Stuck in a rut - longest time ever

[Ash1974]

I have not had a good year this year, I am struggling to play anywhere near 17-18 let alone 14 at the moment.

I have had 2 88's this year and the rest have been 94/92/95/100/98/98 etc.

Yesterdays round was a 98 49/49
I had 5 pars and a few bogies but the rest were triples.
When I shot mid 80's most of last year my worse would be a double bogey, but I just can't keep triples off my card these days, my back 9 is 4/3/4/3/4/3/5/4/4 and I went 7/5/7/3/7/3/5/5/7

Don't get me wrong this has happened b4 but only 1 or 2 rounds not most of the year LOL

I got really frustrated yesterday and started thinking what has gone wrong, my irons are fine, driving is OK but when they all go it seems to be on the same hole!

Anyway just needed to get it off my chest but I am sticking with it and determined to get back in the mid 80's by the end of the year.

My courses are championship, I changed Irons last October along with some minro changes to my swing this year to fix the odd shank but that is it.

[James_Black]

relax, as arnold palmer said to a guy "your not good enough to get mad about your game".
I always think of that and forget about the drive I've sliced into the trees.

[Ash1974]

LOL I do try, been reading some mental books etc, but the last round really got to me, ah well see what happens on sat

[James_Black]

LOL I do try, been reading some mental books etc, but the last round really got to me, ah well see what happens on sat

I shot a 91 yesterday (would've been more if I wasn't playing stableford)

focus on the positives.

[kevin.chan]

This is GOLF ! LoL !

I shot even on the 1st nine at Collindale @ F. Collins CO and the following week l shot a 48 .

[WUTiger]

You might take a golf lesson. You possibly have a recurring problem that creeps in and out of your swing.

[Ash1974]

Yeah I am over due a lesson, my father is a retired teaching pro so I have lessons from him, he took a look at my swing the other day and said it was fine other than the release of the hands with my driver.

He thinks (and I tend to agree) that my issue is my mainly my head and course management so he is going to come out with me for a few practice rounds and see how I think my way around the courses I play

This is GOLF ! LoL !

I know, I know and I have said this too many people over time on here, but sometimes you just need to vent your shite golfing days

[Pat007]

why not try to completely change things up for awhile? Like hit irons off the tee if you're used to hitting driver and the opposite, etc to see if that gets you out of it. A lot of times, people become creatures of habit and tend to get lazy on the course. I have those days, and i'm a very conservative golfer. When i feel i'm in a rut, i have an 'ultra agressive day' and hit driver everywhere, hunt for pins, etc. That seems to get me out of it.

[c. lassiter]

My wife reminded me yesterday that I quit the game 3 years ago. I was playing poorly and it wasn't any fun.

Which I think is pretty normal, as your game will come and go over the years.

In my case the magic solution was to abandon my new sticks and go back to the ones I had played well with in the past. Voila - that was it. Not sure if it is the actual sticks, or the confidence they inspire, but whatever it is it worked for me.

[James_Black]

after reading this thread I'm in a rut now too.

I'm slicing my driver and I just shot a 92 in my latest competition.
My official handicap is still coming down but I'm playing terrible, The putter is on fire for the first time ever but I hit 4 drives OB today.

[Ash1974]

LOL the curse of the sand trap

[Ash1974]

Well finally had a good round today, played a different course, Par 72 6110 yrds.

Shot 5 over 41 on the front 9, hit 5 GIR and had 3 pars and a birdy, with 1 DB and the rest Bogies (2 x 3 puts)
Back 9 I was unlucky, I had two 3rd shots (pitches under 70 yrds) on 2 Par 5's that were in deep divots and both ended up costing me DB so shot an 11 over 47 for a total of 88 (16 over) which is my best round for a long time and more like my handicap.

I am a happy bunny, although it could have been an 84 if I had pared those two par 5's (should of as only had short pitches and two puts for par but as said was in deep divots) which would have been my lowest gross score ever

[right handed phil mickelson]

By the look of your scorecard, you don't seem to have that much trouble with the par 3's. I'm guessing your irons are pretty good right now, and the thing that's ballooning those scores is your driver. Just focus on that for a little while, practicing your drives, and long irons. You'll see some improvement in no time.

~RHPM

[Ash1974]

By the look of your scorecard, you don't seem to have that much trouble with the par 3's. I'm guessing your irons are pretty good right now, and the thing that's ballooning those scores is your driver. Just focus on that for a little while, practicing your drives, and long irons. You'll see some improvement in no time.

Your kind of right, I am struggling being consistent with tee shots, whether this is with my driver/woods or irons (to be fair the driver is the most consistent)

Yesterday my tee shots with irons on par 3's were good as were my woods and driver, I just suffered on some pitches and chips and left a few birdy puts too short so missed the pars, this was mainly due to a course I hardly play with very wet greens. On my courses the par 3's are all 180-200 other than 1 which is around 145 (always into the wind) fairways well bunkered and the greens are tough due to them being championship courses so maybe I put too much pressure on my self on my home courses?

[right handed phil mickelson]

Your kind of right, I am struggling being consistent with tee shots, whether this is with my driver/woods or irons (to be fair the driver is the most consistent)

Ha, well there you go. Sometimes you need to just sit back for a bit and take a good look at what you're struggling with. Work on those things for a little bit, and you'll get out of that rut and back to lowering your scores in no time.

[tws1098]

I just had a horrendous round yesterday. 95 with 7...yes 7 penalty strokes. I sat back after the round and looked at what I did well and took that away from the day. As an amateur golfer I think most of the game is in your head, the more confidence you can inspire the better. Good luck, and hopefully your most recent good round will rub off on my next round haha.

[James_Black]

I'm playing in the captains prize tomorrow and a inter-club tournament the day after.

I played pretty well in matchplay on friday and won my game but that's slightly different.

Let's hope things start to pick back up.

[PooN]

Look at what happened to McIlroy... 63 one day, 80 the next.

I've had this slump you are in (with the exact same scores, lol). I haven't shot a 100 in years... been shooting mid 80's-90's, then I start playing rounds at 98,99,100 and think, I play waaaaaaay too much golf to be this bad. Started keeping track of my stats (FIR/GIR/Putts/etc) and found my game was in need of help off the tee and chipping, as well as putting (but that is just a given). If I hit fairway off the tee, score in the 80's. If I am not FIR most of the round, 90's... it's almost that simple.