Why does my golf swing always break during a round?
April 29, 2010
I always start well but my swing always breaks down in the middle of a round and I start slicing everything right and can’t seem to get my good swing back.
Anyone who plays golf will appreciate how frustrating this is for me.
If anyone has any suggestions or advice then please tell, I’m all ears!!
Author GolfPlayer
I sometimes have this problem as well, but usually around the last 4 holes or so. I’ve realized that I’m just fatigued by this time (especially if I went to the range beforehand). The best thing to do is lift weights to train the areas of your swing, especially the legs. Also, swing clubs more often to build up those muscles you use specifically for swinging.
I doubt there is anything wrong mechanically if your swing is good in the beginning of the round, and deteriorates later.
Mental trash.Try to hit the ball with the “butt” of the club.Keep right elbow tight to hip.Golf is so mental….probably swinging good until you realize you are….then mental trash creeps in.Deep breath–pick up club–drop club.Stop even saying the word “swing”.Don’t swing–pick it up & drop it and forgettabout it.
I agree with everyone that suggested “mental” is the problem. The key word describing your lament is “always”. Consciously or unconsciously your mind is anticipating the “slice swing”. This is the mind loving to hold thoughts about the past and the future. “My swing has been good up ’til now (past), when will my swing fall apart? (future). Staying in the moment is critical to the game of golf (and life). Mind coaches suggest, “don’t think the thought,” or, as someone suggested, “forgetta-bout-it.” That’s like saying “don’t think about a monkey.” The suggestions about using the breath are likewise right on. Taking long diaphragm breaths will not only help the fatigue but if you put all your attention on one breath at a time, the breath will bring the mind into this moment. I share an ancient technique that does to breathing what the cored, dimpled ball has done for golf. For a taste, focus on a breath and see if you can find the space where the in-breath ends and before the out-breath begins and vice versa.
It’s a mental thing. You lose your concentration level and probably start guessing what your eighteen hole score will be after a couple good holes early in the round. It’s never worked, it won’t work today and it won;t work tomorrow. What type of conversation do you have with the guys you play with? It’s probably not about golf, right? They probably also know that they can get in your head when you’re playing well and do so just to tweak your jockstrap. Isn’t golf a great game? Read the book Zen Golf by Dr. Joseph Parent. It will help you through the mental part of golf.
Work on a pre-shot routine. It sounds crazy, but a lot of instructors will tell you the same thing. What it does is it helps you to focus, especially on tough shots, or when you are physically or mentally tired, like late in a round.
Work on your routine on the practice range, pick target, visualize shot, approach ball, set feet and club, look at target again, forward press, hit the ball. This will help you in 2 ways.
Your practicing will improve because you will be hitting balls slower. And your routine will help your focus on the course.
Note that you don’t have to work on routine the whole time at the range, just part of it. And look at pro’s routines when watching TV: they don’t have to take forever (although some player’s routines DO take forever, don’t mimic those).
Also, realizing you are tired during a round can help you out. I go with some friends to Vegas every year for a golf trip. Some rounds are in 100-110 degree heat. Stay hydrated (I got really sick from dehydration once). One day everybody was totally falling apart on the last 5-6 holes because they were tiring. I was in what I call “damage control” mode, because I was also tired. Hit safe shots, don’t go for too much when you think you’re starting to wear down. If you can’t control the driver on the back 9, go to the fairway wood or long iron. It can save a lot of strokes that can get away from you late in a round.
Are you normally pretty good on the range just to fall apart “on the course”? The game is played “on the course” not on the range, practice practice practice “on the course”!!!!! There are no mental pressures on the range but the pressure with playing with better players on the course can push you to try too hard and that’s when your game falls apart… Have you ever scored under 90 on a standard 18-holer? If not, I suggest that your swing is not very good anyway and probably changes from one week to the next!
Your probably getting tired. At the turn I try to have some kind of energy bar. Hope that helps.
Yours is a common problem. As the body begins to tire, maintaining discipline and mechanics break down. Get to the driving range on a regular basis and develop muscle memory. Soon you will be able to hit a drive on the 18th hole as well as you did on the 1st.
Most likely, either you run out of energy, or you start thinking about it. During a round, I make two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cut into 8 squares. Every other hole i have one square. This helps keep your blood sugar and energy balanced and up. Also, try to keep only one or two swing thoughts in your head, or ideally none in your head. the more you think about your swing, the tighter and more technical it will get. You want to stay loose and let that natural swing dominate. The driving range is the place to work on mechanics, but on the course it’s all feel!
Take yourself a protein bar with you on your round and eat some of it about every 6 holes. It doesn’t have too much substance as to fill you up too much and it will help sustain your energy through your round. It sounds like your swing is getting lazy.
Don’t underestimate the probability that it is mostly mental as well. Near the end of the round it gets more difficult to shrug off bad golf shots and you already have in your mind that your “landslide” is due to start any moment so you must put all that behind you. Stay away from eating food too high in sugar before your round as you will eventually “come down” off of your sugar rush.
I had similar experience some years ago. I believe I had 2 reasons for your problem.
(1) expectation
(2) Fatigue
I used to start off hitting excellent drives on my 1st 2-3 holes, but i put pressure on myself to hit it longer on subsequent holes. As it do that, I tend to tense up resulting in losing my tempo or working my right arms to navigate my downswing. I have learnt to trust my swings now and don’t put pressure on myself to drive further than my flight mates.
To reduce fatigue, I have adopted this game routine that might work for you too. After completing my 6th hole, I will eat a banana while heading to the 7th tee. I will eat my sandwich on the 10th tee and finally another banana by the 15th. I am not sure if its a proper diet but it really helped me to maintain the energy required for the complete round. Thanks to my wife, she packed it during a game while we were on a golf holiday and I found it extremely beneficial.
Lack of stamina , you should spend some time in the gym.
eat a snack about hole 6, eat another at the turn, eat another at hole 14 or 15. drink an energy drink after the turn. its fatigue. ur blood sugar gets low. loss of fluids. any of these are a good reason. anything that takes 4 to 5 hours of physical activity. you need to worry about fluid replacement.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Thomas. Thomas said: Golf blog post: Why does my golf swing always … http://golf-player.biz/golf-swing/why-does-my-golf-swing-always-break-during-a-round.html [...]
Add A Comment