Good start to round/then fall off the pace.

[phan52]

I can't say that faltering for me is a consequence of just a good start and bad finish. I always go through a part of a round when I am at my best, whether it is at the start, middle or near the end. When I am playing well it is usually because I have found a comfortable rhythm to my swing, and then I falter when I hit a squirrely shot that affects my confidence. I know I shouldn't let one swing do that but, when I get over my next shot, I start wondering what I just did wrong instead of focusing on the rhythm that got me there.

It happened yesterday, when I was only two over after ten holes (missing the putts on 4 solid birdie opportunities) and screwed up a hole after hitting my best drive of the day because of one bad swing. I ended up hitting only one green and making only two pars on the last eight holes. I let that one bad swing carry over and I started thinking about the swing instead of the shot at hand.

[Strandly]

This is a great topic imo.

And this falling off happens to me constantly but I think I'm slowly making progress on it.  From what I can tell though I think it's a combination of arrogance and fatigue.  If I play well I start thinking I've got it figured out and that makes me start over-swinging and taking shots for granted which results in more shots being sprayed.

The fatigue thing is I simply need to be in better shape.  I'm not even close to fat but at the moment golf is really the only exercise I get so by the end of a round on a hot day I might chicken wing a drive slightly or let my knee bend a little too much and spray the ball.

Like others have mention also I seem to start poorly and figure things out over the round and finish well, or start great and then forget how to play and finish poorly.

To solve all this my current plan is to simply make mental notes of things that I know have and will screw me if I don't stay on top of them.  Not letting the chicken wing creep (screwed me sooo many times) in is one of them and not getting cocky is another.  If I can keep these things under control I seem to do better.

[saevel25]

For me the following happens.

1) The swing starts to get longer and longer

2) I can get stuck swinging hard

3) I don't keep concentration on my correct swing thoughts.

4) the swing just doesn't want to do what I want for a short time.

Basically its mostly complacency for me.

I will say if a golfer has a double digit handicap then having fluctuations in a round is common just because of their ability. I think people don't realize how hard golf is and how fast the strokes can add up.

[mmoan2]

I'm a good athlete, but now 40 and near 300 pounds, so fatigue is the biggest one for me. I think a tired body reverts to bad habits more readily, as well.

I think mental fatigue is my biggest problem, not physical, though, because I've never played competitive team golf, nor even tournament golf (which I plan on doing starting this fall). If my round has gone south and I'm on 16 looking at a likely 90 or worse, I start to think about the couch, and the shower, and my wife, and lunch, and lying in the yard with a cold drink. I find it difficult to maintain full concentration for four hours every time I play. My concentration wavered in team sports, but I usually feel accountable enough to the rest of the players that I stay psyched up. This is what a "strong 4th quarter player" was all about. I've found myself in the middle of a round of golf too indifferent to put my 5-iron away even if my next shot is from 100 yards because I've lost care for the score. I'll try to hit a half-swing runner to the green for fun.

[65ross]

Played yesterday, concentrated on the 3 things which think effect finishing poorly, had round of 40/43-83 which I was very pleased with, but I found that it fatigue which has the most effect on my back nine, had couple doubles bogies as a result of my swing getting out shape, yes think mainly fatigue due to hot conditions around the 35c temp by the time half way through the back 9.

[scratchwannabe]

This thread title describes me to a tee, almost always. Fortunately (and finally), it didn't happen today. One of two scenarios almost always plays out for me. I either start really rough, like a string of doubles or triples on the first three holes, then never really get better and want to kill a man, quit golf or both by the end of the round. OR, I start off pretty well, maybe a couple strokes over through 7 or 8 holes then fall apart. But almost always, regardless of how good or bad the front 9 is, the back 9 almost always manages to get worse.

Today I played a very consistent round the whole way through. Pars, bogeys and only 1 blow up hole. I think the reason was because I had zero expectations for today's round and had no expectations for myself. I'm working on some major swing changes and we just made a big change last Saturday. I played the worst round of the year (over 100) the next day. I was so mad even though I tried to let it go. But I was thinking about so many different things during my swing that I gave it no chance to be fluid.

Today I really only planned on going out to practice for 9. I wasn't going to keep score. I just wanted to practice on the course instead of the range so that I wasn't hitting the same shots over and over. I wound up getting paired up w/3 others and found a way to condense all of my swing thoughts into one thought. I hit some bad shots but just kept following my routine and managed to get back on track. And I brought plenty of snacks and water.

Also the conditions were perfect. The course was in phenomenal shape, the weather was cool with no breeze and there was nobody on the course. Plus I was playing with strangers and could not care less what they thought about my game. We were also walking, allowing me to appreciate being out there and think more about my next shot rather than racing to the next shot in the cart while being distracted by conversation from one of my buddies who I'd usually play with.  All of those conditions made it much easier to stay in a zen-like, peaceful frame of mind.

The bottom line is that it's really hard to maintain focus for 3-5 hours with so many distractions. Weekend rounds are probably the worst. You're distracted by your friends, slow play, bad playing partners, looking for bad players' lost balls, sometimes weather, conversation, pressure to play well in front of your peers, among other things. I'm going to try to play in more tournaments on the weekends so that I can play more dialed in on those rounds moving forward.

[mailman]

So often I've gone out with a low 40's for the front 9 and then crawled back in with a 63! Or it will be the other way out, 55 out then back in 40! In fact only once have I put together an entire 18 holes and even with a 7 on the last hole my final score was 81. But I think that's just a teaser as I haven't got close to repeating that since! Regards Mailman

[65ross]

Today had our monthly medal, had a real thought about not finishing well on back 9 most times, did not add my score after first nine just kept concentrating on the next shot and my swing insuring not trying to hit the cover off it, a good result today, out in 41 back in 38 so that was my best game in years, down side got piped for the medal on a count back. But that the game.

[plum]

this is pretty much my biggest golf problem (concentration). Today, i shot par on the front 9, had total control of my head and gold ball, par'd the 10th and 11th and then completely lost any and all concentration. Typically I carry a few energy drinks to help me keep focused. A buddy who is a doctor and knows me well told me to try it and it helps but i didnt have any on me today. ended up shooting 78 which is good for me but not where i should have finished.

[DrvFrShow]

I've sucked on the first two holes. Usually a triple then a double. Then I'll settle down until I get another triple on the 7th. So next time on the first hole I'll just hit a 5 iron off the tee just to put the ball in play. It's a par 5 so 180 + 170 + a GW should put me on the green. Stop trying to beat the hole and just play it conservative until I warm up.

I think my problem is I make one bad decision after another. Then I start trying to make up for the bad decisions by making an even worse decision.

[mailman]

I went the other way today. Had 50 out in what could only be described as utter bollocks on almost every single hole. The only saving grace on the front nine was an eagle chance pulling up an inch from the hole on a par 5 (285 yards with driver followed by 220 yard 4 iron then 10 foot putt for eagle). Back nine was a different story! 41 back in, 4 pars, 4 bogeys and just the one double! In my defence I've been suffering from Man Flu (tm) all week and when I woke up this morning I wasn't sure I was going to play in today's comp! Certainly the front 9 had me questioning going out. However, a good back nine meant life was good and ended up with a net 69 and second place when I left the club house : Regards Mailman

[grayhen714]

for me I had a good start to a round but failed in the end

[Lihu]

I'm a pessimist, and I never think I'm going to score well. This way I'm pleasantly surprised by any good score at the end. I don't even bother to look at my score until the end, and I only remember my worst mishits. I never remember any of the mishits that did more or less what I thought I wanted.