The head case

[bens197]

Yesterday was my second round of the year. I was -2 after 8, short sided myself on 9 and made double.

 

On the back I made one birdie and three bogeys and shot 74 (par 71).

 

It never fails that I get inside my head when things are going well and cannot break par.

 

What have you guys done to overcome this in your own games?

 

 

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[BDubya23]

That's still a score to be proud about. Most of the time when this starts to happen to me, I just take a breather. Don't focus on the previous hole and tell yourself you have to do so and so in order to break par. Just play golf like you were doing the whole round, and focus on each shot at hand.

[bens197]

That's still a score to be proud about. Most of the time when this starts to happen to me, I just take a breather. Don't focus on the previous hole and tell yourself you have to do so and so in order to break par. Just play golf like you were doing the whole round, and focus on each shot at hand.

Definitely a great round, just frustrated to leave shots on the course based upon brain farts.

 

 

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[TBT]

I have found that picking one thought and focusing on that works for me....for me I just focus on making a full shoulder turn and a smooth transition.

[Shankster]

I have a hard time recovering, I usually spiral out of control if I have a bad hole, there is no returning.

 

Been working on a "bad shot" recovery routine, just slowing down and taking a few extra practice swings. Maybe thinking about something completely un golf related. Seems to help a little.

 

It's all in my head. I Jack up par 5's, at least the ones on my course. They aren't long by any means, and I can get to 2 of them in 2 but my blocked shots always appear on these holes. Been trying to hit 3 iron off the tee to save the frustration.

 

Doesn't help that the fairways are almost impossible to stick if it is dry, they slope one way or the other.

 

 

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[ole gray]

I think the consensus is we all have an opportunity to suck at golf. For you low handicappers you don't suck near as much as us hackers. You can either let it eat your soul or you can roll with the tide. I choose to roll with the tide. Sure it pisses ya off when the wheels fall off but forget it and focus on the future which in a round of golf is your next shot.

 

 

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[bens197]

I think the consensus is we all have an opportunity to suck at golf. For you low handicappers you don't suck near as much as us hackers. You can either let it eat your soul or you can roll with the tide. I choose to roll with the tide. Sure it pisses ya off when the wheels fall off but forget it and focus on the future which in a round of golf is your next shot.

 

 

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Couldn't have said it better

 

 

 

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[chisag]

I think the consensus is we all have an opportunity to suck at golf. For you low handicappers you don't suck near as much as us hackers. You can either let it eat your soul or you can roll with the tide. I choose to roll with the tide. Sure it pisses ya off when the wheels fall off but forget it and focus on the future which in a round of golf is your next shot.

 

 

 

... I lived in Athens for 2 years and Columbus for another 1.5 years so someone from Georgia choosing to roll with the tide has to be a first.      

 

... That said, cliches are cliches for a reason. The only way to shoot under par is take it one shot at a time. Granted it is easy to know where you are if you only have birdies on the card, but once I mix in a bogie I lose track of my score. I concentrate on hitting the shot I am playing to the best of my ability. I remember when trying to get a single digit index I was thinking things like "I need a birdie to make up for the bogie I just made" and it wasn't until I forgot about my score and just played the shot at hand that I started breaking par. 

 

... Of course it also took a lot of hard work and practice. 

[Shankster]

Yeah.. ole gray. You had me too.... roll with the tide...?

 

 

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[ole gray]

... I lived in Athens for 2 years and Columbus for another 1.5 years so someone from Georgia choosing to roll with the tide has to be a first.      

 

... That said, cliches are cliches for a reason. The only way to shoot under par is take it one shot at a time. Granted it is easy to know where you are if you only have birdies on the card, but once I mix in a bogie I lose track of my score. I concentrate on hitting the shot I am playing to the best of my ability. I remember when trying to get a single digit index I was thinking things like "I need a birdie to make up for the bogie I just made" and it wasn't until I forgot about my score and just played the shot at hand that I started breaking par. 

 

... Of course it also took a lot of hard work and practice. 

 

Yea I live in Watkinsville which is close to Athens and I can assure you it was in reference to the beach tide rolling in and not the Crimson tide.    Go Dawgs!

[Kenny B]

Brain farts... we all have them.  It's part of golf.  I think it's in the Rules of Golf somewhere, maybe by the hazards section.  

 

Ben Hogan said that he was happy if he hit two shots per round exactly the way he had intended.  Golf is a game of misses, and to shoot the lowest scores you have to know how to play a hole and where you can miss.  If you stick to your plan and your on-course routine, you have a chance to have a good score.  If you don't, well...

 

I know my limitations (A man's got to know his limitations, right?).  I know my course well enough to know what I can do on each hole and what I shouldn't do.  If I stick to that plan and execute, I can shoot a low number.  If I start doing something else, it can be a very high number.  Positive thoughts help.  My best rounds have come when I think about how I have played a hole well in the past, focus on the shot, and then just do it.  Each hole is new beginning and the last hole is forgotten.  Repeat.

 

When something goes wrong, and it most likely will at some point, accept it and don't try to execute a recovery shot that you are not confident in making.  Pros are really good at this.  Start over on the next hole with the positive thoughts again.  It isn't easy, but I think the more you work at it, the easier it becomes to always "stay in the moment" like you hear from the pros.

[Golfspy_CG2]

Good topic. I've struggled with this in the past.

 

The think I've done this year is I rarely if ever keep track of my score during the round. As a bogey golfer I used to play a 5 on each hole will give me my par of 90. But that caused me to focus on score too much. So if I blew up with a 7 or even 8 on hole. I would feel like I had to make up 3 shots somewhere. Thst just added to the pressure.

 

Now I don't keep track during the round and the on'y thing score related I think of is trying to get the mind set of HATING double bogeys. But for that hole only. Meaning I'd say I'm laying 3 just off the green or 3 with a very very long putt. I focus on the shot that will give me the best chance possoble to get down in two.

 

Last week I had a grind out bogey that I made a nice 8 foot par to save. I was actually more excited about that hole than a birdie I made on a very short par 4 where I hit a 9 iron to two feet for a tap in birdie.

 

To me that particular bogey was more satisfying.

[chisag]

Ben Hogan said that he was happy if he hit two shots per round exactly the way he had intended.  Golf is a game of misses, and to shoot the lowest scores you have to know how to play a hole and where you can miss.  If you stick to your plan and your on-course routine, you have a chance to have a good score.  If you don't, well...

 

When something goes wrong, and it most likely will at some point, accept it and don't try to execute a recovery shot that you are not confident in making.  Pros are really good at this.  Start over on the next hole with the positive thoughts again.  It isn't easy, but I think the more you work at it, the easier it becomes to always "stay in the moment" like you hear from the pros.

 

 

... Good stuff Kenny. I am playing for the 5th day in a row today and after some back issues restricting the freedom of my swing on the first 2 days I am hitting it very solid. But here is the interesting thing about misses and keeping your head in the game. 

 

... Playing a few days ago I shot a 68 on a par 71 course and my full swing was just out of sync. Lots of missed greens and quite a few poor drives. But everything missed was short and easy to recover. Keeping my head in the game and not being overly annoyed by my inability to hit solid shots I was able to take advantage of the several decent shots I hit. Compared to yesterday when I was in a groove and hitting everything solid, I put myself in bad positions because I hit the ball too well. Sounds silly but here are three perfect examples:

 

1) After a great drive I had 131 to a back pin and had hit a pw 125 on a similar shot in the same direction a few holes earlier. But a slight gust and just nutting my pw it flew about 135 and nestled against the 3 foot tall heather over the back of the green. I just could not have hit a sw 131 without over swinging most likely resulting in a poor shot. All I could do is chop down as aggressively as possible to get thru the tall heather and it advanced about 2 feet and carded a bogie after two perfectly struck shots. 

 

2) On #15 I hit a 189 yd 6 iron with a helping wind that caught the very edge of the bunker on a par 3 and because it was a high spinning 6 iron coming down at a steep angle and it plugged just below the lip causing me to blast it sideways and still in the bunker for a 3rd bogie. It was literally a few inches away from a perfect shot that would have been very close to the hole, and again a miss short or cut a little right would have left an easy up and down 

 

3) And finally on #17 I hit a 9 iron 151 with a side wind that just carried the ball a little more than expected and it barely crept into the bunker leaving me an impossible up and down for another bogie. Miss hitting a shot a little short of the green would have left me an ideal chip. Ended up shooting a one over 73 with 3 lipped out birdie putts on my best ball striking day of the season compared to a 68 on an easier course but one of my worst ball striking days where I accepted poorly struck shots and grinded out a great score.