I'm Really Trying to Just Let it Go

[Bucki1968]

I have spent the past couple months trying no to dwell on bad shots. Just try to immediately let them go. I would say I'm having some success....most of the time. 

[DaveP043]

11 minutes ago, Bucki1968 said:

I have spent the past couple months trying no to dwell on bad shots. Just try to immediately let them go. I would say I'm having some success....most of the time. 

I am closer to the first choice than the second, but I still get irritated with myself at times.

[jsgolfer]

30 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

I am closer to the first choice than the second, but I still get irritated with myself at times.

This^^^

[DaveP043]

To clarify a little, I don't see a big problem with letting your reaction linger a little bit, as long as you're not taking it out on your companions.  But I believe its essential to get over the previous shot before you start preparing to hit the next shot.  And I want to get over my good shots just as much as getting over my bad ones.  

[iacas]

I don't even care about it while it's in flight.

It's just golf. It's not going to change my life.

I will get upset/bothered (these aren't quite the right words) about play as a whole, and while that can be "frustrating" I turn it into drive and determination to get it on film and fix it.

Which I did today. Super frustrating as a whole, but every problem has a solution, so as soon as I recorded a swing, I saw what it was. And the last four or five holes were better.

[ChetlovesMer]

I'm pretty much a let it go kind of guy. 

A wise person once said "You aren't a good enough golfer to get upset over a bad shot." 

[Coimbra]

I do have a hard time letting go of some bad shots. But then again it depends on the moment of the game and the shot itself.

If I miss a very difficult shot going for the attempt to gain a stroke... I get over it pretty fast (e.g. hitting a 5 iron from the rough attempting to land on a receptive green at 175m but landing on a greenside bunker instead - that's OK for me)

When I miss a pretty simple and easy shot such as a 1m putt for BOGEY, then I do get upset and I tend to get aggravated... 🎇 luckily it doesn't happen often!

All in all I think it depends on the mood, and building a positive vibe with assertiveness and mindful control over your emotions and thoughts - that's an immensely important part of golf. 

[dennyjones]

1 hour ago, DaveP043 said:

And I want to get over my good shots just as much as getting over my bad ones.  

I like this also!

[dagolfer18]

I was kind of in between the two options. As in, I’m not one to immediately forget bad shots/holes, but I’m also not one to let it linger for the rest of the round. For example, if I miss a short, easy putt on the 5th hole, I’ll typically have it pushed out of my mind by the time I hit my approach on the 6th. 

Or, if I hit an awful drive, I’ll have that memory gone before I finish that hole. In other words, it takes me about half a hole to flush out the botched shots from my brain.

[Vinsk]

Well...when your errant shot takes out a BMW rear window or damn near kills someone ....pretty hard to whistle it away and admire the f****** birds, one of whom I almost killed as well, and enjoy the day.

[darthweasel]

I can laugh off a bad shot. the ones that get me can be either good or bad but...well, live example. Last Saturday I was playing a course that is having so many drainage problems that I have joked to the superintendent "there was so much water this side of the red stake I thought maybe the far side was in bounds and the side closer to the fairway was the hazard".

 

Well, I hit a really nice drive, actually watched it land in the fairway which is not all that common.

 

And never found it.

 

It plugged somewhere, I dropped and played from there (not able to record since I was playing alone). That shot stuck with me because I hate losing a ball in the fairway. I kept looking back towards that area the rest of the hole as if the ball would magically appear. The chunk chip 90 degrees right? that was worth a laugh. Following it up by nearly sinking the following chip and leaving a 6" tap in was also worth a laugh. But losing a ball in the fairway? that stuck with me

[Coimbra]

1 hour ago, darthweasel said:

 

Well, I hit a really nice drive, actually watched it land in the fairway which is not all that common.

And never found it.

 

I can relate to this situation... Not long ago playing with a friend, on the second hole I made a perfect 90m uphill approach shot hitting the far end of the green, I supposed.

As it turned out to be I never found that ball neither on the green nor on the adjacent uphill rough, and had to repeat the shot from where I had hit the approach once more, this time with the penalty.

That disappearing ball situation stuck in my head for quite some time, I even considered that someone took it...(!) Maybe a bird 🐤 

[billchao]

I don’t care much about individual bad shots, but I get frustrated when they form a pattern. If I top the ball once during a decent round, I’ll dismiss it as a fluke, but if I top the ball three holes in a row, that annoys me.

[Zippo]

I get so much joy out of the good ones that the bad ones hardly register. As my swing improves you'd think that would be a good thing except now I hit it into hazards I never used to be able to reach.

[graham57]

On 3/10/2021 at 11:49 PM, billchao said:

I don’t care much about individual bad shots, but I get frustrated when they form a pattern. If I top the ball once during a decent round, I’ll dismiss it as a fluke, but if I top the ball three holes in a row, that annoys me.

That tends to be my problem as well: my bad shots are typically topped balls, and I seem to get into a series of 2-3 shots when that happens. Slowing down and swinging more consciously is usually the remedy. Having said that: that one TV-worthy shot you hit during every round sticks with me longer than the bad ones!

[pganapathy]

Mine is actually both. Sometimes I can forget it and other times it sticks in the mind.  I chose option 1 because I can generally forget it. I guess tournaments is when it tends to stick because each stroke matters

[StuM]

I struggled on which to choose.  I voted “No problem” because  I do not get pissed  and do not carry the anger, however the bad shot stays with me in the sense that I try to figure out what I did wrong and start to over over think my swing.  It is not that I am mad, just trying to go better.  It usually does not help to over think it so I do need to learn to let that go.

[mcanadiens]

At my particular level of golf, letting go of one bad shot is fairly easy. It's really the succession of bad shots combined with one or two spectacularly bad shots that's a challenge. On my worst days it starts a snowballing effect that has me wondering if I'll ever hit another solid shot.

Maybe its gotten a bit better in the last couple of years as my expectation levels have slowly started to more closely match my ability, but I still have my moments.