Do you go on "tilt" while playing bad/playing a bad hole

[dcomartin]

I believe that controlling the blow-up has been the biggest improvment in my game. A bad shot or bad hole used to effect me for 2-3 holes. Now if I hit a bad shot I just approach my next shot just like every other. I've learned to follow a routine and it has cut my handicap by at least 6 strokes over the last 6 months.

You wrote everything for me. At the starting of the year I was a 17.8 HC, now I am a 12.4HC. My biggest change was using a pre-shot routine for every shot, every time. I used to really get in my own head about miss hits etc, but now focusing on the shot at hand, and forgetting about the previous shot is what really helped. Bad shots happen, get over it.

[marto97]

I have a friend who I've played dozens of nassau's with over the years. His index is 2-3 shots lower than mine and if I were to guess he's probably won 55%-60% of the time ($$).

Who cares about your boss? The important thing about your thread is "you realized your actions were affecting your game and you have done something about it". Congrats on that.

[MdGolfer1982]

I def. go on tilt. There is no question about it. My stats show that I'm MUCH more likely (as much as 200%) to three put on a hole where my drive ended up OB than a hole I'm playing well from tee to green.

Theoretically there should be no difference in number of putts after a blowup but the stats don't lie. Recovery and Scrambling do NOT rank high on my golf skills list.

[powerfade]

Who cares about your boss? The important thing about your thread is "you realized your actions were affecting your game and you have done something about it". Congrats on that.

I've been working for corporate-America too long

It could be your boss or your grandmother...basically anyone who you would never dream of acting this way in front of. I know that some 'bosses' are actually the biggest jerks on the course in front of their employees. The timing of this is funny because my boss is flying in on Monday and is taking me out golfing for the first time. I've known him for many years and he's pretty mild mannered. It'll be interesting to see how he acts on the course. I know I'll be fine...I get to golf on Monday - whoo hoo!!

[lewisgl]

Oh yes, I struggle with this quite a bit at times myself. Sometimes I handle it ok and other times (such as in tournaments and that kind of thing) I get upset and have a harder time letting a bad hole go, and I have unfortunately followed bad shots with stupid ones on too many occasions. Keep working on the mental game because everyone who plays golf is going to have plenty of adversity and if you watch the best golfers you will notice that most of them handle adversity quite well. Rotella's book, as suggested in an earlier post, might be a great read for you (and me too).

[Jeepthrills]

I have tried the last two years to reign it in. I have gotten much better and my game has actually improved because of it. However, it can still get the best of me at times. I had two times this year where it really got me.

The first was when I was playing with a client at his club. I played reasonably well on the front. I missed two short putts and had a couple bad shots en route to a 44. On the back I started leaking oil and played a three hole stretch 11 over. I was boiling inside but didn't want to embarass myself or the client by letting on. Finally we came to a shortish par 3 (about 160) where I just took a deep breath and concentrated on making one good swing. I put the whole mess of the last three holes behind me. I hit the ball to 10' and made a soild two putt for par. I ended up shooting 53 on the back for a 97. Not good, but I was headed well over 100 the way I was going.

The second time I wasn't fortunate enough to have extra holes to make it up. We came to the 9th on the last regular night of my league. My wife and I went into the night one point out of 1st place. We had to take at least 2 points (6 possible) to make ensure that we would not be eliminated, pending the outcome of the match between the 1st and 3rd place teams. I was up by one shot NET to my wife's uncle after giving him 6 shots for nine holes. We both put it in the fairway off the tee. He misses the green short on his second while mine lands on the green, about 35 feet from the pin. His third goes over the green and is just off the fringe about 15 feet from the flag. I am on the lower tier but putting straight up to the pin. He hits a chip shot that comes out pretty hot and hits the flag then drops into the cup. If it misses, he would have been outside me laying 4 and the match would have basically been over and I would have had the 2 points we needed. His lucky shot was like a kick in the stones. I stood over my putt and should have backed away. I never felt right and blew it 8 feet past. When I missed the comeback putt it was just outside gimmie range. Instead of walking up and rolling the putt in I got pissed and just stabbed at it. When it missed I had officially lost the match and earned zero points. I was so pissed at the fact that a if the 1st place team had taken all 6 a tie was worthless. Turns out that the first place team only took 1 point and the tie would have put us 1 point out of first and playing for 1st on position night. If I had just been able to lag my 1st putt, one of the strengths of my game, we would have been tied going into the finals. Instead my temper got the best of me and put us in the second to last group where we needed the two groups ahead of us to split for us to have a chance.

[powerfade]

I have tried the last two years to reign it in. I have gotten much better and my game has actually improved because of it. However, it can still get the best of me at times. I had two times this year where it really got me.

Ouch...I'm sure you know that reacting to something out of your control is a cardinal sin in golf.

Did your wife make you sleep on the couch?

[InternalGolf]

My first I did. I shot a 42 on the front 9 and I messed up on 11 and I shot a 52 on the back. Which I 8 holed 18...

[Chairman7w]

For me, the biggest frustration comes from not know WHY I'm hitting the bad shots so that I can try to fix them on the next hole.

Well, here's the thing: If you (or anyone for that matter) could figure out WHY they hit a bad shot and just "fix" it, people would be shooting 54 all the time. It's just not gonna happen. Golf is all about making less bad shots than good ones, nothing more. Even Tiger & Jack have said they only hit 5 or 6 shots like they planned any given round. Learn to LESSEN your bad shots (You'll NEVER eliminate them) and plan/play so that bad shots aren't TERRIBLE shots. A bad shot is a 3-wood off the tee that rolls into the light rough. A terrible shot is a driver that slices over the fence out of bounds. The difference? Using the 3-wood off the tee on the 450-yard par 4 because it wasn't realistic to reach the green in two anyway. It's a MENTAL game where your decisions will have a lot more to do with your improvement than "fixing" your swing after a bad shot.