Mid-Round Schizophrenia

[Calypso55]

I recently returned from my annual golf reunion with my 'old' high school buddies.  We get together every year, renting a house for the 16 of us at Lawsonia Golf Courses in Green Lake, Wisconsin. A great venue!   We play three different courses over the weekend.

 

There's a lot of pride on the line and, given the challenge of the courses, we have come to dub our time together as the "stern test."

 

But, as usual, my game started to come apart mid-round, and suddenly I had to make a decision as to 'which' swing I was going to revert to, having learned many different swings from several different pros over the course of my 50 years of playing golf.

 

It seems that some 'swings,' or perhaps I should say, 'swing thoughts,' work for a little while; but then, when something goes awry, it's a desperate attempt to try to save the round by switching things up mid-round.  Often with disastrous results.

 

Anyone else experience the same kind of on-course schizophrenia???  If so, how do you handle it??

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

 

[PING Apologist #9]

I recently returned from my annual golf reunion with my 'old' high school buddies.  We get together every year, renting a house for the 16 of us at Lawsonia Golf Courses in Green Lake, Wisconsin. A great venue!   We play three different courses over the weekend.

 

There's a lot of pride on the line and, given the challenge of the courses, we have come to dub our time together as the "stern test."

 

But, as usual, my game started to come apart mid-round, and suddenly I had to make a decision as to 'which' swing I was going to revert to, having learned many different swings from several different pros over the course of my 50 years of playing golf.

 

It seems that some 'swings,' or perhaps I should say, 'swing thoughts,' work for a little while; but then, when something goes awry, it's a desperate attempt to try to save the round by switching things up mid-round.  Often with disastrous results.

 

Anyone else experience the same kind of on-course schizophrenia???  If so, how do you handle it??

 

Thanks!

YES. And for a fairly "new" duffer to the game it usually leads to the one bad hole where NO shot works and I wind up posting a seriously ugly round-killer. This is sometimes remedied with the not-so-subtle application of "helper" medicine while waiting at the next tee box...sometimes not...

[GB13]

I recently returned from my annual golf reunion with my 'old' high school buddies. We get together every year, renting a house for the 16 of us at Lawsonia Golf Courses in Green Lake, Wisconsin. A great venue! We play three different courses over the weekend.

 

There's a lot of pride on the line and, given the challenge of the courses, we have come to dub our time together as the "stern test."

 

But, as usual, my game started to come apart mid-round, and suddenly I had to make a decision as to 'which' swing I was going to revert to, having learned many different swings from several different pros over the course of my 50 years of playing golf.

 

It seems that some 'swings,' or perhaps I should say, 'swing thoughts,' work for a little while; but then, when something goes awry, it's a desperate attempt to try to save the round by switching things up mid-round. Often with disastrous results.

 

Anyone else experience the same kind of on-course schizophrenia??? If so, how do you handle it??

 

Thanks!

Absolutely, I think this happens to everyone. There are ebbs and flows to the game. You can't expect every hole to be perfect. I just try to keep doing the same thing and it does come back. You just have to hold on and grind it out during the tough points in the round. You can't play perfect golf for 18 holes. I think it is best to pick a swing, any swing and not change it, just try to work in consistency with it.

[Jon Brittan]

I'm not sure this is the right forum for this topic, but...

 

Take any advice I have to give with a pinch of salt, I've only been playing for approaching 2 years, but I've taken the same approach to golf as I have to every other sport.

 

* Embed good muscle memory...

* Don't have "swing thoughts", only practice swing thoughts.

* If you're not comfortable over the ball, step away.

 

If you need to correct something, do it away from the ball, get the "feel" right on some gentle practice swings, then step over the ball, take a good posture focusing only on that and where you want the ball to end up, then swing freely with the muscle memory of the passive swings, not trying to change this shot mid-swing.

 

If nothing is working, especially with the way UK weather has been recently, just play at 80% and adjust club choices, you'll make clean contact and you can let everything land short to roll into the green.

 

Put less pressure on yourself and don't try to correct the last shot. If you're not consistently hitting the same miss, don't try to correct the last one as it was a mis-swing, not an incorrect swing, work on swing consistency first.

[SeeMore Putts]

I typically don't have mid-round schizophrenia, but I always seem to have rounds that I'd label as Multiple Personality. For example, my last two rounds. Front scores: 49, 52. Corresponding back scores: 40, 45.

Going for an on-course lesson later this week to figure out why.

 

Sent from my Nexus 6P using MyGolfSpy mobile app

[silver & black]

I recently returned from my annual golf reunion with my 'old' high school buddies.  We get together every year, renting a house for the 16 of us at Lawsonia Golf Courses in Green Lake, Wisconsin. A great venue!   We play three different courses over the weekend.

 

There's a lot of pride on the line and, given the challenge of the courses, we have come to dub our time together as the "stern test."

 

But, as usual, my game started to come apart mid-round, and suddenly I had to make a decision as to 'which' swing I was going to revert to, having learned many different swings from several different pros over the course of my 50 years of playing golf.

 

It seems that some 'swings,' or perhaps I should say, 'swing thoughts,' work for a little while; but then, when something goes awry, it's a desperate attempt to try to save the round by switching things up mid-round.  Often with disastrous results.

 

Anyone else experience the same kind of on-course schizophrenia???  If so, how do you handle it??

 

Thanks!

More beer.

[skwieland]

Just my two cents: A great friend of mine (3 handicap on a bad day)  taught me something very well learned but often forgotten. He told me to take three tees from my right pocket and put them in my left... oops, wrong movie! Actually the lesson was this.. remember GAP: Grip, Alignment, Posture then take two deep breaths and have fun. Always centers me back to reality and just having fun. You definitely are not going to pull a swing out that you have not used for 5 years and actually think it's going to work, do you? Use your muscle memory of the swing you have been using... I start to slice... GAP. I start to pull, GAP.... it works to put my mind at a good place.

[Charli]

Slow and smooth usually helps me when things go wrong

[HardcoreLooper]

Punch shots. If I go off the rails, I gear down and just hit punch shots. Just to get the feel of hitting a solid shot. They go almost as far as a regular shot and tend to fly fairly straight. Shorter, more controlled swing, easier to pull off. When I have problems, it tends to be from taking the club back too far or too far inside. Hitting punch shots solves both of those problems.

[knightsofnii]

Punch shots. If I go off the rails, I gear down and just hit punch shots. Just to get the feel of hitting a solid shot. They go almost as far as a regular shot and tend to fly fairly straight. Shorter, more controlled swing, easier to pull off. When I have problems, it tends to be from taking the club back too far or too far inside. Hitting punch shots solves both of those problems.

 

^ this. 

 

I was going to say, I do 2 things. 

1) I will stiffen my arms and wrists, short backswing and just focus on delivering the club face to the ball. 

2) set ball back a pinch, more shaft lean, and my thought is I want to crush the ball down and bury it into the ground, while swinging easy, of course.   

2b) with woods, I use same swing without all the shaft lean and just concentrate on putting the club on the ball and sending it forward. 

 

The biggest problem I have with this though, is knowing when to rip off the bandaid.  I had a bad couple rounds, fell back to my "go to shot", and didn't break back out of it for nearly a year.  Over time the go to punch or stiff shots stopped being effective also.  

 

And if i'm not playing alone... I try to keep my head down for as long as I can.   Someone else can watch its ball flight . 

[Alf. S]

Just my two cents: A great friend of mine (3 handicap on a bad day)  taught me something very well learned but often forgotten. He told me to take three tees from my right pocket and put them in my left... oops, wrong movie! Actually the lesson was this.. remember GAP: Grip, Alignment, Posture then take two deep breaths and have fun. Always centers me back to reality and just having fun. You definitely are not going to pull a swing out that you have not used for 5 years and actually think it's going to work, do you? Use your muscle memory of the swing you have been using... I start to slice... GAP. I start to pull, GAP.... it works to put my mind at a good place.

 

This is great simple advice.

 

I usually find that around the 14th I start to tire physically and mentally. This usually results in my grip getting tighter and my swing gets shorter and quicker. A golf Sage once told me my swing should be like the word Tempo. Backswing is "Tem" downswing "Po". So this is what I always fall back on.

[GB13]

That's what I usually resort to when golf schizophrenia strikes - for me it can strike early, middle or late.

 

I can't manage more than 1-2 swing thoughts, 0 is best.

 

And while at agree with those who say don't monkey with your swing while playing, sometimes you have to. A few weeks ago I blocked my drive way right on five straight holes, had to change something. It was change something, or throw a couple sleeves of new balls in the trees and go home...

I was playing terribbly today like +10 thru 12. I was really in my head thinking too much and "fixing" my swing and had maybe 3-4 swing thoughts. I then told myself to stop thinking about it. I had zero swing thoughts and just went back to a natural not technical swing. I played the last 6 in even once I stopped thinking about it. I think staying out of your head is good for your game.

[knightsofnii]

I was playing terribbly today like +10 thru 12. I was really in my head thinking too much and "fixing" my swing and had maybe 3-4 swing thoughts. I then told myself to stop thinking about it. I had zero swing thoughts and just went back to a natural not technical swing. I played the last 6 in even once I stopped thinking about it. I think staying out of your head is good for your game.

 

 

+10 thru 12 is a decent round for me!!!    +10 for 18 only ever happened once!  

[perseveringgolfer]

Good thread 

 

I played today with a 'new' swing thought and move. Worked for the first tee shot, then I was changing swings and swing thoughts pretty much all the way round- it was probably the worst round of golf I've had in years....searching for the elusive "That's it" moment which never came.

 

 

I like Skwielands friends advice of GAP (Grip Alignment and posture) the fundamentals, not unlike what John Jacobs used to preach when you have a swing disintegration, back to basics he would say and concentrate on GAP...then "two turns and a swish".

 

 

Now I'm looking forward to hitting the range tomorrow and just using muscle memory from decades of playing this beautiful game.