Hey everyone, I'm ready to pull my friggin hair out. I've been trying to get past Hydra boss for almost 4 hours. I'm almost convinced my game is glitched!

I can knock him down a million times, no problem. When circle appears, I press it and get him wrapped up around the mast. Then the mini-game starts and no matter how many times or how fast I press circle, I can't get Hydra's head to break the mass. Kratos just keeps falling over on his ass without splintering the mass. What am I doing wrong?