When working through your golf swing in practice sessions , it’s easy to have a swing thought ( usually the thought is what you are working on ) . I struggle with a swing thought when playing a live round; Especially when things don’t go the way you hope and all of sudden you have several thoughts running through mind and ruining your swing and your day . Any suggestions?
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Yeah, I agree...lack of shoulder turn is my issue also. I think it partially comes from fatigue, and partially from trying to over-control shot outcome. And with lack of shoulder turn the club either flies too far in to out, or comes over the top. The other 20% of the problem for me is getting my weight too far towards my toes at address, especially with shorter irons, like 9-LW. I like to feel like I'm standing taller on those irons and that seems to curtail a lot of BS. After watching the Masters it was amazing how close some pro's stand to the ball on short irons, but they also stand more upright...or so it seems.
Tom is right, the good thing is we know our weaknesses and when bad shots occur, we know how to get back on track.
Great points, @Nocona Colt Abernathy. This speaks to having that default "reboot" swing in our back pocket - like Drill 2.8 or the Flying Wedge, for example - that we can reliably deploy mid-round if some oil starts to leak. This allows us to keep it in play with sufficient distance while we try to figure things out between shots.
I haven't dialogued a ton with forum members on this subject. Mainly because @GolfLivesMatter usually has a dissertation going on around "ranger rick". 😂 One bit of wisdom I can impart is don't let one bad shot affect the next shot, and don't let one bad round affect the next round. We're not professionals, and although everyone wants to play their best, just remember that you're only going to have your A game a couple weeks of the season/year. Where the rubber meets the road is having a solid B and C game where you're enjoying yourself.
As far as course strategies, what I've found works for me is to focus on my quirk. This takes some time and effort to find, but I'll give you an example. My "error" is I just stop turning my shoulders and extending. 8 our of 10 times that's why I'm not playing well. So, when I go to the course I know my own personal stats say that's why I'm not hitting the ball well. You can't diagnose on the course, so going to your miss as a swing thought is good strategy. I usually just start my round that way.
Hopefully that makes sense...
Thank you Tom for the reply and encouragement. I truly find your program helpful and enjoyable . The understanding and execution of the golf swing you teach scales with ones effort , time and ownership of their swing . I view the teaching videos several times and each time I progress and review the videos I get a deeper understanding of my swing and golf journey. You have made learning and golf a joy . Thank you!
There has been quite a bit of dialogue here on the topic of how to transport "Ranger Rick" to the golf course. We all experience that! All I can tell you is that it is part of the process, and as your practice performance becomes more and more consistent, then it's just a function of time in terms of when/how that will translate itself to the pressures and challenges of actual play. As confidence in your swing grows you should find more and more that you are playing "golf" instead of "golf swing" on the course, at which point your mechanical thoughts will be reduced to one or two at the most, and you will be nearly entirely focused on your target and not your swing. An excellent book that may help you with this is "Fearless Golf: Conquering the Mental Game" by Dr. Gio Valiante. Another book that I like is "Play Your Best Golf Now" by Lynn Marriott & Pia Nilsson.