How do you work through a SLUMP?

[amac]

I fear the slump.  I fear I feel one coming on.  My last two rounds have been off.  Maybe it's the mental approach.  Was I tired?  Hungover?  Not really into the round?  What do you do when your confidence level says you should be shooting lights out, but the scorecard disagrees?  And then, the dreaded slump takes over!  How do you get out of the slump, quickly?

[atxpkrgolf]

Guess it depends on how long a 'SLUMP' is for you. Is it 2 weeks?  5 rounds?  If I go 3 rounds w/o playing well I study my stats and I don't play a round for a week and put in double the practice time.  My slumps usually come from me trying shots that are too difficult/poor putting

Good luck

[cipher]

I fear the slump.  I fear I feel one coming on.  My last two rounds have been off.  Maybe it's the mental approach.  Was I tired?  Hungover?  Not really into the round?  What do you do when your confidence level says you should be shooting lights out, but the scorecard disagrees?  And then, the dreaded slump takes over!  How do you get out of the slump, quickly?

Fist of all, don't fear something that may or may not have happened.  Also you cannot get out of one quickly unless you stop worrying about it and just keep playing until you find the groove again.

[mchepp]

This is why golf is so great! Your next round may be one of your best, or it may be confirmation of the slump, you just never know. For me the slumps seems to come on and keep up for longer than the periods of good play. What works for me is to focus on one part of the game during the round. For example I will take an extra 15 seconds when chipping, just to survey the green or one more practice swing and that seems to take my mind off the bad things.

[MS256]

The only way I know is to work on what you are doing poorly in practice and lean on what you are doing well during rounds.

I'm almost always in a slump in at least one facet of the game. The key for me is to know what facet that is and stay away from it as much as I can.  A few times a year it all seems to come together at once.

[amac]

Great responses.  I am wondering if a slump in more a state of mind.  My swing doesn't feel off, it's just my ability to score.  The chicken and egg question is whether I am not scoring and thus down on my game. Or, am I / have I gotten down on my game and thus, am not scoring?  The range game is solid.  The course game fails to execute.  Tee shot is/has been excellent.  Iron play misses the mark.  I'm pointing to my inability to take advantage of great drives that is leading to all this!  Perhaps I need to use this time to focus on my short game.

[rkim291968]

Continued with normal routine (practice, rounds) - didn't work.

Took a week off (didn't touch a golf club) - didn't work.

Went to chiropractor to get my lower back and neck adjusted (had stiff neck and back) - worked.   I am not sure if chiro session fixed my swing or I was overdue for getting out of slump.  Something worked.   My last weekend score - 104, 104.  Two chiro sessions later, 90, 89.

[phan52]

I am in a slump right now, but it is mainly because of lack of time to practice. Whenever I find the time to work on specific parts of my game, I find that the slumps go away.

[rkim291968]

Fist of all, don't fear something that may or may not have happened.  Also you cannot get out of one quickly unless you stop worrying about it and just keep playing until you find the groove again.

+1.

Even through a real slump, you should be confident that you will have a good round when teeing off on the 1st hole.   Don't we usually have the opposite problem?   That is, we are usually full of it (over confident) and get disappointed when we play to our normal ability (or a bit worse).   Cheer on!

[wils5150]

i have never had a slump per-se but I have played many times when things didnt feel right. on those days I try to simplify my game, aim at the fat part of the greens and take zero risk. this keeps my score reasonable.

[PirateJim]

..... Iron play misses the mark.  I'm pointing to my inability to take advantage of great drives that is leading to all this!  Perhaps I need to use this time to focus on my short game.

So, maybe it isn't actually a "slump" at all. I vote it is time to hit the range with a strong focus on shot accuracy with the irons. I would start with the wedges and work up. Grab some alignment sticks if you don't have 'em already. Too many pros use them for it to be a bad idea, but I don't care for practicing with them constantly. If you still seem to be struggling after a couple of range sessions I would say get a lesson. Lessons are cheaper than playing crappy.

[amac]

So, maybe it isn't actually a "slump" at all. I vote it is time to hit the range with a strong focus on shot accuracy with the irons. I would start with the wedges and work up. Grab some alignment sticks if you don't have 'em already. Too many pros use them for it to be a bad idea, but I don't care for practicing with them constantly.

If you still seem to be struggling after a couple of range sessions I would say get a lesson. Lessons are cheaper than playing crappy.

+1

This has been my approach so far.  I have logged two practice sessions and worked exclusively on the 130 and in shot.  Spent hours on the putting green.  We'll see if this helps.  But again, my range swing rocks!  : )

[David in FL]

I play golf.

[BuckeyeNut]

I keep playing without making any changes.......sooner or later, the slump will end.

[shanksalot]

I play so often that I rarely go into a prolonged slump. When I have a few rounds that are above normal or I am striking the ball poorly. I sit down and and try to understand what I am doing to cause this problem or problems. Where are my misses, left, right, poor contact etc. I then go out on my patio and stand in front of the sliding glass doors so I can see myself in them. With a golf club I take my stance and look at myself to see how I am setting up. I do this from the front and side  checking to see if I am in anyway not setting up properly. Sometimes I catch myself in the window with my shoulders closed to my line or some other stupid mistake such as bending over too much or standing too far from the ball. I then make the corrections and take a lot of swings correcting this mistake to get used to the feeling. Next time out I utilize this change and if it works I'm good to go. If not then I go to the driving range and just through repetition usually can work out of my problem. This does not always solve the problem just masks the cause, but eventually I do find the cause and am back to normal again. Well as normal as I can get.

[caniac6]

I keep playing without making any changes.......sooner or later, the slump will end.

Bingo! I feel like there are always ups and downs. During a down time, I just suck it up, and keep playing until things get better.

[GaijinGolfer]

Slumps happen just like hot streaks happen.  You cant fear them, just know that they will happen from time to time.  When Im in a slump, I just keep grinding and reminding myself that my slump will end eventually and just keep working at getting better.