Do you remember your good shots or your bad shots after a round?

[MarvChamp]

For positive thinking and review, I started carrying an extra card and putting a dot or other reminder of a very good shot/putt. I have the cards of the rounds I played 9/27-9/28/17 before injury. Man, I especially savor four 125 -135 yd. approach shots that stuck within 3 feet of the pin. I heard and can hear the spin of the ball. Those positive thoughts I will carry with me when I return, not over expectation, but knowing what I will be able to do again. Great topic. Thanks, -Marv

[JonMA1]

I remember only the good shots and then wonder why my scores are so high.

It's hard to forget about bad shots when I'm really trying to assess my game. They can sometimes be so costly. The good shots I take for granted. That probably sounds bad, but I don't think of them as any indication of a trend towards improvement, only that even a blind squirrel finds an acorn now and then. As @1badbadger posted, hitting a shot where we want is what we're supposed to do, right?

The good results that I think are valuable to remember are the ones where I took a calculated risk and pulled off a tougher shot. I'm not successful with a lot of trouble shots, but it's very rewarding when they work. I feel good not only for executing the shot, but also for not taking the easy way out.

After an especially poor round the few good shots are nice to think about, if for no other reason just to keep my sanity.

[MuniGrit]

On 12/21/2015 at 6:34 AM, HB_KeithC said:

After a round I can talk you through every single shot.  My wife laughs because sometimes I remember that better than more important things.  

I am in the same boat. LOL I don't always remember all the lag putts but I can go hole by hole and go through what I hit especially on familiar course.

[onthehunt526]

On 12/21/2015 at 5:02 AM, ZappyAd said:

I was thinking about my last round recently and I realised that I was focusing more on the bad shots (driver into the trees on 3, scuffed chip on 4, 4ft putt miss on 8 for birdie) rather than the good shots I made and the pars I scored.  I think this might be a bad thing as I read somewhere recently that positive reinforcement in learning generally works far more effectively and increases the rate at which you can acquire skills.

When I started out I am pretty sure I remembered more about the good shots I hit and any par I scored.  It got me wondering if this is a factor in improving your golf game?  When you start out you tend to put more emphasis on the good things you do simply because there are fewer of them!  If you make one par a round then you are more likely to remember that par ('I scored a par today') than the guy that makes 15 pars and 3 bad holes ('I shot 3 bogeys').  The better you get the more you think about the mistakes that cost you rather than the good consistent golf you played, even though the good shots way outnumber the bad ones.  If positive reinforcement is a real factor then I'm wondering if that starts to slow your progress and affect your rate of learning.  Or maybe it starts to ingrain a specific issue that gets harder and harder to rectify.

Does anyone have a specific method when reviewing their round that emphasizes good over bad (or vice versa)?

I suck at golf, so mostly the bad shots.

I'm kidding, I remember every shot, good, bad, okay, trash, throw the club in the lake shot, buy a beer shot, the beer hole... All of it. It more or less tells me what I need to work on... For instance, I will not be holing out from 30-70 yards out any time soon.

[BogeySwine]

I keep a second card on each round where I write down each club I hit, how far it went and where etc. I keep track of the number of putts, the distance from the hole on first putts, total feet of putts etc. I throw the cards away only when I have more than twenty of them. I keep a list of all rounds for the year so I can keep my own handicap index as I don't carry a USGA Index. By looking at the cards I can almost remember every shot from the last ten or so rounds. Beyond that, only the really terrible shots stand out!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Foot Wedge]

I remember the good shots because they keep hope alive and I remember the bad shots so I know what to work on.  One round flubbing 2 out 3 75-yard shots will get you to practice those partial wedges...

[Buckeyebowman]

On 12/21/2015 at 10:48 AM, DaveP043 said:

Right after the round, I'd say I remember just about all of them.  I often review the round in my mind, and kind of categorize each shot as good, acceptable, poor, and awful.  Usually awful shots I kind of discard, but I look for a trend in poor shots, and base my practice during the week on improving my results from similar positions.  By the time I play again, however, I try to let the bad ones drop away, and remember only the good shots I've hit.  Picking a specific target, and visualization of a good shot trajectory and shape are mental keys leading to actually hitting good shots.  Visualization of poor shots can only introduce doubt, and doubt is NOT a good thing.

So true! I remember both the good and the bad. Many years ago I'd sit down with my scorecard and analyze my round. This is when I was very good tee to green. I concluded that I wasn't very good at putting, so practiced it like crazy! Never got any better, and just froze at where I was.

As for the rest of DaveP's reply, I read an article many years ago about "state of mind" on the golf course that suggested that positive was much better than negative! If you stand on the tee, or in the fairway for an approach shot, and all you can see is the trouble, you could, indeed, be in trouble! Look at the where you WANT to go, not where you don't want to go!

[HJJ003]

I have a pretty good shot memory. For me if I had a good day I remember the good shots and if I had a bad day I remember the really poor shots more often. For the most part though I can give someone a shot by shot rundown of my game after a round. 

[xrayvizhen]

This is interesting to think about. Immediately after the round, I think and probably dwell too much on the bad shots and/or the stupid decisions that cost strokes. But then, soon after, it's gone...over and done with and forgotten about. However the good shots stay with me a long, long time and the really good ones, forever. I still remember some shots from when I was on my high school golf team, and that was 50 years ago. Like the 3W from the edge of the fairway on a par 5 through a gap in the trees onto the green. That shot still brings a smile.

Edited March 19, 2018 by xrayvizhen

[Dai]

I think my issue is I only remember the bad while I'm still on the course and drive myself nuts, but an hour after I get home I only remember the good and want to get straight back out on the course and have some imaginary great round.

Probably need to flip it like some here have mentioned, think about the good shots and stay positive on the course, think about the bad and what can be worked on after the round. Or just start only hitting good shots, either would do really 

[The Recreational Golfer]

I remember every shot and write them all down when I get home. Good shots are signs of progress. Bad shots (if a consistent problem and not just a one-off) show me the holes in my game that I need to close.

[DaveP043]

13 hours ago, The Recreational Golfer said:

I remember every shot and write them all down when I get home. Good shots are signs of progress. Bad shots (if a consistent problem and not just a one-off) show me the holes in my game that I need to close.

Bad shots can be a sign of progress too.  As your swing improves, the level of your good shots may not change all that much, but the level and frequency of your bad shots will almost certainly improve.

[p1n9183]

I only remeber the bad shots and how bad they where off target. Just because you are as good as your bad shots.
Good shots are just a random outcome inside your shotzone.

[rehmwa]

Yes

[we5rnuts]

Most often, I think about the bad shots unless I have a great shot, like a 20 yard blind chip that goes right in the cup. Otherwise, I just think about what I could have done differently to get the desired shot.