Damn, I Am in a Slump

[Cantankerish]

Since my last handicap calc, I have shot this:

89, 94, 96, 97, 102, 101, in that order.  The last two times out, I have not felt anything like in command of my shots.  I keep opening my right hand off the tee, sending my shots banana style several times each round.  I keep toeing my irons.  My short game has been strangely good - I have even been getting more birdies than usual.  I just have these lousy blowup holes.  I am not even bothering to call my pals to schedule an outing this weekend - very unlike me.  I'm just so meh.

 

I need a pick-me--up.  At this rate, I may actually start one of my home improvement projects I have been avoiding so that I can golf...

[Vinsk]

3 minutes ago, Cantankerish said:

Since my last handicap calc, I have shot this:

89, 94, 96, 97, 102, 101, in that order.  The last two times out, I have not felt anything like in command of my shots.  I keep opening my right hand off the tee, sending my shots banana style several times each round.  I keep toeing my irons.  My short game has been strangely good - I have even been getting more birdies than usual.  I just have these lousy blowup holes.  I am not even bothering to call my pals to schedule an outing this weekend - very unlike me.  I'm just so meh.

 

I need a pick-me--up.  At this rate, I may actually start one of my home improvement projects I have been avoiding so that I can golf...

Pick yourself up. It’s happened to every one of us and will happen again and again. Golf is a four letter word. Embrace it.😀

[djake]

@Cantankerish take heart!  At least you are playing golf.  

I am currently nursing an injury, again. Out all last week, this week and not sure when I can play again.

[billchao]

28 minutes ago, Cantankerish said:

Since my last handicap calc, I have shot this:

89, 94, 96, 97, 102, 101, in that order.  The last two times out, I have not felt anything like in command of my shots.  I keep opening my right hand off the tee, sending my shots banana style several times each round.  I keep toeing my irons.  My short game has been strangely good - I have even been getting more birdies than usual.  I just have these lousy blowup holes.  I am not even bothering to call my pals to schedule an outing this weekend - very unlike me.  I'm just so meh.

 

I need a pick-me--up.  At this rate, I may actually start one of my home improvement projects I have been avoiding so that I can golf...

It happens. There's nothing wrong with taking a break. I don't play golf four months out of the year.

[RWC]

Had one of those rounds today - 9 hole league play and I shot a 47 with 2 doubles and 7 bogeys. Just could  not make anything work and harder I tried the worse it got.  So... next week I am going to play my hickories - ignore the score and try and have fun. Hopefully that will banish the demons in my head / swing and I can get back to my more normal game of  low to mid 80's.  If that does not work then its time to dust off that bottle of brandy and hit the range.

[TRUCKER]

Make the call. The first time this happened to me I was scared I'd lost my swing, and would never find it again. But as unexplainable the reason I lost it, it was just as unexplainable when I got it back. The better I get, the less frequently it happens. Very rare now, and when it does happen, the duration gets shorter, and I'm not scared, I'm just annoyed for the period of time it takes for it to "come back". BTW...I never thought about "quitting" or "taking a break" from golf because of "slump" or "loss" of my swing. I just keep playing with the swing I have. I don't understand the concept of putting the clubs away as a way to get out of a slump, or find my swing again...🤷‍♀️

[Zippo]

I feel your pain, brother. I'm not a doctor but I did stay at a Holiday Inn, once, so I am going to prescribe to you very large doses of tequila!

[Scmelik]

I know the feeling man. I went in on a streak this year that was absolutely atrocious, of course it was right before one of my biggest tournaments of the year.   Two weeks before the tournament I had rounds of 69 70 68 68. The week before the tournament I shot 87 92 96. First day of the tournament I shot 68 second day 98. 

 

High and and lows are going to happen. Just got to believe in the process and that it’s going to get better. Don’t try to press it will make things worse. If anything simplify simplify simplify 

[Yukari]

Oh yeah, the proverbial slump.  It never fails.  Happens to all of us.

Just a month ago, I was shooting regularly in the mid to high 70's then boom out of no where I was shooting high 80's to mid 90's.

I hate that.  Just got to go back to basics and work out of it.

[Rip62]

I had my retina detach and had emergency surgery about 7 weeks ago. I started playing the last couple of weeks and had my only 50 for 9 and shot my only 100 of the year. They put a gas bubble to hold the retina down and my vision isn’t great. I normally wear contacts but can’t because of the eye drops I’m using and the only pair of glasses I have are trifocals so even closing the bad eye it still doesn’t look right. It seems every shot is fat or thin and I’ve topped more drivers than I probably have in the last 2 years. I thought it wouldn’t be that hard just stand over the ball and take my normal swing. I can feel myself hesitating in my swing because I don’t trust what I’m seeing. Hopefully I can see normally before the season ends.

[Wm94109]

Sorry to those with medical issues.  Hopefully, your health and game will improve.

For some of us, slumps seem to happen more often than times we get into the "Zone" :)  Sometimes, just going to the range will correct our errors, but other times it's modifying our mental game strategy.  May you find your remedy soon or seek professional help :).

  

[David in FL]

 Think of it this way, what goes up must come down.

Now is the time to start doubling down on your bets with your buddies and signing up for the Club Championship, while that handicap is at a somewhat artificial high!   

[DennisMiller]

14 hours ago, Cantankerish said:

I need a pick-me--up.  At this rate, I may actually start one of my home improvement projects I have been avoiding so that I can golf...

Sometimes a little time away from the game actually helps, as long as we reapproach the game with common sense, by which I mean maybe having a lesson to be properly set up as you come back. Throwing ourselves back into the game with confidence is important.

There's a secondary consideration too, something I enjoyed after nearly 2 years off following some surgeries. The simple fact you can play again makes you really appreciate how much you love the game.

Don't let your slump bother you. Let's be honest... All of us have had slumps. Some people's whole golfing life is a slump, punctuated with infrequent moments of glory.

[ChetlovesMer]

Here's something you can try. Everyone has slumps. Some worse than others. One of concepts that will often help me is to play a round of golf where one every-shot you try to make the "prettiest" swing you can make. I know what you're saying "But, don't you always try to make a pretty swing???" 

That's not exactly what I mean. First of all, don't worry at all about where the ball goes. (I know, this is the hardest part, convincing yourself that the outcome doesn't matter.) Instead, just pretend you are filming a movie. You are staring in a movie where the movie effects team will add the ball in later with CGI. Your job as the actor of the movie is to make super pretty, very professional looking swings. Again, where the ball goes doesn't matter. The CGI will fix that later. Your job is just to really "look like" you know what you are doing. Take an extra club for every shot, because in your effort to make the swing look really good, you'll probably slow it down just a bit. 

Do this for 9 holes or an entire round. Pretend you're only goal is to make beautiful swings and who cares where the ball goes because they are going to add the ball with CGI. 

A friend of mine suggested this to me once when I was in a slump and it really worked for me. It was fun and it actually really helped. Anyway, I pass it on here, do with it what you will. 

Good luck.

[mcanadiens]

14 hours ago, Cantankerish said:

Since my last handicap calc, I have shot this:

89, 94, 96, 97, 102, 101, in that order. 

Well those last four numbers look like my entire frigging year.

 

[gbogey]

15 hours ago, Cantankerish said:

Since my last handicap calc, I have shot this:

89, 94, 96, 97, 102, 101, in that order.  The last two times out, I have not felt anything like in command of my shots.  I keep opening my right hand off the tee, sending my shots banana style several times each round.  I keep toeing my irons.  My short game has been strangely good - I have even been getting more birdies than usual.  I just have these lousy blowup holes.  I am not even bothering to call my pals to schedule an outing this weekend - very unlike me.  I'm just so meh.

 

I need a pick-me--up.  At this rate, I may actually start one of my home improvement projects I have been avoiding so that I can golf...

Two thoughts: my medicine for a slump is a good solid solo round (sometimes two). Go out when the course isn't busy and the round counts for nothing and play around.  Hit multiple shots if you want, particularly if you hit a bad shot or if there's a particular shot missing during your slump.  Seems to work pretty well for me.

Second thought is the Harvey Penick quote, "if you play bad once, forget about it. Play bad twice, practice. Play bad three times, take a lesson."  Might be a little too short but maybe a lesson is in order or at the very least a good long practice session focusing on what ails you most.

[NJpatbee]

A lot of good advice and I would add having a pro look at your swing - it may be something simple.  If all else fails a little time off may help.  I had a period of 2 months where it was like I never hit a golf ball before and I was too frustrated and embarrassed to play a round.  I gave golf up for about a year and did a lot of fly fishing.  When the golf bug bit me again I came back with a ton of renewed energy and optimism and started playing to my ability again with some improvement.  It happens to most of us and there is not one prescription that fits all.  Good luck!  

[Patch]

I like "slumps", only because I know at some future point I will be improving. Maybe even better than I was playing, before the slump started. Slumps are never permanent. I take my bad swing periods in stride.

They happen for various reasons. Muscle fatigue. Mental fatigue. Maybe something else is going in one's life that lowers the ability to focus. Maybe the golfer is letting prior poor shots ruin their future shots. Who knows, "stuff" happens.

My own cure can be taking a multi day break from my game. I also own a few fishing poles. If my slump is due to casting the club, why waste the movement? 

Maybe I might just go play 9/18 holes with a half a bag of clubs. With fewer clubs in my bag, I have to be more diligent in what I am doing, shot by shot.

I can remember a round that started out poorly, where I finished the last 12 holes using just my PW and my putter. 

Maybe I will change my preshot routine. Maybe change the in between shots music I listen to when walking. 

Last but not least, just playing through the bad times, while looking for those occassional good shots that use to be more numerous. 

As posted above, poor scoring slumps happen to everyone. No golfer is immune to bouts of poor play. It's just another part of the game. 

Edited September 19, 2019 by Patch