Lost it?

[Machine528]

Been practicing and working on my game every day now for about 3 weeks.  Felt very comfortable with my swing so I went out to play this morning.   First 9 was awesome.  Hitting a consistent high draw I only Missed 2 greens and shot a one over 37... I was ecstatic heading to the back 9.. I felt like my old self.   Tee shot on 10 huge push slice OB... Provisional low snap hook.  From that point on I felt off when I was over the ball.  I started chunking my chips and pitches... Then skulling them.. Hit some lag putts clear off the green and shot a freaking 49.   I am disgusted and trying to figure out how this could happen. Do you have any suggestions on how to deal with this if it happens again? 

[woodzie264]

I'm sure you will be offered some really good technical and psychological tips in the responses that follow, but if I'm being honest after the 10th tee box, I would have taken a little traveller of bourbon and added it to a Coke. That always helps tremendously in those situations. 

Edited June 22, 2016 by woodzie264
Spelling

[boogielicious]

  On 6/22/2016 at 4:51 PM, Machine528 said:

Been practicing and working on my game every day now for about 3 weeks.  Felt very comfortable with my swing so I went out to play this morning.   First 9 was awesome.  Hitting a consistent high draw I only Missed 2 greens and shot a one over 37... I was ecstatic heading to the back 9.. I felt like my old self.   Tee shot on 10 huge push slice OB... Provisional low snap hook.  From that point on I felt off when I was over the ball.  I started chunking my chips and pitches... Then skulling them.. Hit some lag putts clear off the green and shot a freaking 49.   I am disgusted and trying to figure out how this could happen. Do you have any suggestions on how to deal with this if it happens again? 

Expand  

What I do after a bad hole or two is take a few deep breaths and go back to basics. If time allows, I set up and take a few practice swings (while others are walking to their balls or while waiting on the tee, etc). I focus on all the relevant swing feels and set up. Basically, I try to collect myself and get back to a more relaxed state and focus only on the ball and target. I also try to get the mechanics out of my head.

If the next shot is decent, it calms me back down.

[Archie Bunker]

  On 6/22/2016 at 4:51 PM, Machine528 said:

Been practicing and working on my game every day now for about 3 weeks.  Felt very comfortable with my swing so I went out to play this morning.   First 9 was awesome.  Hitting a consistent high draw I only Missed 2 greens and shot a one over 37... I was ecstatic heading to the back 9.. I felt like my old self.   Tee shot on 10 huge push slice OB... Provisional low snap hook.  From that point on I felt off when I was over the ball.  I started chunking my chips and pitches... Then skulling them.. Hit some lag putts clear off the green and shot a freaking 49.   I am disgusted and trying to figure out how this could happen. Do you have any suggestions on how to deal with this if it happens again? 

Expand  

Play 9 than go home. Play the back nine the next day.

[Fourputt]

  On 6/22/2016 at 4:51 PM, Machine528 said:

Been practicing and working on my game every day now for about 3 weeks.  Felt very comfortable with my swing so I went out to play this morning.   First 9 was awesome.  Hitting a consistent high draw I only Missed 2 greens and shot a one over 37... I was ecstatic heading to the back 9.. I felt like my old self.   Tee shot on 10 huge push slice OB... Provisional low snap hook.  From that point on I felt off when I was over the ball.  I started chunking my chips and pitches... Then skulling them.. Hit some lag putts clear off the green and shot a freaking 49.   I am disgusted and trying to figure out how this could happen. Do you have any suggestions on how to deal with this if it happens again? 

Expand  

As a 15 you're freaked out by a 49?  It's not good, but it's no reason to become suicidal.  We've all had rounds like that at one time or another.  It takes time for what you do on the practice tee to become totally comfortable on the course.  Some years back I shot a 103 in the club championship while carrying a 10 handicap.  You have a ways to go before you equal that one.

[jkelley9]

Been there brother. Except my scores would be along the lines of 39+52 or something, for a really bad day. 

It's usually because I'm fatiguing and don't know it. I'll look at how my swing must have looked to get that type of (horrible) shot shape and then over-correct it on the next hole (if I know it was from fatigue). For me, this is usually my hands being way behind in the swing and a bad push slice. They ALWAYS are more prevalent on the back 9. But it I consciously correct it as a focal point in the swing, I can usually bring it back.

I can't explain your putting though. Unless you're putting from "feel" more than technique. Then a whole bunch of things can influence it there. Even so much as just the fact that you know you had bad shots leading up to those putts.

[saevel25]

  On 6/22/2016 at 4:51 PM, Machine528 said:

Tee shot on 10 huge push slice OB... Provisional low snap hook.  From that point on I felt off when I was over the ball.  I started chunking my chips and pitches... Then skulling them.. Hit some lag putts clear off the green and shot a freaking 49.   I am disgusted and trying to figure out how this could happen. Do you have any suggestions on how to deal with this if it happens again? 

Expand  

37+49 = 86 - 72 = 14 which is close to 15

Sounds like you just had a highly volatile round, but you shot below your handicap. 

The pitching sounds like something you need to work on if you are skulling them. You can stop that by practicing good pitching technique. Look through the forum here, there are some excellent threads on it. 

Second, do you consistently struggle with distance control? If so then that could be a poorly fitted putter to a bad putting stroke on longer putts. Maybe on the front nine you were with in a more comfortable range than the back nine. 

As for the swing, if you are struggling on contact then shorten the swing down and focus on contact. Don't just go wailing away.

 

[Dave2512]

Part of the deal for what is for all practical purposes bogey golf. I've seen the low single digit handicap golfers in our league struggle with consistency. Sunday I played the front +7 and the back +1 and swing to swing it probably looked the same. Last night I made a birdie, 6 pars and 2 doubles back to back on very easy holes. Typical round of 18 and I maybe hit 1-4 what I consider quality full swing shots everything else is a miss of varying ugliness. Many times the good shots are the ones that get me into trouble. I count on it being a little ugly every time I swing. When I catch it near perfect I miss long.

[phan52]

We are amateurs. Since we have other priorities we don't have the time to put in the requisite work in order to stay consistent. What happened to you happens to all of us on a regular basis.. I usually have a stretch of holes during a round that allows for a decent score representative of my handicap. The rounds that drive me nuts are when I NEVER have a good stretch at any point. Hey, you shot 37 on the front! Focus on that.

[bplewis24]

I think that while some of this advice is good, it's overlooking (or minimizing?) the beginning part of his post.  He felt like he had turned a corner with his game, and the front 9 validated that in his mind.  He's trying to figure out what went wrong after that.  So pointing out that he still shot his handicap is like arguing he never really turned a corner.  That may well be accurate, but we don't really know that.

My advice?  Get some visual feedback.  It would have been nice to see a before (3 weeks ago) and after of your swing.  That way, when things start going bad again, you will have a visual reference point to compare.

And, I feel your pain, I had a similar experience this weekend.  I had been practicing 3-5 days a week at the range for about 2 months, and throughout that time I played about 10 rounds.   I dropped my handicap from 12.6 to an 8.6 or something.  I hadn't shot over 84 in any of those 10 rounds.  Then I went out to play Saturday and, while warming up, started shanking the ball.  On the course, I hit roughly 15 shanks and about 2 quality iron shots.  I shot a 98 and had no clue what I was doing wrong.  On Monday I went back to the range and was able to look at some of my swings and figure a couple things out.  No guarantees, but I'm hoping by this weekend I will have eliminated the issue. 

It sounds like your situation was similar: once you hit one bad shot, you started reverting to prior habits and overcompensating, not feeling comfortable.  Like these other guys said, it does happen.  Even after practicing for several weeks with positive range sessions most of those times, it took me several rounds before I could transfer it to the course consistently for anything near a full round.  It will still come and go, and the key is to just keep improving.  Part of that, IMO, is to get some visual feedback on your swing.  That way you can take the positive results out to the course more consistently.

Good luck!

[Machine528]

Thanks, it was frustrating. I know I'm a 15 but was once single didgets and was hoping I was starting to turn a corner.  That lost feeling sucks

[Grndslmhttr3]

  On 6/22/2016 at 5:53 PM, Fourputt said:

As a 15 you're freaked out by a 49?  It's not good, but it's no reason to become suicidal.  We've all had rounds like that at one time or another.  It takes time for what you do on the practice tee to become totally comfortable on the course.  Some years back I shot a 103 in the club championship while carrying a 10 handicap.  You have a ways to go before you equal that one.

Expand  

I once shot a 75 in a high school golf match. I would've been more than excited if our matches weren't 9 holes.

[Buckeyebowman]

  On 6/22/2016 at 10:10 PM, Machine528 said:

Thanks, it was frustrating. I know I'm a 15 but was once single didgets and was hoping I was starting to turn a corner.  That lost feeling sucks

Expand  

I know that feeling. Hey, it's golf, it happens. You can have a good nine bad nine, or good hole bad hole. But here's another way you can think about it. As a current 15, you could choose to be overjoyed at the 37 on the front. Disappointed with the back, sure, but don't get down on yourself. You ARE starting to turn a corner, the front nine proves it! You just haven't turned it completely. Weird crap can sneak into a swing at any time. Think how Jordan Spieth felt at the Master's!

[Fourputt]

  On 6/22/2016 at 10:10 PM, Machine528 said:

Thanks, it was frustrating. I know I'm a 15 but was once single didgets and was hoping I was starting to turn a corner.  That lost feeling sucks

Expand  

I was once a 9.6 index, now I'm a 17.  What can I say, age caught up to me.

[Patch]

I was a 5.8. Got "T-Boned" by a drunk driver. Now I am a 10, working on an 11. I am just happy to still be breathing, shooting scores in the 80s. 

[Rainmaker]

  On 6/22/2016 at 6:20 PM, Dave2512 said:

Part of the deal for what is for all practical purposes bogey golf. I've seen the low single digit handicap golfers in our league struggle with consistency. Sunday I played the front +7 and the back +1 and swing to swing it probably looked the same. Last night I made a birdie, 6 pars and 2 doubles back to back on very easy holes. Typical round of 18 and I maybe hit 1-4 what I consider quality full swing shots everything else is a miss of varying ugliness. Many times the good shots are the ones that get me into trouble. I count on it being a little ugly every time I swing. When I catch it near perfect I miss long.

Expand  

This!  Exactly!  It drives me nuts but I'll go play and shoot an ok score for me and feel like I didn't hit a single "good shot" . .by which I guess I mean basically perfect by my standards . that shot I only hit on the range ...when it's my 10th 8-iron in a row. 

Ironically, when my swing and scores were much worse, I did feel like I hit good shots in every round, lol.   

[Mr Mulyak]

  On 6/22/2016 at 6:20 PM, Dave2512 said:

Part of the deal for what is for all practical purposes bogey golf. I've seen the low single digit handicap golfers in our league struggle with consistency. Sunday I played the front +7 and the back +1 and swing to swing it probably looked the same. Last night I made a birdie, 6 pars and 2 doubles back to back on very easy holes. Typical round of 18 and I maybe hit 1-4 what I consider quality full swing shots everything else is a miss of varying ugliness. Many times the good shots are the ones that get me into trouble. I count on it being a little ugly every time I swing. When I catch it near perfect I miss long.

Expand  

So true Dave.

That's why when I'm asked, "Mr Mulyak, how would you describe your game?"

I answer, "Well son. It's brilliance...completely surrounded by baffoonery"

Mr Mulyak

[boogielicious]

  On 6/23/2016 at 1:13 AM, Fourputt said:

I was once a 9.6 index, now I'm a 17.  What can I say, age caught up to me.

Expand  

I've been as low at a 10.6.