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Hi all,

I have this problem which I seriously don't know if it's my physical, or it's just my bad consistency with my swing.
I can rest myself for a week(Nothing longer than that) and practice well at the driving range with my shots in the 80-90% accuracy I want. But after this long exhuasting practice of about 150 to 200 balls (Singapore is basically a very warm and humid place where you will sweat it out very easily). I will get bad results for my subsequent practices say on the next day and the following. I can feel a total weakness or sometimes even numbness in my entire left arm, from my left shoulder blade all the way down to my forearm. And when I start my practice, my right hand will easily over power my left result to hook shots. And If I swing harder....the results are unbearable!! I try my make my right hand less dominant, but it doesn't seems to help.

My dear friends....what's my problem? It's very disheartening to see your practice end up like this. What should I do?? I need help!!

Troubledgolfer

Well, I find my left arm hurting pretty bad after a lot of golf. I think it is due to me breaking my collar bone a year or so ago. I have never played when my arm hurt but imagine I would encounter the same problems as you, so I am glad you made this post or I would never have thought of it. Did you happen to have some type of arm or shoulder injury?

It's simple... It's called FATIGUE. It not only wears away at you physically, but more importantly, your ability to concentrate.

Everyone is different. But for me, I would NEVER go to a practice session (as a recreational golfer) and hit 150-200 balls. First of all, I lack the physical conditioning to do that. But even if I had the physical conditioning to do that, I still wouldn't want to hit 200 balls.

Moderation is key. You indicated that you can take a week off and find your good practice routine. That's really telling. I'd be interested to hear what your results would be if you just simply went to the range every other day, or maybe three times per week, and hit 1/3 of the balls you're hitting.

Not everyone can be like Carlos Franco, who is notorious about not practicing much at all. Then again, not everyone can be like Vijay, who hits 1000 balls each day.

I agree with PA PLAYER, your over-practicing. To me you should never hit more than 5 balls in a row with taking a break for minute. After all you never do it on the course. Just take your time there's no rush and if it's humid make sure you stay hydrate'd

If your body is giving you pains or numbness or anything like that its the bodies way of saying stop, or slow down.

Ignore warning signs like these at your peril.

Its one thing going through the pain barrier in a metered way under supervison as part of a regime of fitness, but something that must always be approached with caution.

Yes I do....I remembered there was once when I whacked my drivers so hard and continously as I was so please with my distance and accuracy. The next day, I felt I lost my left arm...total numbness from back shoulder blade to my fingers. It was bad, seen doctor and chinese physicians and took a long 6 months to recover. After this incident, I get injury and muscle stain in the usual spots very easily.......

I really thank all you people for your advices on my practice injuries!!

I hit alot of balls in practice, but I take loads of breaks and go through a pre shot routine each time...I have noticed that it is somewhat normal here for people to get 300 or more balls at the range, while in the States that is less common...I don't know why that is, but don't be drawn in...

You could use this as an opportunity to concentrate on your putting only. Like Tom Watson said, "If almost half of golf is putting, it deserves half your practice time."

Best wishes

I never hit more than 50 balls if I'm not focusing on any swing changes. If I'm just trying to keep my swing fresh, I don't hit many balls at all. The more you hit, the more tired you get and the more it will affect your swing without you wanting it to.

Now, the thing I do do is go putt and chip for a long time. I usually hit about 20 to 30 balls, spending no more than 45 minutes hitting balls. Then I go putt and chip for double what I hit balls. Most of the time I'm at the course for 1:30. Just enough to keep your game fresh, but not get yourself to tired. O, and I'm a 3 handicap.

At my practice range they sell buckets in sizes of 50, 80 and 120 balls. Because I love to hit balls, I used to buy the 120 and 80 sizes. But after I observed that no additional gains were to be had after balls 51 and beyond (and that hitting more than 50 (practicing tired) often had a bad effect on the swing), I settled for hitting 50. I recommend that you leave your half used bucket behind when a practice session starts to go bad, rather than going from bad to worse, and ingraining bad habits. And when you feel an injury coming, walk off immediately.
Imitating the pros who hit 500 balls is definitely not for everyone: Remember that the pros hit these 500 balls with a very efficient, effortless, smooth swing, so it is much easier for them to get away with this. Imitate the pro swing, not the pro practice ball quantity!

To contradict some of the replys, I have found that hitting more balls equals more staying power on the course...I use it as exercise as well as for developing technique...the heat here leaves you flat if you walk the course by the last 4 holes and hitting more balls has increase muscular endurance for me...but again, I don't pound balls mindlessly, and I have built up to it...

No argument there: Nothing wrong with disciplined, well-paced, thoughtful practice! On the other hand, I see a lot of guys at the range take one horrendous swing at the ball after the other, with about 10 seconds in between. While it is amazing how well some of them can repeat their misdeeds (I watched one guy the other day hooking his entire bucket over the same location of the left-hand net: and this isn't easy when you want too!), I have the feeling they aren't learning much!

Maybe his nick is leftshooter