The "Stop Conning Yourself" Thread

[Double Mocha Man]

Buckeye, both you and DrMJG need to get crafty.  Years ago I'd play with a local Professor Emeritus of Political Science.  He was old, had one leg shorter than the other and listened to Mariner games on a radio attached to his rolling cart.  Everyone was warned not to play with the guy... turns out he did not suffer fools gladly.  Over the course of a few years we'd play nIne holes twilight... he was charming and quite pleasant.  I got to know that side of him. Perhaps our politics meshed... I don't know.  Long story medium short, he was crafty.  Always down the middle, never hitting a green in regulation, but he was always close on his next shot... and he could putt!  He was always around 40-41.

[Buckeyebowman]

21 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

Buckeye, both you and DrMJG need to get crafty.  Years ago I'd play with a local Professor Emeritus of Political Science.  He was old, had one leg shorter than the other and listened to Mariner games on a radio attached to his rolling cart.  Everyone was warned not to play with the guy... turns out he did not suffer fools gladly.  Over the course of a few years we'd play nIne holes twilight... he was charming and quite pleasant.  I got to know that side of him. Perhaps our politics meshed... I don't know.  Long story medium short, he was crafty.  Always down the middle, never hitting a green in regulation, but he was always close on his next shot... and he could putt!  He was always around 40-41.

OK. but what set of tees did you play?!

[Nagah]

I’m a “scratchy” 3-5 capper. 

Im a great driver of the ball, chip and putt well.

My biggest downfall is pushing hard on holes where danger lurks or take a an approach shot that “easy”.( Inside a 110 yards).

As I progressively got better you get cocky at times. You risk certain holes knowing you can get up and down.

Recently in a monthly medal I shot 83 ( par 72 Slope 133). I hit 2 approaches that bounced at right angles and I ended up in the rough. ( trees scrub and Bush).

I have to take a lot more conservative approach as my skills are above average doesn’t mean that old man par will bite you on the @$$.

 

[Kingkat1954]

It is the thought that there is a "secret to the golf swing" that I have yet to discover. It is my eternal Holy Grail , my personal crusade. 

 

I know I am conning myself. It does not exist, but I keep trying.

 

[Double Mocha Man]

27 minutes ago, Kingkat1954 said:

It is the thought that there is a "secret to the golf swing" that I have yet to discover. It is my eternal Holy Grail , my personal crusade. 

I know I am conning myself. It does not exist, but I keep trying.

I used to think, that after trying over a thousand swing keys, if I could only combine the correct three, I'd be there.  Like winning the powerball lottery...

[dagolfer18]

I’ve been saying my short game is good (possibly even mentioned it once or twice on this forum), but now that I look at it really closely, it’s not as good as I’ve been saying. Give me a 20-yard chip, and I’ll probably get it within a yard or so three, maybe four, out of ten attempts. To be honest, my putting isn't all that great either. I don’t often get lag putts to tap-in distance, and then I miss probably half of the 3-5 footers. I really need to work on short game more. Our first match is in just under two months. If I can get better with the wedges and putter, I believe that they can turn my 92s and 93s into 88s and 89s. 

Edited January 3, 2020 by dagolfer18

[Double Mocha Man]

7 minutes ago, dagolfer18 said:

I’ve been saying my short game is good (possibly even mentioned it once or twice on this forum), but now that I look at it really closely, it’s not as good as I’ve been saying. Give me a 20-yard chip, and I’ll probably get it within a yard or so three, maybe four, out of ten attempts. To be honest, my putting isn't all that great either. I don’t often get lag putts to tap-in distance, and then I miss probably half of the 3-5 footers. I really need to work on short game more. Our first match is in just under two months. If I can get better with the wedges and putter, I believe that they can turn my 92s and 93s into 88s and 89s. 

When I was an early teenager I went from shooting in the very low 100s to the low 80s, in one fell swoop.  Never looked back.  It was a combo of hitting my irons more consistent and a gaining of confidence.

[dagolfer18]

5 hours ago, Double Mocha Man said:

When I was an early teenager I went from shooting in the very low 100s to the low 80s, in one fell swoop.  Never looked back.  It was a combo of hitting my irons more consistent and a gaining of confidence.

I’ve gained confidence, just like you said you did. The other day, I played 15 holes at +9, which is excellent for me. Yesterday when I played, I carded nothing over a double. Never done that! I feel that by the beginning of my junior year in August, I’ll be shooting mid-low 80s. I’m so close to shattering the 90 barrier! Most of my rounds lately have been one good nine (bogey golf or lower) and one not-so-good nine (more than two strokes above bogey golf) For example, my past two rounds:

1) Front: 44 (+8); Back: 49 (+13)

2) Front: 48 (+13); Back: 44 (+8)

Once I get everything on track (physically and mentally), hopefully in the next two or three months or so, I’m going to the next level, from just an average, 90s-shooting golfer, to an above average, 80-to-85-shooting golfer. 

[Kingkat1954]

Recently, a very good golfer, (consistently in the 70's) and I played a few rounds together. His idea was that golf sets were wrong, and a golfer needed only a few clubs for his game to improve. He said yardages of: 75, then 100, then 125, then 150 were all a golfer needs. That makes four clubs. Yardages over the 150 distances needed to be something you could hit straight, a fairway or hybrids club. He said from 175 then closer to 200. That makes six. A driver that you can hit consistently and straight, around 200 yards and a good putter. Total clubs eight. It seemed to make sense. BTW, he had a brand new  full set of Taylor Made clubs. 

 

[Cantankerish]

My self-con:

My driver stroke is a net benefit. I get about 275 off the tee on a decent strike.  But I still have big direction control issues.  I have been telling myself that I will come out the better player if I just learn to control what I already have.  It has been over a year of practice though. Lately I have been losing faith.  I wonder if it makes more sense for me to just remove some of the dynamics and settle for a weaker drive that I can control better.

[Double Mocha Man]

2 minutes ago, Cantankerish said:

My self-con:

My driver stroke is a net benefit. I get about 275 off the tee on a decent strike.  But I still have big direction control issues.  I have been telling myself that I will come out the better player if I just learn to control what I already have.  It has been over a year of practice though. Lately I have been losing faith.  I wonder if it makes more sense for me to just remove some of the dynamics and settle for a weaker drive that I can control better.

It's not necessarily an either / or situation.

[Cantankerish]

Yeah, you are right.  I am talking about the net though.  Yesterday, for example, I got 51 on the front, losing 6 strokes on 3 OB tee strokes into houses.  On the back 9 I was hitting straight and I got 42.  I should not be throwing away 6 strokes a round.

[chile]

i'm too new to the game to con myself about being good at any of it.

[DuckDuckFoose]

My short game and putting isnt good, and for the longest time I kept telling myself if I fix my full swing I'll be a way better player. While fixing my full swing will surely lower my scores. I never truly realized how many strokes I leave on the table with a pathetic short game. Hoping some pandemic home practice, and the use of this forum will help bring things along somewhat. 

[Vinsk]

23 minutes ago, DuckDuckFoose said:

. I never truly realized how many strokes I leave on the table with a pathetic short game.

How did you realize this? Are you using a shot tracker program? 

[iacas]

7 hours ago, DuckDuckFoose said:

My short game and putting isnt good, and for the longest time I kept telling myself if I fix my full swing I'll be a way better player. While fixing my full swing will surely lower my scores. I never truly realized how many strokes I leave on the table with a pathetic short game. Hoping some pandemic home practice, and the use of this forum will help bring things along somewhat. 

Details, please. Like @Vinsk is asking…

[JGus]

I know where this is heading...

[mcanadiens]

@DuckDuckFoose is sporting an HI nearly as high as mine and it is an easy thing for all those strokes to stand out in our memories. There are rounds where I have to touch my stinking wedges every flipping hole. But let's face it, we have a lot of those strokes because we aren't hitting greens in regulation. Even my hacker butt can put a PW on a green as often as not. Doing the same thing with a 5W is pretty much a fluke. 

Suppose you dump a stroke along the way with some sort of rescue shot from behind a tree. The pressure you feel on those pitch and chip shots when you're already on four is a whole different thing than when you're three. You finally get on the green and are trying to save bogey. The hole looks like the size of ping pong ball.

It probably isn't a coincidence that my short-game seems much better when playing the shortest, easiest courses I can find. One particular course I play stretches the tape at just under 5,000 yards. Even dumpiest tee shot with less than driver still finds a spot with clear sight of the green and less than 150 yards to go, it sure takes a lot of pressure of the short-game.