The most frustrating thing about golf is...

[TheDIYGolfer]

I'm sure we've all gone through it, but I finally got my swing feeling like money, but my putting went down the drain!  I can't explain how frustrating this has been, as I've been working so hard on the swing just to be let down by the flatstick.  I thought instead of venting to the people I normally bother with my golfing woes, I'd bring it to the forum.  

 

So the question:  What frustrates you most about golf? 

 

Aside from my putting woes, here are my top 5:

 

1. Practice sessions that end with me wanting to break every club, and feeling like I got worse

2. Not being able to bring my swing from the range to the course

3. Nagging swing thoughts (don't go in the water, don't go O.B., you're due for a miss, etc.)

4. Bogeys from the middle of the fairway

5. Conflicting golf advice

 

I'm interested to hear everyones!

[JP golf]

LEAVING A CLUB ON THE COURSE!!!!!!!  After 15 or so years playing golf, I've never lost a club until yesterday.  I usually bring 3-4 clubs when I miss the green because my chipping depends on how the ball is sitting and where I want to land it etc. 

Left my PW on #2 and realized it on #4, yet nobody behind us had it.  At the end of the round I checked with the pro shop (no luck) and I went back on the course to check but couldn't find it.

I'm now depressed as that's a true scoring club for me from multiple yardages depending on the situation...  70-80-90-125-130          Obviously frustrated more so than any shot I've hit on the golf course -    Guess I just need to go buy some Ping s55's now...

[dennyjones]

Slow play!

I can tolerate a bad practice session, a bad round and bad golf partners but I've walked off the course after 5 hours and only 14 holes.

 

 

[Justin Harrow]

the most frustrating thing to me on the golf course is when you shank a shot OB, then drop a ball and hit it perfectly.  its called second shot golf and is so frustrating.  That and finally getting one part of your game dialed in and another goes to sh*t

[LagShaft]

I'm sure we've all gone through it, but I finally got my swing feeling like money, but my putting went down the drain!  I can't explain how frustrating this has been, as I've been working so hard on the swing just to be let down by the flatstick.  I thought instead of venting to the people I normally bother with my golfing woes, I'd bring it to the forum.  

 

So the question:  What frustrates you most about golf? 

 

Aside from my putting woes, here are my top 5:

 

1. Practice sessions that end with me wanting to break every club, and feeling like I got worse

2. Not being able to bring my swing from the range to the course

3. Nagging swing thoughts (don't go in the water, don't go O.B., you're due for a miss, etc.)

4. Bogeys from the middle of the fairway

5. Conflicting golf advice

 

I'm interested to hear everyones!

No.2 for me but my No.1 nagging frustration is that I don't get to play as much as I'd like so I feel like I have to relearn things every time.

LEAVING A CLUB ON THE COURSE!!!!!!!  After 15 or so years playing golf, I've never lost a club until yesterday.  I usually bring 3-4 clubs when I miss the green because my chipping depends on how the ball is sitting and where I want to land it etc. 

Left my PW on #2 and realized it on #4, yet nobody behind us had it.  At the end of the round I checked with the pro shop (no luck) and I went back on the course to check but couldn't find it.

I'm now depressed as that's a true scoring club for me from multiple yardages depending on the situation...  70-80-90-125-130          Obviously frustrated more so than any shot I've hit on the golf course -    Guess I just need to go buy some Ping s55's now...

You might check with them again I once turned in a Vokey wedge a few days later when I forgot to do so right after the round.

Edited October 18, 2015 by LagShaft

[JP golf]

You might check with them again I once turned in a Vokey wedge a few days later when I forgot to do so right after the round.

I've done the same.  I'll surely follow up with them again.  I panicked and bought a new one on ebay last night..  Good news is, I birdied #2 yesterday and won a cut! - which I later used towards the purchase of a replacement wedge haha...

2nd most frustrating thing is the course marshal that tells me I can go for the green when I'm within range and there are still players on the green or he tells me I can hit now, but the group hasn't driven away from the green yet...  Nope, not conning myself (that's another thread).

[ncarlsongolf]

I'm sure we've all gone through it, but I finally got my swing feeling like money, but my putting went down the drain!  I can't explain how frustrating this has been, as I've been working so hard on the swing just to be let down by the flatstick.  I thought instead of venting to the people I normally bother with my golfing woes, I'd bring it to the forum.  

 

So the question:  What frustrates you most about golf? 

 

Aside from my putting woes, here are my top 5:

 

1. Practice sessions that end with me wanting to break every club, and feeling like I got worse

2. Not being able to bring my swing from the range to the course

3. Nagging swing thoughts (don't go in the water, don't go O.B., you're due for a miss, etc.)

4. Bogeys from the middle of the fairway

5. Conflicting golf advice

 

I'm interested to hear everyones!

The most frustrating part of the game for me is managing expectations.  The amount of time you get to spend working on your game and where you expect your game to be are often in different places.  I don't get to work on my game as often as I want, and neither do most of us.  So I think most of the frustrations come from where we "expect" to be.  #1 for you are common but you can always switch what you are working on that day and find something positive that did improve, even if it is just the feeling it your set up.  The results and feedback you are receiving from ball flight or direction may not be there that day but it doesn't mean you didn't improve.  #2 Comes about strictly from the pressure you put on yourself and how you "expect" to perform.  You are not nervous on the range but you are on the course.  You can tailor your practice to resemble play on the course by giving yourself one chance to hit a shot and not just keep pulling balls from the pile and hitting 20-30 9 irons in a row.  #3  Those thoughts are not "Swing thoughts"  They are fears, caused again by what your expect to do.  If you have no expectations about score and only focus on performing the task at hand you will find much better results.  Simply put,  on those shots that have a water hazard or bunker that you have to navigate you should only be thinking about what you want to do and where you want the ball to go, not where you do not want it to go.  That is mental preparation and needs to be practiced also.

 

Hope this helps!

[Patch]

Golf can be frusterating...if you let it get to you. I just have different outlook on the game.

 The game of golf encompasses all the good and poor aspects of one's game.  I am speaking of the weekend warrior here. I know that everytime I practice or play that I am going to hit some poor shots. It's how Ihandle those poor shots which determines how I continue play. Too many times I have seen a golfer after hitting a poor shot, let that poor shot ruin the rest of their day. 

The pros can get upset with themselves because they are the best players in the world. The pro player expects the best from his/her game.  

We amateurs are not that good when compared to them.  We should expect both the good and the bad from our games.

Getting frusterated is just waste of time and energy. 

[JP golf]

#3  Those thoughts are not "Swing thoughts"  They are fears, caused again by what your expect to do.  If you have no expectations about score and only focus on performing the task at hand you will find much better results.  Simply put,  on those shots that have a water hazard or bunker that you have to navigate you should only be thinking about what you want to do and where you want the ball to go, not where you do not want it to go.  That is mental preparation and needs to be practiced also.

 

Hope this helps!

@TheDIYGolfer This is really sound advice here.  If you work on this in practice it helps your 1 & 2 also...   A swing thought (IMO) is focusing on what action you are trying to perform and if you can lock down a good pre-shot routine and swing thought in practice, it will help you carry that to the course for consistency.

[Big Lex]

...the difference between your best shots and your worst shots. 

[Big Lex]

The long version of my greatest frustration: I am convinced that becoming very good at golf - which I define as a legitimate handicap under 5 - is equal parts mental and physical. You can get a teacher to help you with the physical part, but you must learn the mental part yourself. By "mental part," I am NOT talking about decision making, course management, shot selection, etc. (Aside: those things are VERY important, and can lower your score substantially, but beciming great at course management alone cannot make you break 80 with regularity). What I am talking about is the mental ability to get out of your own way and allow your body to make a good swing - a swing you ALREADY KNOW how to make and have made many times before - when it counts. I have no other explanation for why I and many others I see can play 6 holes like a 3 hcp and the other 12 like a 15. I don't know exactly what the mental skill is....I had it for a month or so this year, posting several rounds in the 70s and having several more close to that. These were rounds where I typically had as many as 12 GIR and 15 nGIR,,and maybe only one awful shot per round. Sometimes the mental edge feels like confidence....other times it's iacas's "stupid monkey," other times it's just a calmness where no mental noise creeps in during those critical seconds just before you begin to swing. Being good enough to break par on a real,golf course, or play professionally,,etc., I think that level requires a high level of athletic ability. But to just break 80 every time, I think is well,within the grasp of the average Joe/Jane....if they take the time to learn what a good strike is, AND to teach themselves how to let this happen often enough.  

[saevel25]

1. Golf in general :) 
2. Slow Play
3. People not fixing pitch marks
4. People hitting into you because they can't wait another 10 seconds for you to start to move away from the green. 

[Abu3baid]

I would say the most frustrating thing is how slow and tedious improving in golf is..  It does make it so much better when you finally improve, but that's all relative anyway.. For example, am I going to be happy if I start shooting 79s?  Or am I going to be looking at how I can make that 76s.

the other thing is just the general frustration of not being able to do what you intend while you play.. You really have to learn to manage your miss and temper your expectations to do well..

[arturo28mx]

Golf is like being married to a capricious woman. Sometimes she is in a good mood, sometimes she is in a bad mood. Sometimes she loves you, sometimes she hates you. Sometimes she wants to show the best of you, sometimes she wants to show the worst of you. And you have no clue how to deal with her. But divorce is not an option. You admit to yourself you can't live without her. And you accept the fact that the suffering will never end.

Edited October 19, 2015 by arturo28mx

[DrvFrShow]

You've been hitting the ball well. There's a group on the green 210 yds away. You pull your 5W. You're ready to hit because there's no way you're gonna reach them. A member of your foursome says to the others.... "Let's wait, she can reach them from here." Because you reached the previous par 5 in two and three putted.... You wait. You're taking like a dozen or so practice swings to stay loose. You finally line up your shot. Step into the ball. The top it 40 yds down the fairway.

[rkim291968]

Nothing in golf frustrates me.  Nothing. Zip. Nada. Nil. A big fat zero.   I am a happy camper when it comes to golf.   I play perfect every time although my score does not reflect it.  Slow pace?  It's not like I've got someplace to go after the round.  Expensive equipment?  I am rich.  Fabulously rich.  So what if my golf budget can feed half of the population of a small 3rd world nation.   Nothing in golf frustrates me.  Nothing.  Zip.  Nada.  Nil.  Zero. LOL.  That's was good.   Now back to reality.    There are just too many things in golf that frustrates me.   One day, it's pace of play.  The next day?  It's a poor ball striking.   Another day?   It's all the sunflower seed covers left on green that I have to set aside to roll my putt.  

 

( And why is thread in the "Instruction" forum?  That frustrates me.   )

Edited October 19, 2015 by rkim291968

[iacas]

The long version of my greatest frustration: I am convinced that becoming very good at golf - which I define as a legitimate handicap under 5 - is equal parts mental and physical. You can get a teacher to help you with the physical part, but you must learn the mental part yourself. By "mental part," I am NOT talking about decision making, course management, shot selection, etc. (Aside: those things are VERY important, and can lower your score substantially, but beciming great at course management alone cannot make you break 80 with regularity). What I am talking about is the mental ability to get out of your own way and allow your body to make a good swing - a swing you ALREADY KNOW how to make and have made many times before - when it counts. I have no other explanation for why I and many others I see can play 6 holes like a 3 hcp and the other 12 like a 15. I don't know exactly what the mental skill is....I had it for a month or so this year, posting several rounds in the 70s and having several more close to that. These were rounds where I typically had as many as 12 GIR and 15 nGIR,,and maybe only one awful shot per round. Sometimes the mental edge feels like confidence....other times it's iacas's "stupid monkey," other times it's just a calmness where no mental noise creeps in during those critical seconds just before you begin to swing. Being good enough to break par on a real,golf course, or play professionally,,etc., I think that level requires a high level of athletic ability. But to just break 80 every time, I think is well,within the grasp of the average Joe/Jane....if they take the time to learn what a good strike is, AND to teach themselves how to let this happen often enough.  

Just as a coin will land on heads and tails half the time, that doesn't mean they're always heads, tails, heads, tails, heads, tails.

It's not mental stuff that leads to the "playing 12 holes like a 15 handicapper." It's just that since holes are only four or five shots or so, sometimes you get a few heads in a row and sometimes you get a few tails in a row.

I think you're over-stating how much "mental" stuff matters.

[Big Lex]

Just as a coin will land on heads and tails half the time, that doesn't mean they're always heads, tails, heads, tails, heads, tails.

It's not mental stuff that leads to the "playing 12 holes like a 15 handicapper." It's just that since holes are only four or five shots or so, sometimes you get a few heads in a row and sometimes you get a few tails in a row.

I think you're over-stating how much "mental" stuff matters.

That's a great metaphor, and certainly is a great way to explain seemingly random or widely varying events. 

I still believe that ultimately the mind rules over the body. While I am by no means a scholar in the science of athletic performance, I am aware of a body of literature demonstrating how mental factors (I.e., changing the focus of attention, distraction, etc.) can significantly alter proficiency in athletic skills performance. 

I'd imagine that people who teach the golf swing would agree with you that I'm overstating the mental component....sports psychologists might say I'm understating it. 

All I know for sure is that there IS a mental component, and that it is not trivial. The mind can prevent the body from doing what is possible, probable, and often easy, as anyone who has choked on a 2 foot putt with the hole or the match on the line knows all too well.