After a horrible day how do you deal with golf dejection?

[Albatross Ace]

On monday I shot a 38 on nine holes and I was feeling fantastic. I couldnt wait to get out there and shoot lights out on tuesday. I went par birdie par and was excited for the next 6 holes. Unfortunely I went OB or in a hazard on the next three holes and hit the final 3 greens in regulation and 3 putted them all. I ended up shooting a 50.

I feel like I live and die by my scorecard. I have a hard time trying to isolate my game to just my attitude on the course. Consequently I will walk around on top of the world after a great round and after a bad one, I couldn't be more depressed.

How do you deal with a bad day in golf? I could really use some tips. . . = /

[lumpuckeroo]

I use it as a learning experience, I figure out where I went wrong, which sounds like you have already done, and create a game plan to solve it.  So it might be going to the driving range to get a more consistent drive, practice green to working on putting, or even better if it is course management, go back out on the course and make better decisions to score better.

Easy to say hard to do, but don't dwell on the negative, think about the positive changes you will make to get your game in better shape.

[saevel25]

Being an 11 handicap i am sure your made swing changes over the years. Most of the time for me, when things go bad is because my bad faults come up again. Its hard to get rid of the bad faults you develop when you start out golfing. I started out with no instruction, no golf lessons till after a few years.

So for me, when things go bad, i take a few practice swings and focus on keeping my head still and down through the swing. My faults are comming out of my swing, my butt will come towards the ball, if i don't time it right i will hit it fat, push it way right or top it. So focusing on keeping my head still, i can stop myself from overswinging because overswinging moves your head, it helps me keep myself down on the ball through the swing. This helps me get back into the swing i like to have. If i find myself staying down, but still hittting it right, its because i open the clubface in the backswing, and get the clubhead behind my hands. So i will take a few practice swings getting my hands to lift a bit more and to hinge earlier, making sure not to roll my left wrist over. This gets me a good feeling of setting the club.

Note these are the things i do. Because i know what feelings i have to have to hit the shots i want, i know the faults of my swing. Being an 11 you should know alot about your swing. So my best advice would be, focuse on a feeling in your swing that you have when your swinging good and mimic that in a few practice swings.

If you feel like you keep making the mistakes of hitting it OB, or in the water. Then bail out a few times, hit an iron or 3-wood on a hole you normally would hit a driver. Get something to replace those negative shots.

For example, the other day i hit a ball OB, i mean over the trees way OB. In our league we don't penalize distance, keeps things moving on a very busy golf course. So i drop a ball, and i know OB runs the right side through the hole golf hole. So i basically just flush an 3-iron to the left greenside bunker. If my normal cut came in, i would be on the left side of the green, but i put myself in a place i know i can get up and down. I didn't, missed a 7 foot putt for par, but i know i didn't compound my mistake.

[Dabbler]

It's sort of been written in the first response, but I'll have a go too. Shooting good scores everytime you set out is potentially meaningless. Without a bad round thrown in here and there the good rounds become dull & grey. You need something to contrast them against in order to call them good. For me there is only ONE thing that would have me feeling down after a bad round. That would be if U had absolutely no idea what went wrong. Bad or good round you can always take something away by asking yourself, "What did I learn today?". That gives you something to work on either mentally or physically.

[daveny]

Don't dwell on what you did today. Try to do better tomorrow!

[1par2win]

My one and only goal every time I play a round is to follow my game plan and focus on each shot. Much easier said than done! But anyway regardless of what score I shot if I can look at myself in the mirror after the round and know I did my best and followed my plan then I am content. If my strategy didn't work or my swing was loose that day then I work on what I think needs fixing. So in other words, I focus on the process of golf and not the score I shoot. This is how I avoid living and dying on every shot and keeps me on an even keel. That's the great thing about this game. So many ways to play it...

[Albatross Ace]

Thanks a bunch for the feedback guys! It was really helpful. I have a match in about 3 hours, I hope I can bounce back and come home with the W. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

Thanks again!

[Mattplusness]

I come onto the sand trap and make topics like this.

No but really - if there's one thing I've learned from going from shooting 110+ to 80s in three seasons - it is that golf is not a game of linear improvement. Your scores will not go down in a straight even line, rather low, high, low, high, but overall getting lower and lower and the high numbers getting lower.

I feel as if those 50s are as important as the 38s. While the 38s tell you what you were doing right - the 50s tell you what you need to improve on in order to get that < 37

[darkhunter139]

A six pack.

[Double Bogey]

  Mattplusness said:

Originally Posted by Mattplusness

I come onto the sand trap and make topics like this.

No but really - if there's one thing I've learned from going from shooting 110+ to 80s in three seasons - it is that golf is not a game of linear improvement. Your scores will not go down in a straight even line, rather low, high, low, high, but overall getting lower and lower and the high numbers getting lower.

I feel as if those 50s are as important as the 38s. While the 38s tell you what you were doing right - the 50s tell you what you need to improve on in order to get that < 37

Excellent post.

[Ben]

  Albatross Ace said:

Originally Posted by Albatross Ace

How do you deal with a bad day in golf? I could really use some tips. . . = /

When things go bad, I tend to try and fix my swing on the course, golf's most deadly sin... I struggled with this just last week. I'd been playing awesome in tournament play lately, went out on my home course and just stunk it up. It was like I totally forgot how to swing a club. I attributed it to the fact that I hadn't really been in the mood for golf, been going through girl problems so I didn't really practice, didn't even think of golf.

Yesterday I went out for my normal Tuesday evening 9-hole game. My confidence level was at about 30%. I kinda skanked my drive into a fairway bunker on the first hole, hit the lip and was sent back in the bunker on my second, then slapped a nice shot out for my third. As I was standing out in the fairway 154y from the pin I was hit with a revelation, "lets' tone down the agression, take a half a club less, and put a nice rhythmic swing on the ball." I stick my 8iron to 15 feet and drained the putt for par. On the next tee I put that same smooth swing on my drive which put me in position to get up and down for a solid birdie and from there, all thoughts of how to swing, turned into thoughts of how I want the ball to fly to my target. That's what its like when I'm playing my best.

So, when things go bad I like to tell myself that I know I'm a good golfer, I know the funk will pass. I pick one easy swing thought and stick with it. I ended up winning yesterday. Taking my friends for $20 each. Paid for my Korean BBQ!

[Open-Faced Club Sandwedge]

  darkhunter139 said:

Originally Posted by darkhunter139

A six pack.

Don't forget spouse abuse.  Since my wife is the primary limiter on how much weekend time I can devote to my game, I consider my inconsistency to be directly her fault, and take it out on her with physical violence.  It really helps me let go of all those negative emotions about my swing.  If my wife's not home I kick the cat around for a while.  Need to get me some kids.

-Andrew

(No, of course not really.)

[Double Bogey]

  Open-Faced Club Sandwedge said:

Originally Posted by Open-Faced Club Sandwedge

Don't forget spouse abuse.  Since my wife is the primary limiter on how much weekend time I can devote to my game, I consider my inconsistency to be directly her fault, and take it out on her with physical violence.  It really helps me let go of all those negative emotions about my swing.  If my wife's not home I kick the cat around for a while.  Need to get me some kids.

-Andrew

(No, of course not really.)

Spit Coke all over the monitor for this one.  Nicely done

[airic31]

Forget about it!  You're going to have a terrible day here and there.  If you go out and shoot another 50, then hit the range and work on some technique.  Remember an old swing thought that always seems to help. (My 'go to' is to take the club back square and not to far inside)  Find your own 'go to' and use it when things are off for a few rounds in a row.

[dbuck]

The other day I had a pretty good round going and then double bogied two par fives back to back. I was on in regulation on one and 90 yds out in two on the other. After that I finished birdie-par for a 42.  With what should have been easy pars, I would have scored a 38. Instead I had a short game brain freeze that cost about 4 shots.

What I learn from these misadventures is something every instructor, book, philospher or whatever says--you can only play one shot at a time.

As far as life and feeling depressed, I remember my scorecard is not my life. I am not a professional and my life doesn't depend on what I shoot. I play golf for fun, and while I don't like shooting double bogies, I had fun doing it-and still believe I can correct the thoughts that caused it. After such a round, I first focus on the good shots I hit and savor those memories, then look at the mistakes and try to see a cause or how to better focus to reduce them.

I don't believe anyone enjoys golf more or wants to improve more than I do, but I realize that I won't wake up tomorrow and be scratch or even single digits. I am at or slightly worse than the OP, and once you get there the next reduction in handicap is harder than getting to that point.  To me there is almost an order of magnitude difference in 6 vs 12 as opposed to 12 vs 17.You shot 38 one day and 50 the next; that gives you an 88 which is a little over your index but not that bad. Take away the 3 putts and you are right there. If you are hitting the ball consistently and it is flying well, don't let it get you down.  Just try to eliminate the brain farts that cost strokes. But ultimately don't let your life be tied to your scorecard.  As much as I love golf, it isn't worth it.

[andycook]

1) Enter and review stats from the failure round

2) Blog about it

3) buy new golf equipment

:)

[turtleback]

Quote:

What I learn from these misadventures is something every instructor, book, philosopher or whatever says--you can only play one shot at a time.

This!

[Captain Crumble]

I feel your pain - Ontario qualifier on Monday 42 - 52 back?  Just get back up on the horse and try again - the more times you put yourself in this situation - the better you will get - sure it's natural to feel disappointment when we don't play well - our expectations are bruised and we question our ability - as difficult as it is - excise the negative and try to take whatever positive you can from the round and move forward - golf is a game that will have it's ups and it's fair share of downs - accepting the good, the bad and the ugly will build character and make us better golfers and individuals.  Just think of how lucky we are to be playing golf, and not trying to piece our lives back together in Japan - it's a game and it's meant to be fun.

Kick some butt next time out.  cheers.  Captain Crumble.