Mental strength

[Karlsson]

My first post here. Started to play last year after 10 years of absence.

Starting be a bit frustrated of that I have the same problem each round.

1. First 9 holes, on my par or better. Good temper and happy.

10-15 about zero points, maybe a few sometimes, I start to make different mistakes, hooks, slices, topping etc no red thread in the errors. I also get quite mad at my self which is not good and also frustrated that I lost the score on the round. Its not exactly this holes therefor it is not course related.

16-18 I'm back on track playing good.

This is the outcome of most of my round. Does not mater which course I play.

Today I ate a good breakfast, and had time to warm up and no stress. Then I played and drank a lot of water and ate a snack during the round to keep my focus but it still happen.

I pretty sure this is physiological, I expect this to happen and therefor it become a truth. I try not to think that way but I still do.

I'm looking for tips to keep my focus and a way to "forget" bad strokes instead of analyzing them.

[nevrino]

Someone here said that " I got X in handicap i'm not supposed to hit good shots all the time" and when I miss a shot I try to use this approach aswell. You can't expect not making mistakes unless you have a really low handicap. Im not saying that you shouldn't aim for a birdie on every hole though.

[GaijinGolfer]

Forget them by just forgetting them.  Move on to your next shot and let the last one go.  If you continue to analyze your last shot, you arent truly focusing on your next one and its just going to spiral into a series of bad shots.

[Karlsson]

The problem is also that I think I expect this to happen and therefor think about it even tough I try not to. Have thought about breaking the habit, starting with the back nine and going for the first second, just for a test to see if I can break the habit, also I tought about skipping the break after ninth. I am in good physic and I think I could be better to "snack" during the game instead of a pause. Also mostly to try to do something new with my game.

I also need to work on my confidence (which is good in other situations than sports). When I play the first nine I make a lot of pars which is better than the 18 hcp I have and make me nervouse when it should give me confidence.

[NuclearMike]

You list your index at 18.  You're expected to screw up sometimes.  That's why you're an 18.  I'm a 17.3 and if I hit every shot the way I wanted to I'd be playing golf for a living.  You just have to realize that you're not perfect and put your bad shots behind you when they happen and move on.  I'm ultra-competitive with myself but I know that I can follow a bad effort with a good one and get my mind right again.  I'm always striving for improvement and if I let my head get in the way getting better seems to be a slower progression.

[Karlsson]

I might live under a false impression as well, I hit long drives and irons, played with index 8-9 and out drive them. I hit the green often from 6-7 iron and down. Therefor is start to think that "if I just start to keep the game up I could lower my index" but that might be an exaggeration.

My game might be better when its good than 18 but not as much as I think.

But to return to the main issue (also saw a new similar thread posted, any search genius who can help me find old threads in the same subject would be highly appreciated) I really need to get some tips of how to keep the focus even when things get bad.

I figure there are some good advice on "tricks" to forget the bad holes, just blocking them is hard because you keep them in your head but just add a don't to it. Ie if I normally think "that was a bad hole" the suggestion of not thinking of it would make me think "Don't think about that bad hole" which is just as bad, its still the same thing just in a different shape.

[gwlee7]

The trick will be to try not to follow a bad shot with a worse one.  Unfortunately, mental-midget me did that three times today and including a wonderful double, double finish that turned a very respectable 77 into a disappointing (it's all relative) 81.

It doesn't have to be a hero shot either. Just a good solid shot that is better than the one that just got you into trouble.

[Karlsson]

Some improvements.

-First skipped the 10 minute break after 9th, try to eat before the round and then drink water during the game and maybe a bit of snack during the round. This made the game consistent during the whole round eventough its not yet up to the level I want.

Today I tried a "mind trick", said berfore the round that I would play against 36 strokes in the slope instead of 18 for fun. This toke pressure of the game and gave me more room to make mistakes without roining the game. This did not solve my bad playing but I sure improved the game and the temper alot. My goal is to reduce the slope by full strokes, ie if I score 40 point than I would play agaisnt 32 strokes the next round.

[dak4n6]

Your mind is too full of stuff. STOP thinking about consequences and results!!!!

Play each and every shot as an event in itself. In tennis, you can't think of the consequences of each shot - you would freeze up. Just watch the ball, and hit it. Watch the ball, and hit it, etc........