Do you self-diagnose and self-correct on the course?

[bogey_russ]

of course but would you rather hit bad shot after bad shot?

 

[interlooper]

Like a lot of others it's mostly set up with me. I like to play out bit of an open stance so I tinker there. I also mess with where my hands are address.

Kevin

My first thought after 2 bad shots in a row is to look at my setup. I have a tendency to close my shoulders/chest to the target line but keep my legs square. This leads to a too-inside takeaway. That is always the first culprit I check.

 

[interlooper]

I agree. We tweek as we go. When I read the OP, I was thinking more along the line of "overhaul". I do remember Butch once saying that Tiger could be the only player in the world that could possibly get by without a coach. He has the ability to feel everything about his swing, and I know I could not do it without another set of eyes.

Yeah; I was definitely thinking simple tinkering I guess. I would leave the overhauling for the range.

 

[cg13]

i like to believe i "know" whats going on - but then i go the the range after a round and think-- ok the ball was right of my target... so i must have kept the face opened too much at impact... i practice for awhile... think ive fixed it.. show up at my next lesson and actually see the video and think - jesus THATS what this looks like haha..

I feel one thing - and think this is happening or that is happening - but until i see definitive video proof - i have no idea. a picture is worth a 1000 words IMO.

So i try to just keep it simple on the course - aim away from trouble - minimize the bad shots. One good shot a hole is all ya need for par; one great one and your staring down birds or better.

i cant say how many times i flub a tee shot - hit an ok 2nd shot - then a really good chip - and an easy putt for par == just thinking jeeez thats a par?!? with that tee shot?

or hit a good tee shot right down the middle - - hit the approach in fat... and it goes 60 yds instead of 85...chip it within 4 feet - knock down the put -- nother par --- with a fat wedge shot that went 25 yards short.

so my renewed efforts this year are to improve the short game; limit the high scores; minimize the bad shots - and hopefully drop some strokes.

but when i start auto correcting stuff mid round - eek - i dont transition well IMO

 

[jnug]

Well I know for my part cg , I can't look at swing correction on the course from the perspective of a single swing element either. In my case if I try to do that especially out on the fairways I will likely end up chasing my tail for eighteen holes. it is simply too easy for me to overemphasis one swing element over another and before I know it I am totally lost. So during a round, my perspective is never based on the idea that I will try to or even can correct a specific swing element by focusing in on it.

In my case, if I am making bad swings, I come at the problem from the perspective of what I need to do to make good swings. It is not uncommon for me to break the swing down into the set up or address, backswing and then downswing because many of my downswing problems have their genesis somewhere in my set up or my backswing. However I will not try to break my swing down any farther than that at least not while I am out on the course and I will rarely do it at the range either.

So as an example, if I am making bad swings, I might ask myself to insure that my set up is correct and I am arriving at the top in a good position to make the transition but that is it. My perspective is never something like, "well my club face must have been open at impact so what swing element must I correct to keep that from happening". In fact as a part of the process I try to forget everything about the bad swings that I can. I will try to wash them from my head. I have been at this long enough now that I already have plenty of bad swing experiences that I can flesh up if I want to. So I don't need more.

It is a complicated issue and I am probably not explaining it well. The point I am trying to make is that I can't do what you are suggesting either. Maybe others commenting about swing correction on the course are capable of it but I am not. I can make corrections on the course but only using the method that I am describing here.

 

[thepete]

Is it possible to over correct or mis-diagnose?

Of course it is. You may perceive that you're coming over the top, when in reality you're getting stuck and then you try to fix it...which is really hard since you're looking at it incorrectly. It's like when people get issues with the back, the doc looks at your back but the problem comes from their feet/knees.

 

[jdjanda]

Yesterday was my first time out since lessons, as part of the lessons I am learning to self diagnose and correct. Sure enough I was able to get things going in the right direction, on the 9th I put one 3' from the pin, and hit a number of great shots on the back nine. I am having trouble figuring out my distances now, but it will come together.

 

[bumpnrun]

Tempo is the only thing I try to fix, mostly because if I don't I might as well go home. I wish I was consistent enough with other aspects of my game to bother but problems come and go so quickly I just have to live with the occasional suprise.

 

[interlooper]

Is it possible to over correct or mis-diagnose?

Definitely. If I am playing a round and I start to miss right with my irons (not my typical miss), I simply try to play with it for that round... because I know that if I try to diagnose and fix the problem on the course, I am more likely than not going to make it even worse.

 

[Golf 'N Gator]

Definitely. If I am playing a round and I start to miss right with my irons (not my typical miss), I simply try to play with it for that round... because I know that if I try to diagnose and fix the problem on the course, I am more likely than not going to make it even worse.

I agree and that was point in the question. I really don't change anything during the round outside of alignment. If the wind is blowing say left to right nd your missing right, you have to adjust but that is just a normal change that doesn't really need a lot of thought. I haven't really change anything in my swing in twenty years. For serious issues, I tend to seek out our pro and talk with him.

 

[johndeere10]

Yup. It's called throw another one down and try not to hit one exactly like it.

 

[interlooper]

I agree and that was point in the question. I really don't change anything during the round outside of alignment. If the wind is blowing say left to right nd your missing right, you have to adjust but that is just a normal change that doesn't really need a lot of thought. I haven't really change anything in my swing in twenty years. For serious issues, I tend to seek out our pro and talk with him.

Yeah; I have 3 areas in which I feel like I can self-diagnose on the course and fix. The first one is always alignment/body position to the target line. I have a tendency to close my shoulders to the target line at address. That is always an easy fix if it is the culprit.

 

[McRock]

Yup. It's called throw another one down and try not to hit one exactly like it.

LOL.

I do self-diagnose on the course and self-correct most if not all of the time. There are two primary reasons. One, I'm rarely playing for competition, so if my score sucks while I'm figuring something out, I don't care. Second, if I'm self-correcting a problem, then it's a really big problem, and needs to be fixed right then and there. If it's something small like a minimal fade or catching the ball a little thin, I don't worry about fixing it on the course. But if i'm slicing the ball 30 yards with my 7 iron, then chances are, I'm losing a lot of balls, and I need to fix the problem NOW.

 

[Lukey719]

When I am just playing a practice round I definitely try to fix my problem on the course, but when it comes to tournaments I will just figure out what is going on and simply play it for that day. Like lining up left of the green when I'm hitting a slight fade that day

 

[SD Charlie]

I wish I could be better at self-diagnosing. More often than not, I let bad results get in my head. I'll take a nice relaxed, good-feeling practice swing, then stand over the ball and bleepblopblorkwtf do something completely different when it's the real thing. I'm left wondering, what happend? I just took a nice practice swing?! It feels worse that lately, I've been starting rounds well, only to have things disintegrate as I go along. It used to be the other way around, bad front, salvaged back nine. I still feel like I'll break through soon. The good thing is, I'm still addicted and want to get back out there week after week.

My first thought after 2 bad shots in a row is to look at my setup. I have a tendency to close my shoulders/chest to the target line but keep my legs square. This leads to a too-inside takeaway. That is always the first culprit I check.

Something I tend to neglect - I'll investigate this at the range this week. Cheers.

Yup. It's called throw another one down and try not to hit one exactly like it.

HAHA - A man after my own heart! Did this just last Saturday. Hit a great tee shot, then left my wedge 20 yards short. Dropped another one and left that one 10 yards short!

 

[Spaceman_Spiff]

I honestly don't know enough about my own swing even and I have not had a chance to work one on one with anyone on my swing so no I don't self correct. I'm hoping to play more this year just to get some consistency and from there perhaps some lessons maybe. I have been able to play 4 times already this year. And the only thing I've noticed different from last year is I'm not drawing the ball nearly as much. I'm not pushing it right either, but I have somehow (for 4 rounds mind you) played a baby fade. Which plays well on the 2 of the 3 courses I've been on thus far. Because of my lack of consistency, whatever is happening on the range during warmup typically transfers to course and I then I play that as it comes.

So not really much self correcting on the course.