My only thought is the target. I have no swing thoughts. Golf is not a game of perfection and perfectionists make lousy golfers. If you want to think about something think about impact and how many good impacts you have not score. Don't think about score. Enjoy the walk and your companions.

Folks today have the attention span of a gnat so one swing thought and your game is shot. Over thinking, locked up over the ball, just one more swing thought, more tension, yadda yadda.

In the above video John McCreary said....."sure you are going to have some bad shots". Move on stay positive it will come.

    scotts33 In the above video John McCreary said....."sure you are going to have some bad shots". Move on stay positive it will come.

    Yes, golfers need short term memory loss. lol Don Trahan was fond of saying if you hit a bad shot, who cares? Do the next one right. This is probably my best attribute on the course.

    I don't get that upset. Pretty even keeled. Never thrown a club in my life. Sure I'll piss and moan like everyone else on bad breaks, but I accept golf for what it is. Hard. But when things go right it's about as rewarding as it gets.

    I've seen lesser skilled golfers get really mad and lose it on the course. I feel like telling them what Arnold Palmer told a golfer once when he was acting up. Paraphrasing, Arnold told him; 'your game isn't good enough to get mad at'. lol

        Wish it was earlier in the season to try MLDT but I've put the clubs away for the winter. I've been hitting it so poorly I started avoiding playing a game that's no fun any more, no satisfaction at all because it isn't a game it's torture. Nothing mental (no swing thoughts or methods) or physical (nothing affecting flexibility or mobility) has changed but I've gone from consistent high 80's player (best of 78 last year) to hitting just a handful of solid shots per 9 holes that are satisfying.

        Last time out I didn't hit 1 acceptable shot, not 1, over 5 holes so I walked off. The frustration and humiliation were overwhelming, absolutely no fun when everyone is waiting for you to hit your 3rd shot as they walk to their tee shot . You can't play "GOLF" until you can successfully play "HIT GOLF BALL", if I was good at diving into a pool then I spent 5 holes doing cherry bellies.

        I'll take a look at MLDT over the winter but for now I'm done. If we are supposed to rely on muscle memory to be consistent and play well then I'm praying for muscle amnesia over the winter.

          bogeypro Muscle memory especially for those that have been playing a long time is a tough thing to change. I'll hit balls inside with the video and I swear I've changed something and the video looks exactly the same... I changed nothing. You'll see some video, think you're trying it ( but you're really not), whatever you are doing, ( if anything) happens to work but like someone said earlier, its fleeting. Its fleeting mostly because you just go out and think you're doing it when your playing. That's the worst time for a swing change.

          Unfortunately a swing change takes ALOT of practice for it to stick and become muscle memory.

              Typhoon Muscle memory especially for those that have been playing a long time is a tough thing to change

              I've gone to the golf dome and recorded my swing where I was trying 3 vastly different swings. Like a SnT swing, a Jimmy Ballard swing where you really try to get your weight back and through, etc. When I got home to watch them I couldn't tell which was which. At the time they felt vastly different to me and I actually got different results with them, but on video I couldn't tell the difference.

                  bogeypro It'll come back next year, been there, done that. It is crazy frustrating though.

                    bogeypro

                    I feel your pain, brother, I've gone downhill so fast it's ridiculous. Hardly played this year, it's just embarrassing.

                    When I was younger and played more money matches with friends, days I didn't have it I would revert to a knockdown game. FW off the tee, then hit punch shots down the fairway and rely on my short game to score. Kept a 3 iron in the bag along time just to have that option, even after I stopped hitting them for anything else.

                    Then to try and get my groove back, I'd start with punch shots at the range and lengthen the swing slowly to start making solid contact.

                    To be honest, I think I was so good at punching the ball back then was I was wild off the tee and spent too much time hitting them from the woods. lol

                        garyt1957 I've gone to the golf dome and recorded my swing where I was trying 3 vastly different swings. Like a SnT swing, a Jimmy Ballard swing where you really try to get your weight back and through, etc. When I got home to watch them I couldn't tell which was which. At the time they felt vastly different to me and I actually got different results with them, but on video I couldn't tell the difference.

                        AMAZING isn't it?? My pro says to me, don't take it back so far, go 3/4 backswing. I do what I feel like is a half swing and watch the video... looks like my normal past parallel swing. I try dropping it more inside... feels like my hands are going to hit my right hip. Swing looks EXACTLY the same as the previous one.

                        The ONLY swing change I can actually see is the one I'm doing now by turning my upper body more away from the ball. Its feels like a big change, I can draw in lines on the video where I do see a change from the old swing to what I'm doing now.... which is a miracle.

                            Typhoon My pro says to me, don't take it back so far, go 3/4 backswing. I do what I feel like is a half swing and watch the video... looks like my normal past parallel swing.

                            Glad it's not just me. Normal swing makes John Daly look like John Rahm. What FEELS like a half swing is not much shorter lol. The pro would hold a club out and tell me not to hit it in my backswing and I could rarely do it lol. The only time I could truly shorten is was when I first hurt my left shoulder. I probably had the best swing ever, but the doc said no golf for 6 weeks and then once I healed up the old crappy swing was back 😞

                                wishbone
                                I'll keep the punch shot regimen in mind for "those days". The last crappy round I was reduced to teeing off with driver once, 3 wood once, then tried 3 #5 hybrids and sucked at all of them. In between these 5 glorious drives were a variety of skulls & chunks hit all over the club faces. I missed 2 greens from inside 15 yds and could not find distance control or direction putting.

                                I felt like I had never played before and I didn't know if I was right handed or left handed.

                                  KCee I am pretty sure it was Monte in yet another Youtube video who said that most golfers would score better almost immediately if they went to the course with 'take half a backswing' as their only swing thought.

                                    garyt1957

                                    Yeah, I’ll video my swing with a ‘feel’ change and it looks the same. But it’s actually not. Some changes we make are so subtle they’re not visible to the naked eye in many cases.

                                    This is why golf is so frustrating. You’ll have a feel that works great for awhile and then poof it’s gone. Feels like you’re doing the same ‘feel’, but the results aren’t the same.

                                    It could be the ‘feel’ is really causing something you can’t detect. So the feel isn’t real. What’s actually happening is the feel caused something else in your swing to change.

                                    So when the good result disappears you’re in the dark because although you can replicate the feel whatever the by product that caused the good result is no longer happening.

                                    Not sure I explained that right. But this is why you always hear the saying that feel isn’t real. I had this happen a few months ago. Was on the range (which I rarely do) and decided to try a feel with my irons.

                                    The feel was simple. Take the club back with the face or my right palm looking at the ground. Took it to the course and it was magic. But I know how this works. It was just a matter of time before it disappeared. Sure enough it lasted two rounds and then it was gone.

                                    The frustrating part was when I was on the range it felt so effortless to replicate. Every shot was solid and continued on the course.

                                    So obviously there was something I couldn’t feel that was causing the solid contact. We have to remember the difference between a good shot and bad shot can be a matter of a fraction of and inch in our swing. Something we can’t perceive.

                                    For those of us who have a lesser repeatable swing, the fun part is finding these feels that produce great results. And always hoping against hope that one day one of these epiphanies is the real deal and lasts forever. Lol

                                        Sneakylong And always hoping against hope that one day one of these epiphanies is the real deal and lasts forever. Lol

                                        Short version - rediscovering your good swing is always temporary. 😉

                                          8 days later

                                          Sneakylong
                                          After seeing your mentioning of Marcus Edblad, I have been devouring his you tube videos. I like his approach and explanations as he espouses a more arms/hands type swing too.

                                              azgreg The Golf Test Dummy guy is doing a review of his swing.

                                              True he is but GTD does one swing then moves on to the next to create content for his YT channel. So he truly doesn't believe in what he espouses as months from now he will be on to the next swing method. He has done Venetos, used MDLT for a few videos, etc etc.

                                                braveheart

                                                I discovered Edblad by accident. His approach to the swing is easy to understand if you’re a hands and arms club focused golfer.

                                                Since I’m a trail hand / arm dominant golfer it’s easier to follow his instruction. I’ve been using his trail palm pushing down to the ground at impact with great results. The consistency with solidness of contact has been fantastic.

                                                The problem with golf is consistency. If you can find a simple swing thought to help with consistency it’s golden.

                                                Here’s another guy explaining what Edblad advocates. The right palm down thru impact has been a game changer for me. Everyone talks about the lead hand bowing thru impact.

                                                For me though with a strong left hand grip that feel doesn’t work since my left hand is more in a side hand karate chop position at impact.