How do you stay in the moment when you have a good start?

[chsinn]

I feel like i have plateaued and can't quit break through. Need some help!

Here is the situation:
I am currently just under a 3 handicap. I haven't played tournament golf in ten years. I have broken 70 about 6 or 7 times, so I have finished rounds under par before. Anyway, a good tournament for me would be shooting a couple of 75s. But I usually feel like that I can shoot right around par and if I can make a few good things happen possible break par. I have played in my first 2 tournaments recently since my 10 year hiatus. The second event I played in, I knew I wasn't swinging real well but managed to birdie the first hole and then the 5th to get to -2. Then I made two straight bogeys as I started thinking that I might be able to shoot 70 or better. Anyway, I got it back together and birdied 9 and 10 to get back to -2. Again, and I know I shouldn't, I started thinking that I might be able to shoot 70 or better. Of course, then I had a bad hole where I made a triple - in part because I didn't know the course but also because of nerves and expectations. Basically blew my chance at having a really good round.

The next day, again not swinging real well, I started out birdie, birdie to get to -2. Again, after getting a couple of under, I start getting very nervous and can't help but think of what the round could be. And that's when I start loosing it. My question is how do you stay in the moment and not start thinking about what could be? Not to mention, how are you able to calm yourself down? I mean, really being a couple under in a tourney should be great and one would think you would be chomping at the bit to make more birdies. Instead I get nervous and almost can't wait to get the round over with. Doubt creeps in my head and tells me I can't continue my good play. I really try not to pay attention to my score and play each shot. But when I get a couple under, it's hard not to notice. I really try to focus on execution rather than result, but doubt still creeps in and I have a way of dropping shots. I really feel like this is preventing me from making a significant breakthrough.

Anyone have any suggestions?

[shortstop20]

BREATHE and tell yourself, "thinking about the outcome of the round is USELESS right now, I've gotta concentrate on THIS shot, that's all that matters right now."

[deafheaven]

I hesitate to say anything since you are a waaaaay better golfer than me but anyway.... I sometimes humm or sing a little tune during my practice swings. Empties the mind and builds a rhythm.

[FairwayFrank]

What i always do when i play , is not keep track of the score. Of course i count all my strokes and i can remember what i shot on the 9th hole if you ask me on the 18th , but i never look back on my scorecard to count if i'm 1 over , or 10 over after any given number of holes. I NEVER check my score at the turn , mostly because i somewhat know what kind of round i'm shooting at that point that day , but also becasue if i'm having a good one , it wont stay in my head for the other 9 holes...It kinda works for me , then again...i have a long way to go to get my handicap as low as yours , so maybe it's different when you play in the -'s ! I never know how much i shot until i get at the bar with a beer in my hands.

[Zeph]

I try to keep my mind off it. Plan my next shot, take a look at the distance I need to hit, where I want it to land. Focus at my swing fundamentals.

I'm not even close to shooting in the 70's, so I will probably experience more of this in the years to come, but currently I don't have a problem with it. I do have a problem with nerves when playing with new people for some reason. My first three holes can be a mess, but once I calm down I play to my best.

If I'm in a position where I have an important shot coming up, taking an easy swing, making sure I aim where I should and let it flow.

[denver_nuggs_15]

I sing. Basically whatever song was last on before I golfed, I'll sing for the entire round. I also don't look at how many over I am. Finally, if you do get in some trouble, just punch out or whatever and make a bogey at worst...doubles and triples are a good way to mess up a great round.

[cougar978]

I feel like i have plateaued and can't quit break through. Need some help!

I'm in the same boat as you (first tournament in 8 years last weekend, T5 after first day, got spanked Sunday and still finished in top 20). Here are some do's and dont's I've been thinking of this week.. DO: Take your time with practice swings. Check alignment on each shot. Make sure your ball position is correct when lining up putts. Be patient with bad shots. Play for position over power - if you hit a 2I 240 yards in the fairway vs. a 300 yard drive in trouble, you're looking at a full 8-iron in vs. a trouble shot (chopping out of the rough, having to scoot one out of trees, etc). Be sure to stay behind the ball and finish your swing on short shots, especially pitches and bunker shots - blades, chunks and chili-dips are round-killers for me, because they turn a possible par or bogey at worse into trying to save bogey. DON'T: Get into a d***-measuring contest with the guys who hit the ball further than you in the group. Rush, or be casual about putts, even short ones. If it's not a tap-in, mark it and take a look. Give yourself a target score on the first tee - you're putting undue pressure on yourself, just go play the game - whatever happens, happens. Get down on yourself and lose composure - throwing clubs, etc. After a bad hole last Sunday, I chucked my lob wedge about 50 yards, I never really recovered after that. I have a big problem with that kind of thing, and it almost got me DQ'd from the city championship in high school when I ended up finishing in the top 5.

[MiniMoe]

The key for me is to get lost in the process of playing golf. After all it only happens one shot at a time. A two foot putt counts the same as a 300 yrd drive, so don't worry about what it means, just focus on the task at hand for every single shot. You count the numbers up at the end. All you have to do is keep track of one hole at a time.

My best rounds are when I don't know how I'm doing... really. One day after we played I was asked how I did. I mentioned something like 3 or 4 under par. We added up the score and it was a lot lower than that... -11 for my second 59 on a par 70 course. If you don't keep track, you don't have to be scared of how low you can go.

[chsinn]

The key for me is to get lost in the process of playing golf. After all it only happens one shot at a time. A two foot putt counts the same as a 300 yrd drive, so don't worry about what it means, just focus on the task at hand for every single shot. You count the numbers up at the end. All you have to do is keep track of one hole at a time.

Good god... My low round is a 67 and for the most part I am a kind of in the same boat as far as being lost in the game when I have my best rounds. However, even then I know that on 16th or 17th hole that I am having a really good round. Again, unfortunately, my thought process goes from let's make a good golf shot with each one to "let's get in safe" (regardless if it's a tournament or not

I think it's all about focusing on the immediate task at hand, i.e. the shot in front of you. Appreciate all the thoughts from everyone. Would love to hear more. You never what one thought will work so I encourage more thoughts from everyone. Thanks!

[Seven Iron]

Hardest thing to do. You have to find a way to keep score without keeping score.

Here's a quote from a mental coach. "Lord please let me stay in the moment and keep having fun."

Know this doesn't answer your question but everyone has their own ways of doing it. State golf my final year in high school it was me and this girl going into 17 and 18 tied. I had to make a 5 footer to stay tied into 18 and I just kept trying to keep calm and play my own game, this sometimes meant I wouldn't watch her shots. I made the put and put my ball on the green pin high 10 feet away (it was a par 3) and she missed the green. This is the part where most people feel they won but I knew anything could happen so this was where the pressure builds. I LOVE pressure. I thrive in it. Anyway, she made bogey and I was sitting at a 2 footer to win. I said to myself "Just hit it...you keep analyzing it your gonna miss it." Made it and won. The key is to keep having fun because then it's not work! Hope this helps.

[rckwd]

I feel like i have plateaued and can't quit break through. Need some help!

I don't know....if you find the answer to that one let me know!! I was having a great round this morning until the 4th hole. Drives were right out of a PGA Endorsement video. On #3 I hit 3w to the top of the hill, which was about 255, although you cant see the pin it is on a plateau just over the ridge, sort of like a question mark turned sideways. Anyway, I knew I was 100-110 from the pin so I hit a soft 9....2 inches from the hole. Birdie (Three birdies in a row now...I am feeling good) I go to number 4 tee box, 497 par5 down and up a hill with a little bend to the right. Man I love this hole!! I launch a mild fade that wraps around the fairway like you had a string tide to it. I land on the fringe of the rough, just a few feet from the 200 yd marker.

So now that my ball is lying in some uncomfortable bedding next to the 200 marker I have to make a decision. Do I want to come out of here with a 5w (and wind up scratching the crap out of my club...or do I hit the 3 iron. While I have always been confident hitting my long irons, controlling them is another story (as far as right, left, hook, or fade). But this time a pine and the 200 marker had the pin obscured so I had to hook it and hook it hard. So I took a big upright swing, swung down on the ball and cleared my shoulder early.......I thought I was going to hi the next tee until my ball curve to the right so pretty...hitting the middle fairway 15 yard from the green!! Now the bad news I chipped and putted dbl-dbl bogey the rest of the way on that hole, when I had a chance at par or better.... Made me so made I gave up....and never did regain my composure for 10 holes of more. Thats what makes me a amateur and them pros

[chsinn]

Hardest thing to do. You have to find a way to keep score without keeping score.

Actually, it's funny because I usually do well under pressure as long as it is put on by someone else. I have been in three playoffs and won two of them. And I tend to play better in match play events as well. It's my own pressure that causes me the most trouble.

[ApocG10]

I listen to the Beatles, zeppelin, Hendrix, Floyd(real Floyd, with Sid) between shots. And when I get up to the ball, I try not to think of my swing.

When im putting, I always sing 'Fixing a hole' by the Beatles queitly to myself. Loud enough to hear but not too loud.

[Dub]

I feel like i have plateaued and can't quit break through. Need some help!

Don't know......I played with a 6 hcper today......we were one stroke apart at the turn......and then the wheels fell off for me.....never got my swing back.

[HSip]

Actually, it's funny because

Heck you're a 2.1 HCP - a lot of us would LIKE to plateau there! Maybe you should always play as if you're playing match play - let your playing partner supply the pressure, always try to get inside them.

[Three Putt]

My best round is a -2, was -4 after the front nine, then started thinking about how "great" I was and bogeyed 10 and 11. Then realized that I was really swinging well and putting well and went back to trusting the great swing and touch I had that day, hit good shots on 12 through 18, 1 bogey, 1 birdie to finish -2. Have had a few -1's, evens, +1's...but never had a front 9 like this day.

I guess really trust it when you are playing well (might be one day or 3 weeks), then grind it out on "normal" days. You are a better player than me, so it happens every 2 or 3 months when i'm on for a couple days or a week.

Advice from a 6, so keep that in mind.

[chsinn]

Just a quick update. I played in tourney again this weekend. Was -1 through 9 and bogeyed the 10th in part because I started thinking that I could be looking at 69 or 70. I got to thinking about some of the things that were said on here as ways to stay in the moment. So, the next time that I started thinking about what could be, I started to sing a song that I had heard on the way to the course. I used it mostly when I was standing over the ball. I also continued to think about execution of the shot at hand and not the potential results. I wound up shooting +2, but not because I wasn't in the moment. On 17, I hit a ball on the perfect line and it was my best drive of the day (a playing partner even said perfect too another guy in the group who hadn't played the course in trying to explain the line). Anyway, the course was so wet we couldn't find my ball and I had to go back and re-tee. Wound up making a double and parred the last for a 74.

Just wanted to say thanks and let you guys know that I used some of the things said in this thread.

[DavidFehertysBike]

Ive had and blown so many good starts that i dont even care anymore. And i think that is the key of it all. Experience. Experience to know that good starts dont mean anything, because you play 18 holes.