How to Break Your Wrists…
WHS Scores
SOW: 24.7
EOW: 23.8
It has definitely been a tough couple of weeks for me on the golf course - My wrists and hands are really struggling!
Welcome to 54 to Scratch, the weekly golf blog that follows this beginner golfers journey from newbie (a year in now) to something representing an actual golfer.
As anyone who follows this blog or my instagram will know, I’ve been playing for a year and a bit. So far, I’ve played golf at 11 different courses, joined two of them and call one of these “home”.
I’ve also had handicaps anywhere from 34 to where I am currently (23.1). I’ve scored terribly on holes, getting to 12 shots on more occasions than I can remember and I’ve also gotten birdies.
I’ve gone from not being able to get GIR on par 5’s to being able to do so with much more regularity and I’ve broken 100 regularly, but have also broken 90 at my home club numerous times (which is a par 68).
I’ve bought new clubs, which included being fitted for the irons. I’ve tried countless types of ball before settling on a new one recently (the Srixon AD333).
I’ve also struggled with my swing. I’ve seen two different coaches, with very different styles but am now happy with the way my swing is looking and the way I’m hitting the ball.
At least I was…
About a week and a half ago, in the middle of a round, I suddenly started hitting the ground before the ball with my driver. Not only did this ruin my round, but it became a theme for the rest of the round (luckily, I think we only had a couple more holes).
Now, on the day I just put it down to feeling the pressure. The head groundsmen for the club had come onto the hole to fix a 150 yard marker that had been damaged by someone else’s bad swing. Yes, you read that right, someone decided to “play as it lies” rather than A.) move the ball away from the post or B.) move the post…
Anyway, Luke came to watch us tee off and I proceeded to hit the ground 3 times in a row, hitting the ball all over the place and thinking I lost the first 3. Eventually, I managed to tee off and hit the ball, went and found the first, which was playable and then carried on as if nothing happened.
However, this ended up being the beginning of 2 weeks of poor shots.
After this, on my next round I was suddenly doing this again. I’m guessing I then tried to correct at the range, only for it to get worse. The ground striking then started to leak into my iron play, as well as wedges.
It even got to a point where I was doing it for chips, even with the putting stroke needed for a bump and run!!!
So after going on a run of a few rounds in a row that were below handicap, resulting in a drop of one whole shot (!), I then started to play some of the worst golf I’ve played since beginning.
As I mentioned, I was hitting the ground on EVERY shot (except putting). For those that know me, you will also know that I play some form of golf most days. In fact, the only day I don’t do something golf related are Monday’s (it’s nice to take a break from the things you love once in a while right?!)
The problem with the quantity is that the feeling of confidence sapping frustration can grow very quickly over a short period of time. I went back (or thought I did) to what I’d been taught before, trying to compensate and fix the problem. I only made it worse.
A friend had said that I should text Mark (my local pro/coach) but I don’t like to bother people if I can help it. Pride gets in they way I think as I feel like I should be able to sort it myself before asking for help.
As the days went on, I was waking up with aching wrists and was finding it hard to grip onto anything with my hands. It got to a point where I couldn’t seem to hold a Driver/Wood through the backswing and into the swing, so I stopped using them for a round.
This exercise did show me that I could quite easily play a course without picking up my Driver, so I now have increased my confidence that I should actually try to play different clubs on different courses - the important thing is always accuracy.
I also filmed quite a few holes including a rather disastrous Par 5…
Thankfully, Mark saw this and we ended up in a conversation via messenger at 10:30pm on a Sunday night about what I was doing wrong and how to fix it. I’ve talked about this before, that Mark seems happy to give his advice to his students at any point, not just during lessons and this is why I should probably have picked up the phone sooner.
Time will tell over the next few days whether I can fix the issue, but a few practice swings in the garden seem to have positive signs!
My wrists will certainly appreciate the cleaner strikes of the ball if I can use Mark’s advice well!
Thanks again for taking the time to read, have a great week’s golf everyone!
Gear Check
Driver - Callaway Rogue ST
Irons - Taylormade Stealth
Wedges - Taylormade Hi-Toe 52, 56, 60
Putter - Scotty Cameron Squareback
Shoes - Adidas Tour 360 22
Trolley - CRUISER GOLF CR-Micro
