Anger rant... Golf wins, I lose:

Just as some encouragement. I was stuck at about a 14 from the time I was 14 years old to the time I was 21 even though I played a lot. In the past 3 years I've made huge improvements thanks mostly to this website.

Record your swing and post it. Read what everyone has to say, especially in the Swing Thoughts section of the forum.

Why so serious, bro?  Its just a game that you play for fun.  Why let it get to you so much?  There can be such a thing as trying too hard and wanting something too much.

When you get to the point where you want to break all your clubs, melt down the piece into 1 piece and then beat yourself to death with it, perhaps you just need to chill.

Here's what you do:

1) Start singing  a Taylor Swift song.

2) Do a cartwheel.

3) Make your playing partner caddy your bag for a hole.

4) Wack your hybrid 80 yards (about 20 yards longer than you've ever hit it before), overshooting the green by 30 yards.

It's guaranteed to work - that's exactly what my daughter did this morning after becoming discouraged with a bunch of inside out shots including one tee shot that hit a 15 gallown antique milk jug right next to the tee box that ricocheted backwards hitting me hard in the leg.  Part of it was me telling her to remember how her good shots felt and immediately forget anything about her last shot when she hit a bad shot.

More seriously, some of what happened with my second grader actually can apply to adult golfers.  Figuring out how to relax a bit and having a selective memory are some of the most important things in golf.

A Taylor Swift song I have found myself singing lately, when I take out a new sleeve of balls is:

'We will never, ever, ever get back together". Helps Me...

So, I'm not sure I see where the problem is?

LOL This is a regular part of golf, my friend. Maybe not to the extent that you are experiencing, but we all have our roller coaster periods of golf where we are either clacking uphill for a round, a day, a week, or more. Then, we all have the times where everything is effortless and maybe only one small piece of our game is unhinged, yet we're still managing to score what we are used to . Those are the periods where you look back and go "Man, if only my chipping was better and I eliminated that 6, or that 5... I would have broken 80...".

In all seriousness, this is completely normal and you need to have a beer and relax. Or, take Erik's advice and get some lessons. Even with the best professional advice that anyone on this earth can offer you, you will still be prone to experience these major fall-outs. But , they will not be anywhere near as bad and you will have gained the knowledge to assess what it is that is going on and understand how to recover.

So you are at the beach.  With college buddies.  Playing golf.  A lot of us are failing to see the problem here.

I always think the key question to someone experiencing this type of frustration with their game is: "How are you playing?" not "What did you shoot?"

If you are playing OK and just having some bad holes here and there, try playing matchplay with a friend for a bit. Finding the lake twice on a par 3 and walking off with a 9 is less dispiriting when all it's cost you is a lost hole rather than a ruined card.

Taylor Swift - I'd wreck that sooo bad, Gordon Lightfoot would write a song about it!

To the OP, do not take practice swings, if you must, only one, and do not line up putts.  Best advice I ever got.