golfer's "Laterals"

[fitness1]

Originally Posted by dbintegrity

I find if I'm not paying attention to my game, enjoying the conversation etc... I play well... as soon as I realize I've got a shot at a great score I begin to pay attention to what I'm doing and screw it all up...

Analysis Paralysis - quit thinking!! Kind of what I was getting at talking about life outside of golf and the stress it imposes on your game.

[DenverSteve]

Two rules that help me (and will later today hopefully), don’t overthink it & relax. Both easier said than done. When that doesn’t work, as you already know with a 8 handicap, have a pro help with your swing.

[guitar george]

This was the one tip that made a big difference for me. Do not think of the swing as being an arc, think of it as being a straight line. Throw your hands toward the pin and the arc occurs automatically.

[dbintegrity]

Played over the Weekend... shot well just by going back to basics.... I simply made sure I was coming back and thru with my whole body in sync, keeping my arms forming that V in front of me all the way thru... I was right back to striking the ball confidently again. I am still not scoring like I would like to be, but it should come eventually...
Incidentally, I've been playing the Callaway Mack Daddy wedges last season and this season... I really love the way I strike them. I happened to be at Dick's the other day and fell in love with the look of the Cleveland RTX-4 so I replaced my 3 wedges with these and really noticed that I was just off enough to not be as sharp as I usually am inside 100. I put the Callaways back in my bag yesterday and all was right with the world... I really didn't think I'd notice such a difference in feel and accuracy but I did...

[AX17609]

The "laterals" as you call them are difficult to deal with, because there are a number of possible problems. NONE of them are related to over-thinking, and the advice to stop thinking is idiotic. Thinking isn't real handy when you're swinging the club and playing the game, but it's very useful when diagnosing a problem.

Version 1 of the laterals is caused by the club face not closing and sending the ball off to the right. This is less common than most people believe. Although there are a number of possible mechanical issues, they all boil down to the fact that the club is not releasing. Tense hands can cause this, as can a club with too low a swing weight.

Version 2 is far more common and is a genuine shank. This is caused by the clubface closing too quickly resulting in the ball getting hit either too close to or on the hosel. These feel awful. Again, the problem is many-fasciated but all of the causes point to early release. Possible issues can be a club that's too heavy or swinging from the top.