I get a similar problem. But what happens to me is that the chat box goes blank and I cannot type in it. So does the menu and the invite box. Closely followed by the swing meter. So only thing I can do is play by myself.
I run the game on W7 IE and have a laptop above the recommended requirements and a decent internet connection.
Funny thing is that I get none of these meter glitches - just loading and freezing issues.
And Yes, I have cleared my cache.