Trouble finishing rounds?

[kevin.chan]

Same problem for me ...

People say is the 5" between your ears .

I m still need to find the solution ..sigh !

[tomvk77]

What can i say, keep your positive mind before the putts. Try to remember a putt you made on the front nine or when you last played that hole.

That always works for me. If you think don't miss this one. well most likely the ball will miss.

And be confident in the line you picked. if not step back and take another look.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by James112

How do you not add up your score in your head? It automatically adds up in my head

I honestly don't know how to tell you that.  I play each hole as it comes and sometimes I total it up at the turn, other times not.  I can usually tell only if I'm playing well or if I'm playing poorly, but I don't think about total until the end.  If you can't turn off that adding machine in your head, then you are just going to have to learn to deal with it in your own way.

[Motley01]

Funniest thread ever. Who complains about shooting a 78 is beyond me. I don't care if your a 2 handicap or what.

Come on man......

[geauxforbroke]

Originally Posted by Motley01

Funniest thread ever. Who complains about shooting a 78 is beyond me. I don't care if your a 2 handicap or what.

Come on man......

It's all perspective. You're a 16 handicap, so you would probably complain about a 95. But I'm sure there are plenty of guys that have never broken 100 that would love to shoot that.

[trackster]

Originally Posted by Motley01

Funniest thread ever. Who complains about shooting a 78 is beyond me. I don't care if your a 2 handicap or what.

Come on man......

I'm sure that if Tiger dropped a 78 on a Sunday he would be complaining.

[trackster]

Originally Posted by Fourputt

I honestly don't know how to tell you that.  I play each hole as it comes and sometimes I total it up at the turn, other times not.  I can usually tell only if I'm playing well or if I'm playing poorly, but I don't think about total until the end.  If you can't turn off that adding machine in your head, then you are just going to have to learn to deal with it in your own way.

I rarely keep a score card.  I usually just add the over par (and the rare under par when I birdie the first hole) in my head.  I don't think it affects my game at all.

[whatwoodtigerdo]

Originally Posted by trackster

I'm sure that if Tiger dropped a 78 on a Sunday he would be complaining.

Is Tiger a 2 handicap? I agree with him I am sure a 78 is pretty common for a 2 handicap. You don't become a 2 handicap by shooting only 74 and lower.

If it is a serious question I still say drink lots of water during the round obviously and if you start to feel sluggish drink gatorade. Consuming simple sugars will give you a quick boost for the physical part of the game. The mental part maybe just close your eyes for a few moments, clear your mind and take a couple of deep breaths. But that part of the game is so individual no one knows how you feel and cannot really tell you what will work for you.

[Motley01]

Thats what I'm saying. You only shoot your handicap 10% of the time. So shooing 4 over your handicap is going to happen quit often.

I think the OP could be tootin his how horn.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by Motley01

Thats what I'm saying. You only shoot your handicap 10% of the time. So shooing 4 over your handicap is going to happen quit often.

I think the OP could be tootin his how horn.

Actually it's 20-25%, but you have the right idea.  Your handicap reflects your potential, and that is lower than what you usually shoot.

[Motley01]

Originally Posted by Fourputt

Actually it's 20-25%, but you have the right idea.  Your handicap reflects your potential, and that is lower than what you usually shoot.

Huh? If they take your lowest 10 rounds out of 100, isn't that 10%.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by Motley01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fourputt

Actually it's 20-25%, but you have the right idea.  Your handicap reflects your potential, and that is lower than what you usually shoot.

Huh? If they take your lowest 10 rounds out of 100, isn't that 10%.

The lowest 10 of your last 20 differentials.  See this SITE for a complete breakdown of the formula.

[k-troop]

I used to have the same problem.  Now I just play crappy golf for a full 18.

But seriously... it's usually one of two things for me.

1.  Loss of concentration.  It's really hard to focus on each shot for a full 18.  I typically focus very well early on (assuming I'm not being rushed) because my mind is fresh.  It's tougher to maintain throughout the round.  I think this also applies if you're hitting wild shots in the middle of a round, because you start focused, then your mind gets tired.  It is easy to re-focus on your goal at the end of the round when you want to finish strong.

2.  Overconfidence.  Sometimes when I'm playing really well, I'll start to feel invincible.  I may go out strong, and be standing on the 12th or 13th at a few under par.  Thoughts of shooting in the 60s creep in, and you think "I've been striping it all day."  That might cause me to overlook hazards or short-sides that I'd normally play away from.

Regardless, one or two loose shots--whether in the middle or towards the end--can really change the way a round is going.

My suggestion is to simply focus on the shot.  It's fine to stand on the tee thinking "If I hit a good drive, I can birdie this.." which inevitable leads to "then I only need to finish with 3 pars to break 70."  But, after that really think about the shot.  See the line and the shape, and force yourself to rehearse the swing thought you go to for that shot.  Use that mental energy that goes to thinking about score, but re-direct it to thinking about each shot you need to hit, when you're hitting it, to get to that score.

[Yukari]

Something I've been working on is just trying to put a good swing on each shot and not worry about the result.  That seems to help a lot, at least for me.

It helps me to focus on every shot.

Originally Posted by k-troop

I used to have the same problem.  Now I just play crappy golf for a full 18.

...

[tomvk77]

Originally Posted by Fourputt

Actually it's 20-25%, but you have the right idea.  Your handicap reflects your potential, and that is lower than what you usually shoot.

Can not agree with this part. Looking at myself and looking at my club.

I played in 12 stroke play tournaments this year.

i was lower than my hdc on 4

i was even with hdc on 4

+1 on 3

+5 on just 1

I get similar results for most tournament players at my club.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by tomvk77

Can not agree with this part. Looking at myself and looking at my club.

I played in 12 stroke play tournaments this year.

i was lower than my hdc on 4

i was even with hdc on 4

+1 on 3

+5 on just 1

I get similar results for most tournament players at my club.

He's just quoting the basic math. It's not really something with which you can disagree. Since your handicap is your best 10 of your last 20, that's 50% already. Since it's an average, that means roughly half are going to be above and roughly half below your handicap, so ~25% will be below. Since it's actually 96% and scores that are at your index aren't below it, that makes it 20-25% of your scores are likely to be below your handicap index.

If you played 12 rounds and eight of them were even or below your handicap, then you're either a sandbagger, you play "better" in tournaments, or you don't really understand what's being said. The fact that you "get similar results for most tournament players at [your] club" tends to rule out the second, because most players shoot slightly higher scores in tournaments.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by tomvk77

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fourputt

Actually it's 20-25%, but you have the right idea.  Your handicap reflects your potential, and that is lower than what you usually shoot.

Can not agree with this part. Looking at myself and looking at my club.

I played in 12 stroke play tournaments this year.

i was lower than my hdc on 4

i was even with hdc on 4

+1 on 3

+5 on just 1

I get similar results for most tournament players at my club.

It doesn't matter if you agree or not, it's a simple mathematical fact as Erik pointed out.  If you are shooting lower than your handicap, then your handicap should be going down until it stabilizes at that 20-25% average.  If it isn't going down then I don't know what it going on, but something isn't right.  They may use a slightly different method of figuring it in Europe, and all I'm familiar with is the USGA system.  With our system when you shoot multiple scores at or below your handicap index, that index will be lower on the next handicap revision for your association, to reflect the improvement in your game.  That is how the math is designed to work.  The handicap represents your scoring potential, not a scoring average.

It's like hanging a carrot in front of a donkey to get it to move.  The donkey will never reach the carrot because they are both moving together at the same pace.  The same is true of the USGA handicap.  If the player catches his handicap, it is again calculated just at the edge of his of reach.  The only difference is that the golfer will occasionally be able to touch his handicap because it sort of sways back and forth in front of him as his scores fluctuate.

[k-troop]

Originally Posted by tomvk77

Can not agree with this part. Looking at myself and looking at my club.

I played in 12 stroke play tournaments this year.

i was lower than my hdc on 4

i was even with hdc on 4

+1 on 3

+5 on just 1

I get similar results for most tournament players at my club.

Originally Posted by Fourputt

It doesn't matter if you agree or not, it's a simple mathematical fact as Erik pointed out.  If you are shooting lower than your handicap, then your handicap should be going down until it stabilizes at that 20-25% average.  If it isn't going down then I don't know what it going on, but something isn't right.  They may use a slightly different method of figuring it in Europe, and all I'm familiar with is the USGA system.  With our system when you shoot multiple scores at or below your handicap index, that index will be lower on the next handicap revision for your association, to reflect the improvement in your game.  That is how the math is designed to work.  The handicap represents your scoring potential, not a scoring average.

Possible tomvk is confusing HI with average score relative to par?  If his course rating is like 68 on a par-72, then he can shoot 79 (i.e. "shoot his handicap" at 7 over par) and actually be increasing his HI.