What Do You Do When Your Playing Bad Golf?

[tomvk77]

Try to make the best off it. If i have a bad round it usually starts with a bad tee shot, i struggle lately with my driver.

I than go back to 3 wood, if that is not working 3 iron. Being a good iron player all my live this normally keeps the score together.

[beezer123]

Usually I'll just huff for a bit, but I'll always complete my round. Not having a membership, I don't really have an option. I've paid for my round so I'm going to complete it. No matter how badly I'm playing.

[BugDude]

Quitting in the middle of a round is never an option.  I've learned a lot playing through bad rounds.  Find something to work on, and forget the front nine and see what you can shoot on the back.  I've started out some rounds really crappy and ended up having a stellar back nine and a decent score.  That to me ends up being a rewarding round in that I was able to turn it around.

[meenman]

My 4 beer round becomes a 6-7 beer round, at least the cart girl is happy.

[NuclearMike]

I keep playing for that one shot that will bring me back to the course again and again.  Every round there's one or more of them- a striped drive down the middle, a bunker shot to par range, a perfectly read downhill 15 footer...

Don't worry about having a bad start.  You can always have a better finish.

[inthehole]

Originally Posted by AmazingWhacker

When it's gotten to the point where it's hopeless, I stop keeping score and just play shot-by-shot, hole-by-hole.  Once this happens, I will usually end up have a few good holes before the round is over.

Same here - i'm probably in the worst slump of my 2.5 year golf career right now.    Really struggling with ball striking - I tend to overanalyze, way too many swing thoughts going on at once.     Agree when it really gets bad - just convert to shot by shot mentality.     Also dealing with a knee issue and hyperextended left elbow which is a nagging issue (one full wedge shot when I flip it through & don't lag the club head is enough to jack up my elbow) and consequently is always on my mind.

For me, the easiest way to start playing better is to focus on looking at the ball through impact - I have this annoying tendency to lift my head - not alot, but just enough to promote poor ball striking...

[adamMlee]

I believe that the most important golf tips for beginners is to practice. This is a game that demands hands-on training, not just with the driver but will all of the clubs, including the putter. You will never master the golf swing unless you invest the time and energy to learn each club and understand how it reacts to your swing. Read and practice, that's my advice to you..

[soccerballs]

Over the years I have learned that a decending golf game and swing creates more and more hand and  body muscle tension So...

..I hold the club parallel to the gtound in front of me..and "Feel" the weight of the Head of the club..I loosen my grip to that of one holding  tiny baby bird...,,next is the lower body and feet..It is essential thati cane feel the ground through my spiles as though I am barefoot griping the ground with my toes and inside of the foot..then modertate take away and say to myself "Pause "  when I near the top.....It works  when i work at it.,,,,,,,,,,,,.Hit -Um-good !!

[Brakkus]

Tom Watson says you have to let good golf come to you and be patient. Also get rid of any expectations of what you should shoot. Really it's down to what mental attitude we have on every shot. Usually I hit a 7-8 because I made a mistake and then make another because I was not mentally able to cope with the situation. I think maybe that on reflection most of my mistakes are mental ones that follow a mechanical mistake. That's what leads to bad scores and a bad round. You start out relaxed make a swing error simply because you are not perfect. Then its compounds because if were being honest we would rather blame our faulty swing than our minds. We shouldn't ignore things that need work in our swings but our mind really should need just as much training.

[dfreuter415]

Last year I was playing my normal Monday morning game with my friend Jim, and had just bought some yellow Srixon balls. I am a 9 handicap, and I pride myself on my consistency, but this day I started with 4 bogeys and 4 double-bogeys. I can't remember the last time I was 12 over after 8 holes, but there was no way that I was going to quit.  Besides, my friend Jim has only beaten me once straight-up during our 25 year friendship, and that was for nine holes, so I'm sure he felt that this was finally his day.

Anyway, on the ninth hole I changed back to my Pro V1 white ball, and told Jim it was the yellow ball's fault for all of my bogies. Well, the next ten holes I shot even par with an eagle, a birdie, 3 bogies and 5 pars. I ended up shooting 83 and Jim shot 85, a good round for Jim but a better come back for me.

[dfreuter415]

Originally Posted by inthehole

i'm probably in the worst slump of my 2.5 year golf career right now.    Really struggling with ball striking - I tend to overanalyze, way too many swing thoughts going on at once.     Agree when it really gets bad - just convert to shot by shot mentality.     Also dealing with a knee issue and hyperextended left elbow which is a nagging issue (one full wedge shot when I flip it through & don't lag the club head is enough to jack up my elbow) and consequently is always on my mind. For me, the easiest way to start playing better is to focus on looking at the ball through impact - I have this annoying tendency to lift my head - not a lot, but just enough to promote poor ball striking...

Since you have been playing for a relatively short time, this is something that you might consider...

For the last 40+ years I have kept a file called "Swing Thoughts."  This is a compilation of key swing thoughts for my driver, fairway woods and long irons, mid and short irons, the short game and putting.  Most of my swing thoughts originated through an emulation of Al Geiberger's golf swing as a teenage golfer back in the 1960's, through my one week of golf lessons at a Golf Digest School back in the 1970's, and though tips that I have received both from reading and on the course.  I have been able, through experimentation at the range and on the course, to combine all of these factors successfully (for me), and have been able to play a consistent game over a long period of time.

During the course of a year I will go back and review my "Swing Thoughts" whenever I get into a slump.  I also update them whenever I find something new that works for me. (This year I came up with a new putting grip and pre-shot routine.)

Best of luck in getting out of your slump and to lowering your handicap.

[Hardballs]

When I'm playing bad I never walk off, I much prefer to throw my clubs down the fairway or kick the shit out of my bag! It just releases tension! If I double bogey 4 holes in a row Ill take my bag off its push trolley and smack the living shit out of it! It loosens you up and usually improves my swing! But If I hit treble bogeys consecutively, you'll probably find me in the bunker digging my own grave!

[tmac20]

Just the other day I was +5 after 4, and played the last 14 holes at even par. Just play every hole like it's a new round.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by Hardballs

When I'm playing bad I never walk off, I much prefer to throw my clubs down the fairway or kick the shit out of my bag!

It just releases tension! If I double bogey 4 holes in a row Ill take my bag off its push trolley and smack the living shit out of it! It loosens you up and usually improves my swing! But If I hit treble bogeys consecutively, you'll probably find me in the bunker digging my own grave!

Please don't ever invite me to play with you then.  I'll walk off, not because of my play, but because of your tantrum.

[David in FL]

Originally Posted by Hardballs

When I'm playing bad I never walk off, I much prefer to throw my clubs down the fairway or kick the shit out of my bag!

It just releases tension! If I double bogey 4 holes in a row Ill take my bag off its push trolley and smack the living shit out of it! It loosens you up and usually improves my swing! But If I hit treble bogeys consecutively, you'll probably find me in the bunker digging my own grave!

[Hardballs]

Lol, of course i said that in jest! But it was based on a guy I played once,(a friend of a friend) who was in serious need of anger management, not course management! After sculling a shot over a bunker and landing past the green, he proceeded to bash his club in the sand, 3 times in a row, like a pick axe! Then threw his club back at his bag, then marched straight over to his stand bag and kicked it! Lifting the bag 2 foot off the floor and 6 foot through the air!!! I didn't know where to look! It was only the 4th hole, but I remember thinking he wouldn't have any clubs left by the end of the round!

[Chris223]

Just recently I shot a 27 for the first 4 holes at Conklin Players Club, where I had 2 snowmans in those 4 holes and I was just NOT interested in playing anymore.  So uh yea, holes 5-18?  I shot +8 lol.  Finishing with something in the 90's.  Forgettable round, but shooting 8 over on holes 5-18 was nice.  If only I could have shot 4 over for the first 4 holes.  My best round this year is 18 over par.

[Crim]

I haven't been golfing very long but so far I've had many good days and many bad...both days are a ton of fun and better then sitting on my butt at work or in front of a television.