Mental Reset / Bounce back Tips

[JonathanCWhite]

Hey everyone!

 

I’m been fortunate enough to join a private club and have been playing pretty much daily over the last three weeks. In the last three weeks I’ve seen my scores drop massively to the point where last Saturday I had a round with my coach that was on pace to be far better than anything I’ve ever shot… however, at hole 15 I caught the shanks and hadn’t had issues all day with them. They lasted through the end of the round and I tripled the last 4 to go from record breaking round to one of the worst rounds I’ve had all year.

 

 

My question for everyone is do you think energy levels dropping at hole 15 is due to a fitness issue where I need to just get into the gym and train my body for some stamina or could it be a technique issue that might have creeped in? I believe it’s a fitness issue or maybe even just needing to eat on the course to replenish some lost energy, but I know technique gets magnified when you’re tired or lazy.

 

Have you had anything like this happen? How did you come back from it? Any tricks to bounce back after poor shots?

[cksurfdude]

Yeah def fitness and nutrition, plus hydration, are important factors. But you titled your post "Mental Reset" so IMHO you must also consider...

"... had a round with my coach that was on pace to be far better than anything I’ve ever shot… however, at hole 15 ..."

A common refrain I've heard is once someone starts thinking about that record round - while they're in the middle of it - they have a tendency to start to tense up and, well, kinda choke .....

So a major factor in my mind is the mental game .. staying focused on the next shot, one shot at a time.

FYI two great resources that have helped me are...

• Golf State Of Mind - David Mackenzie
• Practical Golf and The Four Foundations of Golf - Jon Sherman

Best of luck on the next round!!

Edited June 12 by cksurfdude
..oh type-oh

[cnosil]

sure, happens occasionally.  For me it is more mental game and learning to put bad shots out of your mind and being mentally committed to each shot.   

 

My main question is what did your coach say?    Is this late round decline a common occurrence?   If so could be hydration/food, fitness, or clubs are too heavy.  I’d also want to understand mental state during those holes and how you mentally dealt with the bad holes and what, if anything, you tried to change.  

 

[JonathanCWhite]

sure, happens occasionally.  For me it is more mental game and learning to put bad shots out of your mind and being mentally committed to each shot.   
 
My main question is what did your coach say?    Is this late round decline a common occurrence?   If so could be hydration/food, fitness, or clubs are too heavy.  I’d also want to understand mental state during those holes and how you mentally dealt with the bad holes and what, if anything, you tried to change.  
 

Coach said it looked like the energy got zapped out of me but couldn’t tell if that was mental or physical. Late round declines are pretty common for me though so I would assume it is a combination of both. He pointed out one flaw in my bad swings at the very end but to be fair I had been striping it all day so he didn’t want to try and fix something on course.

I don’t really notice a different thought over the ball after a bad shot, but I notice after a few I can feel my shoulders tense up really bad and that leads to worse shots. Only thing I tried to change was on the 17th, which is a par 3 I decided to really try and force my hips through since I was sha—— the ball and felt like my hips weren’t clearing. Pulled the ball hard left and got hit with a penalty for it. Driver was still bombing. Just couldn’t hit irons or wedges after the first bad shot on 15.

[JonathanCWhite]

Yeah def fitness and nutrition, plus hydration, are important factors. But you titled your post "Mental Reset" so IMHO you just also consider...
"... had a round with my coach that was on pace to be far better than anything I’ve ever shot… however, at hole 15 ..."
A common refrain I've heard is once someone starts thinking about that record round - while they're in the middle of it - they have a tendency to start to tense up and, well, kinda choke .....
So a major factor in my mind is the mental game .. staying focused on the next shot, one shot at a time.
FYI two great resources that have helped me are...

• Golf State Of Mind - David Mackenzie
• Practical Golf and The Four Distractions of Golf - Jon Sherman

Best of luck on the next round!!

Will check out these books! I actually didn’t look at my score until after the round. The coach and I both said I was playing well today and everything felt good but neither of us had even tallied the score yet. Just kept plugging away. Hole 15 at like 60yds in was the first sha—- and then they just continued to arise after that. Driver still was hot and putter was feeling good. Just couldn’t swing an iron or wedge.

[cnosil]

1 hour ago, JonathanCWhite said:

Coach said it looked like the energy got zapped out of me but couldn’t tell if that was mental or physical. Late round declines are pretty common for me though so I would assume it is a combination of both. He pointed out one flaw in my bad swings at the very end but to be fair I had been striping it all day so he didn’t want to try and fix something on course.

I don’t really notice a different thought over the ball after a bad shot, but I notice after a few I can feel my shoulders tense up really bad and that leads to worse shots. Only thing I tried to change was on the 17th, which is a par 3 I decided to really try and force my hips through since I was sha—— the ball and felt like my hips weren’t clearing. Pulled the ball hard left and got hit with a penalty for it. Driver was still bombing. Just couldn’t hit irons or wedges after the first bad shot on 15.

Based on your response, if you don’t typically eat/drink during the round then give that a try.   You seem to indicate that t isn’t a mental thing and you are committed to doing the same thing even if you hit a bad patch.  If it isn’t nourishment then it might be your clubs are too heavy.  

[Hosel_Rockets]

I had a similar situation happen earlier in the year! Played on a Friday and Saturday, and had two really solid rounds. I decided to play another 18 that Sunday, and sure enough on hole 10, I got a bad case of the shanks and just couldn't seem to find the center of my club face. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get my groove back and ended up leaving the course with a really bad taste in my mouth. 

After some reflection, this was caused by two factors:

1. Fitness - my body just wasn't ready to play 3 rounds of golf in 3 days, this early in the season
2. Attitude/mental toughness - Instead of taking a step back, breathing, and trying to breakdown why I suddenly was playing so poorly, I just let myself get continually more upset and frustrated

A few things I did to bounce back included:

1. Focused training - I went from a focus on strength/power in the winter, to focusing more on improving flexibility, core strength, and overall endurance. There are plenty of golf focused workout plans out there, so pairing some of those exercises with some cardio has really helped
2. Focused range time - my first range session after, I started with short game and (very) slowly moved my way "back". The focus here was to shorten my swing, simplify things, and just get comfortable hitting the middle of the face again. As I progressed through my bag to longer irons, if I mishit multiple balls I would go back to the previous iron.
3. Lesson - thankfully, I've been working with a great coach who was available later in the week to help me work out the kinks. It was helpful to me to work out some of the issues by myself, and then work with him to reinforce things.

As others have said, nutrition and hydration are important during the round, but it also takes time to build up endurance as well, and while I am the furthest thing from a coach or trainer, this routine helped me immensely to improve my game. Since my the aforementioned horrible round, I've been able to knock off almost 2 strokes to my handicap, and recently shot my personal best round. Hope this helps!

 

[JonathanCWhite]

I had a similar situation happen earlier in the year! Played on a Friday and Saturday, and had two really solid rounds. I decided to play another 18 that Sunday, and sure enough on hole 10, I got a bad case of the shanks and just couldn't seem to find the center of my club face. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get my groove back and ended up leaving the course with a really bad taste in my mouth. 
After some reflection, this was caused by two factors:

1. Fitness - my body just wasn't ready to play 3 rounds of golf in 3 days, this early in the season
2. Attitude/mental toughness - Instead of taking a step back, breathing, and trying to breakdown why I suddenly was playing so poorly, I just let myself get continually more upset and frustrated

A few things I did to bounce back included:

1. Focused training - I went from a focus on strength/power in the winter, to focusing more on improving flexibility, core strength, and overall endurance. There are plenty of golf focused workout plans out there, so pairing some of those exercises with some cardio has really helped
2. Focused range time - my first range session after, I started with short game and (very) slowly moved my way "back". The focus here was to shorten my swing, simplify things, and just get comfortable hitting the middle of the face again. As I progressed through my bag to longer irons, if I mishit multiple balls I would go back to the previous iron.
3. Lesson - thankfully, I've been working with a great coach who was available later in the week to help me work out the kinks. It was helpful to me to work out some of the issues by myself, and then work with him to reinforce things.

As others have said, nutrition and hydration are important during the round, but it also takes time to build up endurance as well, and while I am the furthest thing from a coach or trainer, this routine helped me immensely to improve my game. Since my the aforementioned horrible round, I've been able to knock off almost 2 strokes to my handicap, and recently shot my personal best round. Hope this helps!
 

Thanks for the reply. I have had a major uptick in my playing so I probably need to have a major uptick in my strength and conditioning routine to keep up with it.

[Hosel_Rockets]

51 minutes ago, JonathanCWhite said:

Thanks for the reply. I have had a major uptick in my playing so I probably need to have a major uptick in my strength and conditioning routine to keep up with it.

True, but don't feel as though you have to overdo it. Start slow, and build from there. Throwing in some extra steps each day, doing some stretches before bed, etc. all add up.

Here is an interesting plan I found as well. I don't follow this exactly, but there are a lot of good workouts in here: https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness/golf-workout-program

[WaffleHouseTour]

I also have some back nine fatigue. I’ve walked four of the five miles of the course - crossed the biggest hills with one more to go. I start to find myself more distracted. I know I’m getting tired - especially when it’s hot out. I’m staying hydrated with plenty of water.  But by the back nine I’ve burned the calories I had for breakfast.  I have been thinking some sort of energy or protein snack would be helpful.  

Key requirements - small and easily fits in golf bag to carry, won’t melt on hot days, either prepackaged and ready to go, or premade and just sitting in the pantry or fridge ready to grab on the way out the door.

I’ve been thinking about starting a thread on nutrition but let’s see if Spies chime in here. 

Brats and a beer are not an acceptable answer… for 9am…

[Goober]

Golf is so humbling.But in a way I appreciate and shots.And analyzed them more than my good ones.Knowing what you did wrong makes you get more right down the road