how to deal with horrible days

[mtsalmela80]

After having a personal best 41 on a local 9 hole course a few days ago, I opened today with 2 snowmen, pulverizing any chance of having fun. It was an absolutely awful day, I even scored a birdie two holes later which meant crap at that point. Ended up with a 52.

How do you deal with really bad days, if you have them....it practically ruined the rest of the day!

I drove the first hole onto a huge tree root in the rough, hit the 2nd shot so fat it went 10 feet, then hit a tree in a desperate attempt to get back on the fairway while gaining a few yards, which bounced my ball back 50 feet. After a first hole like that, I was mentally raped.

[Dad-2-3]

One or two holes means nothing in the grand scheme of your golf game. It may ruin your chance of a good score for the day, but it shouldn't ruin your chance for a great shot on the very next shot. Accepting that I will make bad shots has done a lot in eliminating (sp??) my blow up holes. For instance I hit a great drive on a par 5 the other day. I had 260 to the center of the green and topped a 3h so bad it went 10 yards. I just took a deep breath, exhaled and began setting my mind to making the best shot possible. I hit the next shot to 50 yards and pitched on and two putted for bogey instead of par. Last year I would've gotten upset and swung out of my shoes on that third shot and hit something wild and desparate trying to make up for my blunder on the second shot and I would've ended up with an 8 or worse.

From what I remember reading you've been doing well. Don't let one or two bad swings or unlucky tree roots or bounces get you down.

For a bit of great reading pick up the book "Zen Golf". It's helped me a lot with the mental side of golf.

[motteler621]

^^good advice. Last week. I was hitting a 7 iron and the ball immediatly hit the 150 market in front of me 7 feet and bounced back about 150 yards. Prolly would of knocked me out if it would of hit me.

[Bullitt5339]

Having just went through this last week (had 4 absolutely horrible rounds in a row), I can tell you what I did:

Went to the range everyday during lunch and hit 1 bucket of balls. 1st day, the only club I took was my pitching wedge. Easy club to hit, and easy to build confidence in your swing again. The next day, I took just an 8 iron, and the 3rd day, a 6 iron, 4th day, the driver. Concentrating on one club a day brought back some confidence in my swing, which was all I was really missing. I went out and played 9 holes yesterday without keeping score. Just relaxed and worked on the game.

Today, I went out and hit 9, keeping my stats. Ended up tying my best score ever. I was so relaxed on the course today that it was easy to "see" the shot, and hit it nicely. I had a few bad ones, but after so much time on the range, I knew what I was doing wrong from the way the shot felt, and I'd drop another ball (course was empty), and I'd hit the shot again. Usually the 2nd one was exactly what I wanted on the 1st one, so I'd go pick up that 2nd ball and play my crappy shot for the score. I'm not posting the score for handicap, since I was basically practicing on the course, but it really helped my mental game.

[soloredd]

My last round was one of those 'horrible ones'. Was having a beautiful round through 5 and got to a straight away par 5 488 yards. Great drive, left me 240 to the front of the green. Was on the first cut of rough so took my hybrid (which I have not been hitting well lately) and topped it. My plan going into the round was to not hit that hybrid and just lay up, trying at worst to make bogeys. Well, I completely mind-screwed myself and then shanked 3 shots til I finally punched up to the green. Took me 5 more holes to get out of that, completely shot my round to crap.

What I figured out during all this was to start thinking about something else. I started joking with my friends, laughing at my shots, etc. Eventually, I got my groove back and finished pretty good. Then I went to the range right after the round and sure enough, got my swing back. Going out Monday morning with the same confidence I had going into the last round.

I've found if I concentrate TOO hard, get too technical, it's over.

[Fairway_CY]

Last year I would've gotten upset and swung out of my shoes on that third shot and hit something wild and desparate trying to make up for my blunder on the second shot and I would've ended up with an 8 or worse.

This is EXACTLY what I've changed in my game. I used to try and get everything back on the next shot or next hole. It just doesn't work that way. I find myself getting upset now and again... and when I do realize it, I make a conscious effort to calm down... but you can SEE in my scores where I lost focus. Playing to NET par has helped me greatly... because even if I triple bogey certain holes... it may only be a bogey (double at worst) on my scorecard and I KNOW that a par (net birdie or eagle) will get those strokes back... so I just play poised and in control. I've only had two rounds over net par this season (out of five) and my handicap is working its way down (I started the season at 23.0 and by next Wednesday I'll be at LEAST a 20.3 - possibly lower depending on how I shoot later today - in only two revisions).

Don't let the bad/poor shots direct your focus away from the fact that you're playing a game. Go to the next shot and just let the previous one go. A friend I played with on Thursday had back to back horrible holes... and you could just tell with each swing that he was getting angrier. On the first bad hole, he tossed a ball in the air, swung at it with his putter... and he caught the ball with the hosel of the putter (where the neck bends) and the head snapped off. He had to putt the rest of the day with his brothers putter. Next hole... he hit a drive through the fairway into a pond... then went on a series of topped shots that I don't know if I'll ever see again. It took him eight shots to reach the green and he finished with a ten. But the best part was that he let it go and then parred the next hole and played pretty well for awhile. Eventually, a bad shot crept back in and he was ready to walk off the course by the 14th hole. He calmed himself down again and then had a few good holes to close. The whole time, I thought to myself that if he just let go of the bad shot in the first place, he wouldn't be walking up to the ball trying to beat it like it stole his girlfriend. The anger he showed was kind of funny... but as a golfer, I knew EXACTLY what he was going through. Just let the bad shots go. Walk to your ball and forget what happened... and concentrate on making the best swing possible. (A lot easier said than done, I know... but - you asked.) CY

[DaSportsGuy]

I can usually tell after the first two holes if I'm going to have a good round or not. When I see my round is not going the way I'd like, I just try and come away with something positive. Whether it be a birdie or two, a couple of GIR's, or a few fairways hit. Anything that I can look back on in a positive light and keep your mind off the poor scoring.

[GaijinGolfer]

Keep telling yourself, "Im not good enough to get mad". On bad days, instead of worrying about my score, Im simply take it 1 shot at a time and try to remember the good shots I hit and forget about the bad ones.

[mtsalmela80]

Good tips around. Im pretty passionate about golf, even though Ive only been out on a course for 1 year now, and every shot is either an opportunity to feel really really great, or get really upset, and everything in between.

[TigerWoodz]

Good thread,last week i scored 87 and drove the ball well,this weekend i played,i topped my first drive to score a 7 on the first hole par 4,well i thought ok forget that hole it can only get better...i played quite well the rest of the round kept the same ball the whole round and theres quite a bit of water on my course,only to completely wreck my score on the 18th,i finished with an 11 on the par 5 18th...scored 95,i only had to par it and i would of had my second round in a row in th 80's...all that effort to blow it on the last is sole destroying...

[doctork]

Golf does give a person insight into what being bi-polar must feel like. (And I don't mean that to make light of bi-polar disorder.)

I find it relatively easy to shake off bad shots or holes early in the round, when there's plenty of golf left to turn things around. It's those back-nine blow-ups that cause me to crack.

In those situations, when I've wrecked a potentially good round, I try to stay focused because I've learned that playing well on the last hole or two creates a positive feeling, even when the score is disappointing. Knowing that I finished poorly because I quit on a round is the worst feeling there is.

DoctorK

[Meddle]

When I start a round horribly, I just think to myself this will be a round that will be dropped from calculation from my handicap (since just 10 of your last 20 count), and consider the rest of the round as practice. Of course I still count all my strokes and record my final score, but I just worry less about the round. Whats really soul-crushing is when you have a great round going, and blow it the last couple holes. I still haven't figured out how to cope with that.

[rfan2]

Having short term memory loss helps. But kidding aside, I try not to take myself too seriously when playing. I can’t expect a lot from myself when I am not prepared. In the immortal words of Gary Player, "the more I practice the luckier I get.”

[Dave H]

I used to let bad play on a hole or two ruin entire rounds for me. During this past off season I resolved to be more even keel and try to find opportunities for positives even in the midst of a bad round. So far this year it has made me much happier in general while playing golf. A couple weeks ago I had a terrible front nine - probably the worst I'd ever scored on a very familiar course. I just tried to keep things positive in my mind, took a few minutes while we were waiting to tee off on 10 to objectively review my swing and slow my brain down. I then proceeded to have one of the best nines I've ever shot there (+5 41).

[Dr. Strangeclub]

The first time I ever shot 69 from the back tees at one of the tougher courses around here, I started with a double. Maybe not a couple of snowmen, but relatively speaking, not much different. In fact, looking back, it seems that when I get off to a really great start, I might have a good day, but not a great one. Most of my lowest seem to jump up out of nowhere. the first time I ever broke 70 (1963), I was really pumped because I had 3 holes to play and was 3 under. I'd been there before but always gassed out. And I did it AGAIN! I doubled the 16th. Crushing at the time. Then, quite to my surprise, I holed out my 9 iron on the next hole for an eagle! They had to give me oxygen after the last hole, but I managed to gag in a par and get the monkey off my back.

So...you never know. You might have had an eagle and two birdies on the way in, dropping into your lap from the blue, and had NEW personal best of 40! "Never give up! Never surrender!" (Galaxy Quest)