Hi again, and need help!

Question
QUESTION: Hi, I recently came back from a one week vacation...

I went to play 9 holes yesterday, and I was stunned to shoot a record 39 :o

Anyways, there are still some problems. Since I haven't played a week, I'm not as good as I was before my vacation. I was at the range today, and was very inconsistent. I was mainly concerned with my iron shots. They went pretty good, but it sounded and looked like they were hit fat. I've never had this problem before, and wanted to ask if this is just a temporary thing (since I haven't played for a week). Another thing I noticed was that my driver shots were sometimes skied. It still went far, but it went soooo high in the air!

So my main question is that is this temporary, and will go away soon? Because I have high school tryouts in like 2 weeks! :o

ANSWER: Jeff,

Don't panic. Go ahead and have a few more practice sessions and/or rounds of golf and see what happens. Let's not make any knee jerk reactions at this point. If you didn't touch a club for a week, you're bound to be rusty.

By the way, skying your drives is a consequence of hitting the ball on a descending arc. If this continues............. try moving the ball up in your stance.

Let me know how it's going after a week or so and good luck in tryouts.

Michael Hoffman
PGA Professional

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: ok, i'm getting better...

i shot another record yesterday lol i don't know what the heck is up!

one other thing though, when I hit 30-50 yard pitch shots there seems to be something wrong.

The ball goes pretty low in the air when using a sand wedge, and there IS a divit. I'm putting the ball in the back of my stance ... i might switch to the front because it makes the ball go higher..?

thanks!

Answer
Jeff,

Congratulations on those record rounds. It's nice when you break through another barrier.

Playing the ball back in your stance will deloft the club at impact resulting in a lower shot. Try playing the ball in the middle of your stance. Continue to hit down on the ball, taking a divot after you make contact. This will produce backspin and you'll see the trajectory increase.

Continue to practice, you're making great strides.

Michael Hoffman
PGA Professional