Fidgeting before taking a shot. Anyone else suffer from this?

Hi,

I have been golfing (at a humble level) for a few years. I used to be the walk straight up to the ball and take a shot, probably don't do a practice swing type of golfer. I realise that 3 months ago, I started to fidget when i address the ball, whether it is a tee shot, on approach or the worst, putting.

This has caused me much frustration because i fidget till I feel comfortable, and that might take alot of fidgets which is kinda embarrassing and especially on chips and putts where feel is so important, I have no more feel because I fidget so much.

Anyone knows any ways to solve this problem?

Much appreciated, thanks!

Just walk to the ball n hit it!
Don't wait till u get comfortable about it.

its a mental thing.. very hard to change.. like OCD..
best thing to do is work a routine where you have to mentally satisfy your fidgets.. or like the bro above suggest... just walk up and hit the ball..

yah man, now that you mention it, I do feel like I have OCD now.

I feel that I can stop fidgeting and get used to not doing it, but that'll probably mean, my golf swing will feel weird for awhile which means that I will definitely lose more money than I already do.

But hey, i guess you can play golf till your 60's so its worth it.

i feel that when i address the ball, i must feel like i have set up right. no nagging feeling of something feeling not right..

if i feel its not right.. end up fidget.. some people advise me to walk away and readdress the ball again.. but after taking so much time.. feel bad for being so slow.. end up just whack the ball anyway and screw up..

thats true man. I think it all started when i began fiddling with my swing. too many changes and thoughts.

think just got it suck it and whack it.

I don have this...because I had promised myself that I will take one 1 practise grip...and then follow by 2 practise swing...and then....FTW.....whack ah !!!!!!

I did not know that Sergio Garcia was a poster on GR....Welcome Sergio....
I kid...i Kid....

Bottom line is there is a fine line between overanalysis and parylisis by analysis. If you are thinking too much about your action, what you learned in a lesson, or what is going to go wrong you are in trouble, etc., etc.

The reality is that you need to find a routine that works for you and that is cohesive to playing your round in a reasonable manner. That means that you need to figure a way to find your yardage, pull a club, and then go through all of your intricacies in a reasonable amount of time.

Might take some range time to figure that out. But to be honest if you are trying to find this on the course..it will be painful for anyone behind you.

I suggest a couple of practice swings and then address, get comfy and rip it.....you did the homework in the practice swings. The test and results are in the setup and execution. You can see what your grade is from the shot.

Address, pour your concentration into the ball, deep breath, raise club, release breath and go.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSMF3kzfuyE

check out the first question on this vid, at about 0:36

take a couple of beer?

Like me...give a slap on my face to wake myself up ..haha

Just hit the ball!

beerbutt wrote:

thats true man. I think it all started when i began fiddling with my swing. too many changes and thoughts.

think just got it suck it and whack it.

This thread is less about fidgeting before a shot, and more about making a swing change and how to make the new swing overwrite the old swing.

Your mind is trying to find the swing memory of the new swing, and trying to avoid the swing memory of the previous swing.

The swing is wired into the brain like an electric circuit. As you use the swing more and more, the circuit gets reinforced by a layer of fat (called myelin) which insulates the circuit so that the signal travels through it with less signal loss.

Ok, enough technical jargon there.

It takes 3000 to 5000 repetitions of the new movement before it will overwrite the old movement. Mind you, that's 3000-5000 movement done correctly (which means you need to do it in front of a mirror, or with a camcorder, or with someone watching you - to give feedback to ensure the movement is correct.)

So, until you do so, there is simply no way you can just walk up to the ball and just hit it. Your old swing will always come out.

Man, did I find that out yesterday! I only had 50 repetitions of the new swing and the memory didn't hold during my game. Ended up flipping between new and old swing like someone else was controlling the switch.

It got worse when the wires were crossed and a hybrid of old and new started showing up. *faint*

Ha ha, I understand how you feel. It also happened to me in my last game. I practiced a new movement using 100 balls one day before a round. During the round, I alternated between spectacular shots and dramatic disasters as my old and new swing 'fought each other.' It was a costly experiment, as I lost many ProV1s. Lesson learnt.

It takes only 300 to 500 repetitions to learn a brand new movement, like when you swing a golf club for the first time.

But once you have learnt the movement, it then takes 3000 to 5000 repetitions to change it.

The old movement will come out, ESPECIALLY WHEN UNDER PRESSURE.

Any wonder why Haney could not change Charles Barkley's swing and make the changes last? He will swing fine at the range, but his old swing will come out on the course.