My game is bad, now I'm considering selling my simulator.....talk me out of it?

[rsuslow]

So, I love this game. I love it even more now that I can play every day when I get home from work. That's all thanks to the Skytrak and TGC.

Problem is, I haven't seen improvement in over a year. Even with lessons since October.

I used to shoot consistently in the mid 90's. I was happy because when I got over the ball, I knew what I was going to do. It was either going straight, or it was going to be pushed.

Last year I lost my swing. I lost 20-30 yards on every club. My eight iron, which was my money club, was no longer my money club. I have no confidence when I line up to the ball. I have no idea if I'm going to hit it off the toe, hozzle, straight, left, right, long or short.

I started taking lessons. Saw some improvement, but I still can't get better, not even to at least what I was over a year ago. It's frustrating. My instructor is good, but I think he's geared more towards better players. He's made a few comments about not being athletic enough for a perfect swing. I may not be flexible, but I'm not not athletic. I've played hockey and baseball the majority of my life. I think I have some athleticism. I'm going to be looking for a new instructor soon. He's a great guy, but that doesn't mean he's the right teacher for me.

I'm at the point now where there is more swearing in my garage than there are golf shots.

I still have fun on the course. It's always nice being out there. But I spent a lot of money on a simulator, new clubs, golf attire ect. and I'd like to at least see some consistency. I'm not looking to shoot in the 70's, but I'd like to consistently shoot in the low 90's high 80's consistently, with a low 80's score sprinkled in.

I'm going to upload some of my swing videos on Youtube, which I'll link here once done. But check out some of my swings on Instagram @rsuslow14.

If you have advice, please feel free to let me know.

[rsuslow]

Here is the link to my youtube page which has some swings, more are uploading now.

https://www.youtube.com/user/Rsuslow/videos?sort=dd&shelf_id=0&view=0

[Point280]

Hey Rob. Usual disclaimer--certainly no pro here... far from it! A few things: first and foremost, change instructors! This guy may be great at what he does, and personality goes a long way in business, but you need to find someone who helps YOU improve. That's a major part of this wacky sport. Kudos to you for actually paying for instruction! I'm as guilty as the next guy of trying to self-diagnose my swing. Rarely has that had any lasting results; at least prior to the investments I've made in instructional equipment recently (GC2, sim, etc.). The lack of athleticism comments are totally unwarranted after looking at some of your videos. I personally don't see a lack of flexibility either, although I think we could all strive to be more flexible for game improvement.

There are a lot of ways to hit the ball successfully, and a lot of ways to hit it like $&#%! That's the beauty and the frustration of it all. I'll offer my TOTALLY UNQUALIFIED suggestions, since you asked, and most of us are here to try to figure some of this out on our own. Maybe others will chime in to support or challenge my observations, so we can both learn some stuff.

It seems you have a bit of a strong weak-hand grip and a weak strong-hand grip. This could work for you, but it probably requires a lot of adjustments during your swing that would be hard to consistently repeat with great results. A lot of pros advocate that the hands should oppose each other somewhat equally for better consistency. Neutral is a good place to start (palms facing each other when gripping the club at address), but that will result in changes to your swing and to the "feelings" you've probably ingrained.

Looks like you start the the majority of your full swings (most clubs that I saw) with a forward press. This really gets your trail shoulder in a very low position at set-up, which can obviously affect your takeaway, swing plane and angle of attack. Some teachers would tell you to get the butt of the club more towards your "belt buckle" with the shaft being more vertical at address. (Nothing wrong with a slight forward press to trigger your takeaway.) For driver, the shaft could even be a little left of your buckle, which helps achieve an upward strike on the ball. A lot of modern research has proven that this can produce optimal driver results when paired with the right club shaft, loft and ball for your swing. Be forewarned, you'll more than likely see some horrendous results initially with your driver, especially if your current driver has been fitted for a steeper angle of attack, then you start hitting up on the ball with the same club/configuration. That's where an adjustable driver and your Skytrak are pure gold.

Your takeaway looks to be somewhat "inside", as opposed to having the shaft parallel to the target line when parallel to the ground. (Looks like the butt would be pointed left of the target at the halfway point in your backswing.) Keeping the shaft parallel to the target line in the backswing helps with your swing plane (3-9 drill), which is the last thing I'd mention: Your swing plane, especially with your irons is really flat. Think having the shaft dissecting your left shoulder towards the top of your backswing; not too far above or below it.

Ultimately, I say try a different coach, stick with the lessons/diligence in practice, and don't lose the love for the game! Changes are rarely immediately successful, and the ones that are rarely last. You seem to have some very realistic expectations. Nothing wrong with being hard on yourself either. I think every one of us here either feels or has felt just like you at some point.

[ProTee United]

rsuslow send your swings to Mike Sullivan. We would really hate to see you go... He will give you some advice. We will pay for the initial analysis

Instructions: http://golfsimulatorforum.com/forum/...swing-analysis

[gene438]

Rob, been there, done that.......

1)You do have an athletic swing at the ball....forget that nonsense....

2)Agree with above, switch instructors...nothing against your current one, it's just that you need to find someone who can communicate to you in a way that you can understand. When you have the right instructor, he will be able to give you swing thoughts, or visual keys that make sense to YOU. That's the key to good instruction, you have to be able to get inside the students mind and communicate in a way to that individual....you guys aren't "clicking" and that's part of the problem.

3)You need to do an honest assessment.... where are you losing strokes....most of us lose them around the green yet we spend 80% of our time hitting drivers and long irons....think about it. Be honest and look at your scorecard and note where your stokes are....I think you will be amazed at how much you lose around the green.
4)If the above statement is true, devote more time to your short game....it's easier to correct and it will have the most impact on your game. Success breeds success..........

5)We all know guys that are unimpressive off the tee, but they always keep the ball in play and once they get around the green, they are always up and down in 2. Quit obsessing on finding the perfect swing and expecting to hit it over and over again. Yeah, practice and try to improve, but, focus on scrambling, getting the ball in the hole, at the end of the day, you want that score to be under 90 or mid eighties...that's the goal....remember that. Most of us can get down or around the green in 2 or 3....what happens when your short game is strong enough to get you up and down in two???? you start shooting better than bogey golf.....

6)Most guys will tell you to focus on your swing and mechanics and don't worry about your score....but seems to me you need to do the opposite. I play with guy and we give each other hell on the course and believe me, at the end of the day we don't care how ugly it is, it's all about the score.....That really forces me to practice and work on my short game and I am convinced that is where the better golfers really outshine the weaker golfers. Learn to SCORE better.

If you want to see real results in your GOLF SCORE, focus on the short game, try another instructor to work on fundamentals, and stick with it. Hell, we all get to the point you are at one time or another.......stay strong brother.....

[DirtyGarry24]

Nice write up gene. Rsuslow, it really sounds that you are killing your athleticism by having 9 million swing thoughts in your head at one time. You're athletic, I've seen your swing. A guy that can take a full swing, finish, and then catch the ball bouncing back from the net/screen is athletic. But, playing golf swing instead of golf will kill your athleticism and all enjoyment of the game. You need to find one thing to work on and grind on that one thing for a good bit of time. Then you need to blend the sim time with outside time and get them to match up. Something I've been trying to do myself for the past month and it's slowly matching up.

Your current instructor sounds as frustrated as you are. Probably need to move on from him. Monte Scheinblum is a great instructor and can give you the one thing to work on. You have to stay focused on that one thing though. He offers very affordable online lessons and does traveling schools. He also has 90+ videos on youtube. Highly recommended!

Find that one thing to work on, make your short game incredible and you will accomplish your goals. Good luck and keep us posted...

[BadEddieKit]

I strongly agree with Gary on this. As you and everyone else is aware, our swing changes daily. I just got done with one of those stints where i had no confidence and couldn't get a solid contact on a ball. My solution was to heed some advice, I took a week off from playing and when I came back, I decided no more swing thoughts while playing a round of golf. On the range that is fine, but limited, like Gary said one thing at a time. I recommend you do something similar, and just get back to hitting that little white ball!

[fortysixandtwo]

The garage and the golf sim is about fun and relaxing when you can't or don't feel like going to the course. My junior golfer and I use it to work on keeping the swing oiled, eye hand coordination, etc working on ball flight or specific shots for particular holes/courses in real life. Unless you can hit every green in regulation, you want to see real improvement..work on 20 yds and in to the hole.

Decent golfers are going to miss the green, and sometimes not by too much. Figure out how far off you miss the greens and work on that with chipping and putting to get up and down. If you're getting off the tee decent, I'd worry about full swing later. If you can eliminate doubles, and improve your up and down percentage by saving some pars you'll be surprised how low you can go while playing not so great. How does a pro who hits only 12 greens shoot under par? They get up and down 6 times and birdie a couple out of the 12...

[rsuslow]

Thanks all! Appreciate the advice from everyone. One thing is for sure, I'll be moving on from my instructor. I think I'm going to try the online route as I like the idea of being given one thing and then grinding it in.

I'll send one to Mike and see how that goes and we'll.

Right now, I think I'm going to put the clubs down until next Friday. It's a good time to do so with the wife out of town and the little man taking up my attention.

[sb944]

I'm not one to talk here, I'm really just starting up again, and have many beginner issues I have to deal with. But to my eye, your downswing is starting fast, then your body can't accelerate through, so you have to sort of hold the swing back a bit to not have your arms fly out. But look at the pros, and you see most of them seem to start off a bit slower, then build the power down, with obviously amazing hip turn through impact. I'm facing this too. The key tip I'm working on is gravity drop at the top. Rather than starting the downswing with the thought of power and hips and arms, just let the club fall down for a while, then let everything kick in naturally rather than trying to generate power. And make sure you still follow through right to the end. The other drill is the tempo drill. Hit with 10% effort, then 30%, then 60%, then 90%. With the sim, you should see decent gaps in each of those efforts, and this should help you get a feel for where your power comes from.

As for the other tips mentioned here, some really good stuff there too. When I was young I had lessons, and I still remember one clearly. Learn to hit putts in from 4-8 feet. If you aren't confident at 6 feet, then when you are standing over a long putt or chip, you'll feel extra pressure to get it really close, otherwise you'll drop a shot. Then when you are 120y out, you worry that if you miss the green you'll likely lose a shot, because you rarely get it up and down, so more pressure on that shot. So you add all this pressure to all the shots in your game, because you didn't take the time to get confident from 6 feet. I still love this advice.

Lastly, the range is for working on the game, but when you hit the course, it's time to play. You have to switch to a mode that lets you just enjoy what swing you have today, and get around with it. Your swing thoughts throughout the round should be rediculously simple, like keep a slow tempo, or make sure you follow through. I'll borrow a quote from Greg Norman site "This is what we call dancing with the girl you brought." You shouldn't expect the same swing every round, even the top pros don't get that luxury.

[Deuce]

Since you've asked an open forum, a few comments, since I've been there time and time again...

1. I watched a few of your swings and you lose your balance near the end of your swing in almost all of them. Looks like you're swinging for the fences, but out of balance. Read what Hogan writes about in 5 Lessons about balance. I've played with some higher level golfers and they always impress me with how still and balanced they appear. Recommend slowing your swing down until you can do it in balance and then build back up the speed.

2. Hang onto the SkyTrak if you want to relax and stay loose, but get rid of it if you only want it to improve. In my opinion, it's too imprecise for improvement at your level.

3. Work on putting more than anything else. If you have absolutely no doubt you'll make the 3-5 footers, you'll hit your approach shots with more confidence.

Good luck.

[Snaphook]

Another "no pro" analysis here.
It looks like you are a bit stiff in your swing (like trying to kill the ball) I can see the hockey in the swing , i used to do that myself. This is difficult to overcome, because you will feel like you are not putting in enough effort when you loosen up and swing, this is where a launch monitor comes in handy becuase it will show you exactly what happens with the ball on different swings. Like seeing no difference in ballspeed in swinging for the fences vs hitting a standard drive :-)
Try this: Take your normal 160 yard club and start hitting 140 yard shots with it loose wrist and forearms, you will soon see that you can hit your normal distance with much less effort and also you will probably get better contact and better ballflight.

I have tried the online Rotaryswing swing system and really liked it. I can recommend that, if you are willing to put in the work.

No problems with your athleticism.

[Mandragora]

Hey Rob. I have found a big problem with instructors is they try and tell you what to do to change your swing but do not explain why. I ran into this with multiple instructors. It wasn't until about 3 years ago I began researching on the internet and discovered I did not understand the ball flight rules. So number one is, make sure you know what you are trying to accomplish.

A couple of years ago I began looking at where I was losing my strokes and it turned out, I actually lost more to pitching, chipping and putting than Tee shots and long approaches. I was having a terrible time reading the greens for example. I bought the AimPoint express video for $60 (I did not go to a seminar) and practiced putting using that system and my putting improved tremendously. I still don't make a lot of long putts, but the leftover putts are much more manageable.

I watched several videos on chipping styles and spent a lot of time at my golf courses short game practice area. If you don't have a good one at your home course find one that does. Mine has 3 greens and 3 bunkers with fairway cut grass and different lengths of rough. Again, This made a big improvement as far as getting close to the hole on my chips.

What I did with my Skytrak then was figure out all of my carry distances for my clubs using a clock face:

for example:

Lob wedge
7 - 5 - 3yds
8 - 4 - 13 yds
9 - 3 - 55 yrds
10 - 2 - 75 yds

SW
7-3 - 3 yds
8-4 - 21 yds
9-3 - 71 yds
10-2 80 yds
11- 1 85 yds

I carry this information on an index card.
Now I know what club to chip with.

BTW, by going through this exercise I also discovered I hit most of my iron shots further with a 3/4 swing that a full swing and I am much more accurate.

You also want to know roll-out on your chip shots. So if you are a couple of yards off the green and you want to ship on and roll out 10 yds then you might chip with a 9 iron instead of a sand wedge..

Most people spend 90% on long shots but it really is the short game that is the key.

Hank Haney says:

Avoid penalties
Get near the green in 2 shots
Chip on in 1 shot
2 putts.

If you do this you will be shooting 90.

(Another course management tip, I found it is almost always better to be short of the green or on the front than off the back. If there is a question on the club, I usually will take the shorter one.)

Good luck.

[andygg1986]

Just more amateur swing analysis here, but overall you have a lot of really good things going on. My personal opinion is that if you are going to have swing thoughts it is better to focus on your setup and backswing. If you are in a good position at the top, you can just shift your weight as you unwind your hips and everything else falls into place. That being said, your feet seem to be closed (aimed left) of your target. That may be a camera distortion though. This, combined with your forward press, encourages your takeaway to be inside. Once you are at the top, you have to actively manipulate the club to get the shot to go towards the target. That may work some days but won't be very consistent. So y recommendation would be to put down a club parallel to your target to ensure you are aimed properly. Then work on hinging your wrists more up instead of rolling them on your takeaway. I highly recommend searching for David leadbetter's book called The A Swing. He has videos on YouTube as well. The takeaway he promotes is extreme, but if you feel like you are doing that you will probably be in a much better position.

I also agree with everyone that the short game is where you can most easily save strokes. Never taking more than 3 shots from inside 50 yards will certainly drop your scores as well.

It can be frustrating while you make swing changes and there is always the temptation to revert back during a round if it isn't going well. If you have guys of similar ability that you normally play with, maybe try doing 2 man scrambles to reduce the pressure and make it more fun even if you have some bad shots. Based on your swing, I think you should be able to shoot low 80s without changing too much though.

[rsuslow]

Thanks all. I'm taking a lot of what is being said and plan on really work on it.

Fortunately my short game is decent. I may not find greens about 40% to 50% of the time with approach shots, and I am pretty good at two putting or up and downs. I'd say 75% of the time I can do that. I have experienced a few shanks with my wedges on pitches and chips, but I'm pretty good at fixing that. I think that is just related to working so much on full swings that I get out of my chipping and pitching groove.

My biggest issue is off the tee. I can't find the fairway, or even the rough. I'm usually punching out of difficult situations or taking penalties off the tee because of lost balls or unplayable lies..

[orangeman]

When I get in a rut like that, my cure has nothing to do with swing and swing thoughts. I simply drop down to a 3 wood for as long as it takes to get my confidence back. Sometimes it's a few holes, but there have also been times when it's a few rounds. Better to be 20-30 yards shorter, but in the fairway/first cut, than punching out, especially if you have a decent short game.