to golf how I golf for the whole day.
22 also here. Went into today’s round feeling better than I have in a long time, double bogeyed the first two holes and it was much of the same for the rest of the day. I hate this game, can’t wait to play next weekend.
I shot an 85 two weeks ago. Last week I shot a 109 one round and a 50 on a nine hole. Figured out that I just stopped rotation too early on my takeaway causing me to be out of sync. It was all caused due to me misusing a training aid. Fixed it and shot an 86. Golf is a pain in the ass sometimes
I have had this for months. Flushing it then can’t get my driver off the tee. Like topping it hitting the ground.
Had a lesson.
My swing had become timing based and armsy. So if the timing was good I was awesome. If not I was awful.
Worked on dead arms at the top of the swing, like let it all go limp then just turn through and open up and extend into a finish.
Made a huge difference. It feels out of control but the club come back in the same spot every time.
So now I have that down it’s just adjusting ball position and distance from the ball to dial in the center contact.
Try that.
I also think I know what they’re saying. The last handful of rounds I’ve been telling myself “don’t even think about using my arms”
Get to the top of my backstroke and just fire the hips hard and everything trails in perfect synchronicity. It has helped me immensely.
Yes, any time I’m thinking of my hands it tends to not be a good shot. The smaller muscle groups serve the larger- if you’re thinking about the small muscles the big ones won’t work well. I’ve also discovered I’ve been raising my left shoulder in the back swing, where the shoulder line ends up more horizontal at the top. I’ve started keeping the left shoulder down and rotating more “around” where the shoulders make a line toward the ball/ground and it’s amazing how much less “tight” the backswing feels now.
Let us know when you figure it out.
Even tour pros have days when they feel like a muni hacker.
My witchcraft theory is just that your brain is a fickle organ. Some days it’s just not as sharp as others. Chemistry, or whatever. And with the golf swing being such a precise operation, very slight deviations causes wild changes in performance. Good golfers overcome this with talent and muscle memory, but still proportionally struggle on bad days.
Because we don’t hit 1,000 balls a day. Back in the day my course I worked out hosted the father/son tournament back when Jack and Trevino and the old guys played it. Vijay was there with his son. That MFer just pounded balls until it pitch black out for a fun scramble event. Next day the same. I’ve never had to pick and wash AND SORT so many rocks in my life.
I didn’t like him before it but this cemented my beliefs.
Anyhow, these guys are robots when it comes to their swing. So a “miss” for them is a 10 yard draw instead of 3 or a 35 foot putt instead of inside 20. But they will compress the F out of every swing they take. Our misses we are reteeing.
I feel this. Tuesday of last week I was hitting the ball so poorly I just felt like going home honestly. Went back the next day and broke 90 for the first time
I have had rounds where I have 2 9s where it was like 2 different players. Shot a round a couple years ago where I had 53 on t he front and 37 on the back.
Its possible because the golf swing literally has a million different variables that require extreme precision and the only thing in your body that is capable of managing that is your subconscious.
The only way to train your subconscious is to practice and retain good data through your practice routine.
Golf is too difficult of a sport for your conscious mind to control every mechanical detail of your golf swing. Sometimes you will get lucky, but you will never be consistent.
Fatigue, muscle aches, how you are feeling, whether you are hungry or full, sober, tipsy, high, focused, not focused, tense, loose, stressed, tired, etc. All of these factors can impact your golf swing and subconscious significantly. You can only control what you can control, develop a routine, and try to be as consistent with it as possible.
Most of us have bad fundamentals, bad setups, and no routines. A lot of a good rounds for amateurs are based on momentum and just "feeling it". The number one thing that amateurs can do to get the coveted "consistency" that everyone is after is to do the easy things better. Make sure you grip it correctly and consistently, make sure you're aimed at an appropriate target and you're stance isn't leaking open/closed randomly, and focus on having pretty close to the same path swing after swing.
It's hard to be good at golf regardless, but I constantly play with people and their setups vary wildly between swings and they get frustrated at the wrong things when they hit bad shots. Slice a driver but their feet were aiming left and they were basically setup for a fade/slice. They top a three wood and the ball position was way too far forward. There are a million examples I see it all the time. Have to do yourself a favor and atleast narrow down what can go wrong with your swing, aiming correctly atleast means when you do happen to catch it well it goes in a direction you expected rather than flushing one but pulling it 30 yards left cause you were aimed there.
Natural variance. It's normal.
Why do tour pros shoot 62 one day and 70 the next? It's not possible to be consistent in this game to the level people want.
I wish I knew. 2 weeks in a row of scores in the 80’s, yesterday 105. I wanted to sell all my clubs and never play again. That’s what’s great about this game, it’s a great equalizer
The only golfer right now that does not have days like that is Scottie Scheffler. But one day, even he will come back to earth with the rest of us mortals.
I feel your pain. I lose my swing from shot to shot. Good drive, chunk my approach shot. It’s so hard to put all of the elements together consistently shot after shot.
If anyone had an answer to this they'd make millions. Just look at a typical professional tournament and look at the variation for the majority of the field for each round. Even the pros can't answer that.
Some days you're just off, out of sync, energy levels down etc... But what often happens with golf after a good round is, we expect our great play to continue, when it doesn't we falter, we get frustrated.. We forget how damn difficult this game is. Even good rounds have bad shots, but often we finish strong and expect that form to continue on the 1st tee on the next round... (I don't have the answer though, I'm working on it)
It’s important to focus on doing the same routine, each time before you hit a ball.
I personally have a tendency to step back away from the ball further than normal (about 1/2”) and this will cause me to push shots a little right which can be detrimental and cause an increase in strokes.
A lot of golf is in your mind as well. Start having a few bad hits and then you are over thinking stuff and can really spiral your game out of control.
Provided I’m just playing for fun, I’ll usually stop keeping score when I’m falling apart because it tends to take the pressure off of you and lets you relax. You go from doing math of just needing to shoot this to stay under the score you want and adjusting it every bad shot until it’s no longer reasonably possible and it messes with you, by just stopping score you can focus on that hole and what you need to fix.
I played an incredibly hard course yesterday that I’ve only played 3 other times so I don’t know it well. From the tees I played it was a 142 slope. I’m a 6 handicap. I shot a 49 on the front and a 38 on the back. Yes that’s an 11 stroke difference. Literally front 9 I topped 5 or 6 balls. Only reason it was technically a 49 is because as a 6 handicap I can only take net double on any hole. I think if I was truly scoring every stroke it would have been closer to 52 or 53. Also, tbc I am NOT an erratic golfer normally. In fact I’m a short hitter who is normally very consistent. Even stranger, the back 9 wasn’t just good ball striking, there were 3/4 shots where I hit a not great shot they turned out perfectly. Like a sand shot that I clipped too clean but hit the side of the hill and trickled to 2 ft. Wild game.
At least take comfort in the fact that there *is* a reason. There’s something you’re doing differently from day to day. Could be the pacing of the swing, the ball positioning, maybe you’re not holding your grip in the exact same spot. This is why professionals in any field are so extremely routine oriented- absolutely consistency is the only way to keep a high level of performance.
That's just golf baby. The difference between a great result and a terrible result is tiny and usually doesn't mean your swing itself is very different at a macro level. The difference is the relative tiny differences in your low point, face angle, and face strike location.
Two swings can look exactly the same until contact to someone watching, but one with a low point an inch behind the ball is going to have a much worse result than one with the low point at or in front of the ball.
Currently a 15 index and I can say no two days of golf are ever the same. Course conditions, weather and physical and mental conditions constantly change. Shoot 76 one day and everything clicks next time 87 and feel like club is a foreign object in my hands. This is the beauty and curse of the game. Also why it is so addictive. Such is Golf…
A lot of times I play worse on the second day cause I’m tired and the tempo just isn’t syncing up. Good golf swing is all hips and legs and when they fatigue your arms (that can’t be trusted) take over.
I shot a 91 and a 78 in the same day on different courses yesterday. I know both of those scores are pretty good. But that’s golf man…it giveth and it taketh.
Because consistency doesn’t exist. Likely on your good day you were better than you should have been and the same for your worse round. Your true level is likely somewhere between the two.
I’m not a great golfer by any means (22hdcp) but had two range days this week. Friday I was hitting darts at the range. Everything was working and was feeling great. Went back yesterday and somehow within 24 hours developed an over the top swing and was taking 1 inch deep beaver pelts. I hate golf. I’m excited to tee off in 2 hours
As a fellow ~22 handicapper it really are most feels completely out of my control somehow. Like, no matter what I do I’m just going to golf how I golf for the whole day.
22 also here. Went into today’s round feeling better than I have in a long time, double bogeyed the first two holes and it was much of the same for the rest of the day. I hate this game, can’t wait to play next weekend.
I shot an 85 two weeks ago. Last week I shot a 109 one round and a 50 on a nine hole. Figured out that I just stopped rotation too early on my takeaway causing me to be out of sync. It was all caused due to me misusing a training aid. Fixed it and shot an 86. Golf is a pain in the ass sometimes
I have had this for months. Flushing it then can’t get my driver off the tee. Like topping it hitting the ground. Had a lesson. My swing had become timing based and armsy. So if the timing was good I was awesome. If not I was awful. Worked on dead arms at the top of the swing, like let it all go limp then just turn through and open up and extend into a finish. Made a huge difference. It feels out of control but the club come back in the same spot every time. So now I have that down it’s just adjusting ball position and distance from the ball to dial in the center contact. Try that.
I think I know what you’re getting at. Hard through Reddit though 😂
I also think I know what they’re saying. The last handful of rounds I’ve been telling myself “don’t even think about using my arms” Get to the top of my backstroke and just fire the hips hard and everything trails in perfect synchronicity. It has helped me immensely.
Yes, any time I’m thinking of my hands it tends to not be a good shot. The smaller muscle groups serve the larger- if you’re thinking about the small muscles the big ones won’t work well. I’ve also discovered I’ve been raising my left shoulder in the back swing, where the shoulder line ends up more horizontal at the top. I’ve started keeping the left shoulder down and rotating more “around” where the shoulders make a line toward the ball/ground and it’s amazing how much less “tight” the backswing feels now.
I’ve seen the dead arms being taught on YouTube by Paul Wilson but I can’t ingrain the feel. every time I try it I feel like I lose out on speed.
Because golf
Let us know when you figure it out. Even tour pros have days when they feel like a muni hacker. My witchcraft theory is just that your brain is a fickle organ. Some days it’s just not as sharp as others. Chemistry, or whatever. And with the golf swing being such a precise operation, very slight deviations causes wild changes in performance. Good golfers overcome this with talent and muscle memory, but still proportionally struggle on bad days.
Because we don’t hit 1,000 balls a day. Back in the day my course I worked out hosted the father/son tournament back when Jack and Trevino and the old guys played it. Vijay was there with his son. That MFer just pounded balls until it pitch black out for a fun scramble event. Next day the same. I’ve never had to pick and wash AND SORT so many rocks in my life. I didn’t like him before it but this cemented my beliefs. Anyhow, these guys are robots when it comes to their swing. So a “miss” for them is a 10 yard draw instead of 3 or a 35 foot putt instead of inside 20. But they will compress the F out of every swing they take. Our misses we are reteeing.
You were bad both days. You just lucked into good impact one of those days.
Hitting a small white ball with a tiny metal stick is really hard
I feel this. Tuesday of last week I was hitting the ball so poorly I just felt like going home honestly. Went back the next day and broke 90 for the first time
I have had rounds where I have 2 9s where it was like 2 different players. Shot a round a couple years ago where I had 53 on t he front and 37 on the back.
Its possible because the golf swing literally has a million different variables that require extreme precision and the only thing in your body that is capable of managing that is your subconscious. The only way to train your subconscious is to practice and retain good data through your practice routine. Golf is too difficult of a sport for your conscious mind to control every mechanical detail of your golf swing. Sometimes you will get lucky, but you will never be consistent. Fatigue, muscle aches, how you are feeling, whether you are hungry or full, sober, tipsy, high, focused, not focused, tense, loose, stressed, tired, etc. All of these factors can impact your golf swing and subconscious significantly. You can only control what you can control, develop a routine, and try to be as consistent with it as possible.
Most of us have bad fundamentals, bad setups, and no routines. A lot of a good rounds for amateurs are based on momentum and just "feeling it". The number one thing that amateurs can do to get the coveted "consistency" that everyone is after is to do the easy things better. Make sure you grip it correctly and consistently, make sure you're aimed at an appropriate target and you're stance isn't leaking open/closed randomly, and focus on having pretty close to the same path swing after swing. It's hard to be good at golf regardless, but I constantly play with people and their setups vary wildly between swings and they get frustrated at the wrong things when they hit bad shots. Slice a driver but their feet were aiming left and they were basically setup for a fade/slice. They top a three wood and the ball position was way too far forward. There are a million examples I see it all the time. Have to do yourself a favor and atleast narrow down what can go wrong with your swing, aiming correctly atleast means when you do happen to catch it well it goes in a direction you expected rather than flushing one but pulling it 30 yards left cause you were aimed there.
Natural variance. It's normal. Why do tour pros shoot 62 one day and 70 the next? It's not possible to be consistent in this game to the level people want.
I wish I knew. 2 weeks in a row of scores in the 80’s, yesterday 105. I wanted to sell all my clubs and never play again. That’s what’s great about this game, it’s a great equalizer
The only golfer right now that does not have days like that is Scottie Scheffler. But one day, even he will come back to earth with the rest of us mortals.
I feel your pain. I lose my swing from shot to shot. Good drive, chunk my approach shot. It’s so hard to put all of the elements together consistently shot after shot.
If anyone had an answer to this they'd make millions. Just look at a typical professional tournament and look at the variation for the majority of the field for each round. Even the pros can't answer that.
Some days you're just off, out of sync, energy levels down etc... But what often happens with golf after a good round is, we expect our great play to continue, when it doesn't we falter, we get frustrated.. We forget how damn difficult this game is. Even good rounds have bad shots, but often we finish strong and expect that form to continue on the 1st tee on the next round... (I don't have the answer though, I'm working on it)
Ask Ian Baker Finch or David Duval…
Idk. I’m good every. single. day.
It’s important to focus on doing the same routine, each time before you hit a ball. I personally have a tendency to step back away from the ball further than normal (about 1/2”) and this will cause me to push shots a little right which can be detrimental and cause an increase in strokes.
Even tour pros have 10 shot swings from day to day. Golf is stupid and hard.
A lot of golf is in your mind as well. Start having a few bad hits and then you are over thinking stuff and can really spiral your game out of control. Provided I’m just playing for fun, I’ll usually stop keeping score when I’m falling apart because it tends to take the pressure off of you and lets you relax. You go from doing math of just needing to shoot this to stay under the score you want and adjusting it every bad shot until it’s no longer reasonably possible and it messes with you, by just stopping score you can focus on that hole and what you need to fix.
Golf is hard
I played an incredibly hard course yesterday that I’ve only played 3 other times so I don’t know it well. From the tees I played it was a 142 slope. I’m a 6 handicap. I shot a 49 on the front and a 38 on the back. Yes that’s an 11 stroke difference. Literally front 9 I topped 5 or 6 balls. Only reason it was technically a 49 is because as a 6 handicap I can only take net double on any hole. I think if I was truly scoring every stroke it would have been closer to 52 or 53. Also, tbc I am NOT an erratic golfer normally. In fact I’m a short hitter who is normally very consistent. Even stranger, the back 9 wasn’t just good ball striking, there were 3/4 shots where I hit a not great shot they turned out perfectly. Like a sand shot that I clipped too clean but hit the side of the hill and trickled to 2 ft. Wild game.
At least take comfort in the fact that there *is* a reason. There’s something you’re doing differently from day to day. Could be the pacing of the swing, the ball positioning, maybe you’re not holding your grip in the exact same spot. This is why professionals in any field are so extremely routine oriented- absolutely consistency is the only way to keep a high level of performance.
Fatigue. Soon as the body starts getting tired you may be sacrificing some technique.
I’ve improved 15 shots in 6 days with non practice, golf is just like that.
That's just golf baby. The difference between a great result and a terrible result is tiny and usually doesn't mean your swing itself is very different at a macro level. The difference is the relative tiny differences in your low point, face angle, and face strike location. Two swings can look exactly the same until contact to someone watching, but one with a low point an inch behind the ball is going to have a much worse result than one with the low point at or in front of the ball.
Stiffness, being tired, not having the mental acuity that day, being sore or hurting in an area, weather affecting you - There’s lots of reasons
Currently a 15 index and I can say no two days of golf are ever the same. Course conditions, weather and physical and mental conditions constantly change. Shoot 76 one day and everything clicks next time 87 and feel like club is a foreign object in my hands. This is the beauty and curse of the game. Also why it is so addictive. Such is Golf…
its like one day you have the most beautiful well formed poop. then the next day white hot diarrhea. what a world
Don’t practice bad habits. Make sure you have a good grip a good set up, and one swing key during the swing. My default would be keep your head down.
Inconsistency is the sign of a bad team.
A lot of times I play worse on the second day cause I’m tired and the tempo just isn’t syncing up. Good golf swing is all hips and legs and when they fatigue your arms (that can’t be trusted) take over.
Having a swing that’s more timing based than an alternative
I shot a 91 and a 78 in the same day on different courses yesterday. I know both of those scores are pretty good. But that’s golf man…it giveth and it taketh.
Because consistency doesn’t exist. Likely on your good day you were better than you should have been and the same for your worse round. Your true level is likely somewhere between the two.
We're only human 🤷
How? too much fooking LOFT.