Walt,

I had (and still have on occasion) the same problem.  Since you say that your short game is okay, I assume that you can do 3/4 swings when needed.  So here's what I do.  Take 1 or 2 extra clubs for the distance needed and just make a smooth take-away and a 3/4 length swing.  It seemed to help me a lot.  Good luck and don't give up. If you can shoot in the upper 70's then you're good enough to get through this.  Fairways and greens.

Mark F

walt,

sounds like your backswing tempo might be a little quick, amongst other things.  i tend to overswing a little, too and have been working on these two things:

1) take the club back slowly.  if you're tempo is quick, this is going to feel really odd.  purposely take the club back as slow as you can.

2) make a real conscious effort to stop your shoulder turn as soon as your left shoulder gets under your chin (assuming you're right handed).  it'll probably feel like you're making a quarter/half backswing.

also, what i've been trying to do is go back to old school and try to keep my left arm straight.  i know, that creates tension blah blah blah.  but trying to keep my left arm from bending seems to help me not over rotate and also keeps my wrists from breaking at the top of the backswing.

just remember, with these changes, everything is going to feel really weird the first 100 times you do them.  but keep at it!

good luck.

-fred

Walt, it's a tough problem to overcome. It's often the result of trying to hit it too hard instead of relying on a solid swing. Typically, overswinging is caused by pulling the club back with your arms instead of simply rotating the shoulders in the takeaway with your arms being passive.. Once the shoulders stop rotating, the arms should stop, but momentum will cause the arms to continue a little further. Work on keeping your arms passive and let the arms react to the shoulder rotation on the takeaway. Then, start the downswing with your lower body, allowing the arms and club to lag behind. They will "kick in" when needed.

Guys, Thanks for the tips. Off to the range to try them out. I kinda got a chuckle from other guys who wrote in on past discussions regarding loosing their swing, and thought , how could you loose your swing? Well I laugh no more, it happened to me!!

As a tip to others, I tried some different set-ups last year in an effort to hit "the monster drive". Well it worked but it wasn't consistent, that when my problems started, I tried going back to my reliable swing and didn't like the results as much as I did when I over swung. I did gain a little over 30 yards to my drives but then I tried to incorporate that swing into my irons, and then one thing led to another, and now I'm in a mess, BUT I will correct it!

Again thanks for the tips.

It's our pleasure Walt - golfers are supposed to help each other. So, did any of the ideas help you out in practice?

Thanks for the tips........!!!

most of my poor shots pretty much come from over swinging.  it's a mental thing for me.  sometimes, it helps me to just watch golf on tv.  you rarely see any professionals over swinging.  

this past weekend, i was watching inbee park on tv and just scratching my head how you can have a swing that looks so slow (i wonder what her swing speed is. probably not as low as it looks), and dominating the LPGA circuit.   it's all about keeping the composure and not over doing it.  

Went out to play on Sunday, half joking telling my buddy that i'm going to play like Inbee Park and had a great round with good composed swings.  Play like Inbee Park! was the motto throughout the round.

Walt,

A couple of small adjustments will get you back on track very quickly. First with the swing go to the range and concentrate on taking a 3/4 swing and really being aggressive through the ball. This will show you that you do not have to take the club so far back in order to get the distance a short and compact swing is much better than the over swing you are talking about. Second the tempo of the swing in order to take the club back as far as you are is way to fast. Think of taking your back swing like you were in neck deep water or in slow motion. Then once you have reached the 3/4 back swing starting with the arms fire them as fast as you can in control through the swing. Hope this helps.

Thanks Gabe....