I hate this game

[mhenrickson]

Same thing happend to me today. First three times out this year I showed real improvement over last year and my confidence was high that I was getting better. Then today I played horribly, that has my confidence totally shaken. So now I want to get out again ASAP to redeem myself in my mind. Damn golf.

[FX(TM)]

I had the same thing a lot of times, just don't let it get your hopes and confidence down. It used to do the same to me, then I used to just put out bad round then bad round then bad round, before I eventually hit a good round.

Don't let it get to you, and have a strong mindset, and you'll start to have these rounds less and less.

[Zeph]

On the same course, within 3 days, I went from a 109 to 78...

[tm22721]

I've decided the only way to put myself at ease is to play to par every hole. That means on a par 3 just get my tee shot onto the green, par 5 don't go for the 200+ yard shot to get in for birdie, and for par 4 just try to get my 3rd shot, whatever it may be, to within 10-15 feet of the cup.

I started playing within my limitations and dropped my handicap from 20 to 10 shortly thereafter. By using nothing longer than a 7i and de-lofting the club to insure good contact, I can par every 3 and 5 but lay up on the par 4s. Recently I discovered DOCF which is getting me to my left side earlier, in the backswing. I'm finally able to use longer clubs and par some of the 4s, breaking into single digits !

[ks8829]

thats why my goal are simple, try not to hit anybody, personal property or lose too many balls.

[RC]

Speaking of goals, I have a friend who is just as likely to shoot in the sixties as the seventies (one of those plus handicappers) and he smiles and claims success because he hit every ball he swung at... 100 percent batting average, regardless of his score. Now I have swung at a ball and missed it (even twice one time) but my batting agerage is still over 99.999 percent for my lifetime -- not claiming they went where they were supposed to but that is about all the pressure I put on myself.

[authentic_golfer]

I started playing within my limitations and dropped my handicap from 20 to 10 shortly thereafter.

The problem for some of us is, we don't realize we have limitations!

Sean

[kpaulhus]

84 last sunday....95 today on an easier course rating :(. Hopefully tomorrow will be my first day in the 70's :)

[soloredd]

I started playing within my limitations and dropped my handicap from 20 to 10 shortly thereafter. By using nothing longer than a 7i and de-lofting the club to insure good contact, I can par every 3 and 5 but lay up on the par 4s. Recently I discovered DOCF which is getting me to my left side earlier, in the backswing. I'm finally able to use longer clubs and par some of the 4s, breaking into single digits !

Congrats. I'm going out Monday morning and hope to take this new mentality to the course. Good to see it made a difference with someone. I've played this course many times so I know what shots I NEED to make, it's actually forcing myself when the time comes to do it.

[tws1098]

I agree with a few people who talked about being able to recover from bad shots. I typically play after student teaching so there are not a lot of people on the course. I will drop another ball if I top one or hit one real fat....but at the same time, if I hit a great shot I try to drop another one and see if I can do it again. I feel like it is helping me understand what I did right on the good swing, and what I did wrong on the bad swing. I am not very experienced, but it is a thought that may help some of you as well.

[Zeph]

I like to think positive. Whenever I got a shot that could go wrong, which is 100% of my shots, I focus on a shot where I executed it very well, having the same swing thought and focus. If I stand ready to hit a drive and the only thing going through my head is "DONT SLICE DONT SLICE DONT SLICE DONT SLICE", you can be damned that I will either slice it or hook it. If I think about a good drive I had, where I focused on the deep take-away, things might go well after all.