The psychology of blowing up: How do you stop it?

[Jeremie Boop]

10 minutes ago, No Mulligans said:

Exactly.  If you are above a 16 HI or a 15 it is because you are inconsistent, period.  If you are inconsistent you'll have blow ups even if you play smart and never get upset.  Blowups will happen psychology or not.

Say 1 out of 5 of my drives is bad enough that I'll be OB on a certain hole.  There's a 10% chance I'll have that errant shot twice in a row.  Now I'm hitting 5 off the tee.  It's just statistics in this case at this point.  10% chance or 1 out of 10 makes it likely that it will happen on any given round.  (You could change your errant shots to 1 out of 10 or 1 out of 20, it doesn't matter, statistically you'll still have blowups).

Granted I can make it worse if I get upset or "off my game".  But even without the psychology, blowups are likely.  It is mostly not psychology.

Actually, that's being pretty generous limiting  to 15 or higher being a hacker. You could easily go down closer to single digits, or even into the single digits HC and call people hackers. 

[No Mulligans]

1 minute ago, Jeremie Boop said:

Actually, that's being pretty generous limiting  to 15 or higher being a hacker. You could easily go down closer to single digits, or even into the single digits HC and call people hackers. 

I think the term hacker is a bit harsh and negative.  And if a 15 is a hacker, then what is a 35?  I don't think of 15 as being a hacker, but it is a subjective term and opinions will vary.

[Jeremie Boop]

1 minute ago, No Mulligans said:

I think the term hacker is a bit harsh and negative.  And if a 15 is a hacker, then what is a 35?  I don't think of 15 as being a hacker, but it is a subjective term and opinions will vary.

It depends, I don't get offended by the term hacker really. I look at it this way, basically we all suck at golf to some degree. I like to underestimate my ability as opposed to overestimate it. So, if someone wants to say I'm a hacker, I'm fine with that because I know I suck. 

[mcanadiens]

Hacker is one of those sort of things I'll call myself. If someone else called me a hacker, I'd probably want to knock their teeth down their throat.

[Kalnoky]

11 minutes ago, No Mulligans said:

I think the term hacker is a bit harsh and negative.  

Absolutely it is! The first couple times I heard this term it was said behind another golfer's back and intended to be disparaging.

You wouldn't go up to a random golfer and call him a hacker would you? I wouldn't! I think that could be pretty awkward.

I think of a hacker as someone who has a scorecard full of 7's, 8's, and 9's and leaves big gouges on the course. I think if you can keep up with the pace of play and you the know the rules, you can call yourself a golfer. 

 

 

 

Edited August 22, 2016 by Kalnoky

[ol 3 putts]

Let me see if I can put what I was asking/saying in my original post differently.

*I know we all have blow up holes.

*I was not trying for a hero saving shot to make up for a poor shot.

*I agree, just put it back in the fairway is a good option.

 

My question had to do that I was not able to get over the OB on 15 and it was still affecting my concentration on 18. I hit a decent tee shot on the par 5 18. Leaving me about 10 yards shy of the water hazard. To carry the water from there, my second shot needed a full 50 yards to carry the hazard. I'll hit my second over the water to where I like to leave myself between 80 and 100 yards for my approach on this particular hole.

So when I put (topped) 3 in the water from there I knew something was in my head. I have no idea why this happens, sometimes when it does I will play a few holes just fine and then that memory will come back and I'm done.

I've been breaking 90 almost every time I've gone out, this round was well on it's way to being my best round ever..

[70sSanO]

I'm going to look at this another way... Do your blow-ups happen more on the back nine?

I have found that as the round goes on and if I get a little fatigued, my swing will deteriorate so much easier.  If you feel yourself tiring throughout the round, you may want to work on your fitness.  If this doesn't apply then disregard.

John

[Kalnoky]

18 hours ago, ol 3 putts said:

So when I put (topped) 3 in the water from there I knew something was in my head. I have no idea why this happens, sometimes when it does I will play a few holes just fine and then that memory will come back and I'm done

I see what you mean now. 3 straight shots in the water - these are tricks of the mind. You have to develop some kind of self-talk against it. 

Another golfer told me once to not think about my score during a round. Instead, to only think about trying to par the hole I was on. So, essentially every hole is a "mini-game". If you have a bad hole, throw it over your shoulder and onto the next "game". That one helped me anyway.

I am building a good swing. But I have an irrational fear of "forgetting" my swing during a round. If I allow that thought to creep into my head, it will foul everything up. And sometimes it does. It's a mental trick I play on myself that hurts my score. 

 

Edited August 23, 2016 by Kalnoky

[Teebone]

On 8/22/2016 at 6:00 PM, ol 3 putts said:

Let me see if I can put what I was asking/saying in my original post differently.

*I know we all have blow up holes.

*I was not trying for a hero saving shot to make up for a poor shot.

*I agree, just put it back in the fairway is a good option.

 

My question had to do that I was not able to get over the OB on 15 and it was still affecting my concentration on 18. I hit a decent tee shot on the par 5 18. Leaving me about 10 yards shy of the water hazard. To carry the water from there, my second shot needed a full 50 yards to carry the hazard. I'll hit my second over the water to where I like to leave myself between 80 and 100 yards for my approach on this particular hole.

So when I put (topped) 3 in the water from there I knew something was in my head. I have no idea why this happens, sometimes when it does I will play a few holes just fine and then that memory will come back and I'm done.

I've been breaking 90 almost every time I've gone out, this round was well on it's way to being my best round ever..

 

It appears that you did not get the bad OB experience on 15 out of your mind nor out of your body and so it remained with you as an unexpressed pent-up negative emotion.   Of course this is pure poison for performance.    

 

Many players will yell or swear or slam their clubs or whatever after their flubbed shot and for many I think it does have a "cleansing" effect.  They get the negativity out of their system all at once and then they are better able to carry on.  I don't like this reaction myself as it is viewed as unsportsmanlike.  

 

For me some very deep breaths and repeat some self-talk like " I am going to consciously put that [ rotten, pitiful, stupid ]  shot aside for now so I can experience and enjoy my next [ 2,10, 30, 70 ... ] swings today because that's what we golfers do ".      As pilots say " There is absolutely zero benefit in concentrating on the portion of the runway which is behind you."    Maybe some variation of this self-talk could work for you.  Think of it as a disappointment EpiPen  - carefully prepared ahead of time and carried with you always just incase it's needed. 

 

As an aside, have you ever noticed that quite often a really fantastic tee shot will be followed by a totally duffed second shot?   It seems uncanny to me how often this happens.  Perhaps carrying euphoric feelings from the first shot through to the second shot is also the culprit here and that overly strong emotions both positive and negative will sabotage one's game big-time.   Not too high ...not too low - right?      

 

 

 

  

 

 

[Jmdmbike]

I can relate to this topic - I can play a pretty good 14 or 15 holes, with a couple not so good and a couple blow up holes, triples or worse   I find that my bad swings seem to come in bunches - hit a bad shot off the tee, hit a poor recovery, that type of thing. Perhaps it's a loss of focus or mental lapse when it happens as many have suggested.  I just want to be done with the hole and move on. 

[dave s]

First things first:  Can't do anything about the shot that just happened.  Second thing-and this is much more difficult to do: let it go.  We all hit bad shots--some of which get us into real trouble.

Here's a really good tip I read in golf digest:  When you're faced with a carry over water, waste area or other hazard and you're chances of negotiating a shot onto the green from your current position is low, assess the yardage, cut it in HALF and hit TWO shots of approximate equal distance with a high-percentage club.

Here's an example from this week.  My second shot on a par-5 went off the toe of my 7-wood right and into trees leaving me a shot that I couldn't advance.  Chipped out with a 7-iron but still had nearly 180 to a green fronted by a pond.  Without a club in the bag, (or the skill level) to reach to the green, I hit PW 110 and a 70 yard shot onto green with my 58* wedge.  Hit it close, missed the putt and finished with a double.

If you play smart and within your means, blowup holes will all but disappear from your card.  IMO, the only reason for carding a 9 or 10 on ANY hole is you're just not thinking and making reasonable decisions out there.  No excuse for going 'tin cup' out there.

dave  

[Buckeyebowman]

On 8/22/2016 at 8:00 PM, ol 3 putts said:

Let me see if I can put what I was asking/saying in my original post differently.

*I know we all have blow up holes.

*I was not trying for a hero saving shot to make up for a poor shot.

*I agree, just put it back in the fairway is a good option.

 

My question had to do that I was not able to get over the OB on 15 and it was still affecting my concentration on 18. I hit a decent tee shot on the par 5 18. Leaving me about 10 yards shy of the water hazard. To carry the water from there, my second shot needed a full 50 yards to carry the hazard. I'll hit my second over the water to where I like to leave myself between 80 and 100 yards for my approach on this particular hole.

So when I put (topped) 3 in the water from there I knew something was in my head. I have no idea why this happens, sometimes when it does I will play a few holes just fine and then that memory will come back and I'm done.

I've been breaking 90 almost every time I've gone out, this round was well on it's way to being my best round ever..

You have to get out of your head!

At the risk of seeming pedantic, or introducing something a little weird here, I will offer the following.

There is (or was) an American psychologist, philosopher, and who some would call an outright whacko called Ram Dass. He wrote a book back in the '70's called Be Here Now. It's basically a handbook for Westerners as an intro to Hindu and Buddhist spiritual thought, but one of it's primary ideas is to experience the joy of living in the present moment. Be here now.

If you're looking at a shot on 18, and letting something that happened on 15 affect it, then you are getting in your own head. Be HERE now!

And this is not peculiar to golf. What do we hear NFL commentators say about cornerbacks? "They have to have short memories". They could get beat for a long gain on one play, but they have to be ready to go on the next. A batter in baseball might have struck out his last at bat, but he can't let that affect this one. And an NBA shooting guard might miss his first 5 shots. What's the advice he normally hears? Keep shooting! He'll eventually hit one, and then he could be off to the races!

Admittedly, all this is subject to the state of your own game, but it's up to you to know your game. You own it, after all. If you've made this shot routinely in the past, and mess it up as you described, it's not your mechanics!

And we all bitch at ourselves when we screw up a shot, but you can't let it slop over the line to where it turns into self flagellation. Sam Snead had a great phrase to describe this. He called it being "cool mad". Yeah, you're pissed that you hit a clunker. But, instead of that turning the next shot into a bad one, you "turn it around" so that your next shot is a good one. The bad shot is lost and gone forever. This shot is the only one that counts! I'm not saying that it's easy, but you have to learn to...

BE HERE NOW!

[chilepepper]

How do I keep from blowing up? During those times I try to keep in mind what my grandfather told me as a hotheaded 11 year old trying to learn the game

" your not good enough to get mad" 

[mcanadiens]

There's also the simple fact that bad shots lead to shots from really tough places. As the temper rises, your ability to reason drops and you are more tempted to attempt low percentage shots.

Sunday, I hooked my tee shot into the water on two. My drop settled rather unfortunately into a horrendous lie and I skulled a 7I 30 yards (still in the rough). Now hitting four, I convinced myself that I could get over a particular tree. Wrong. Fuming now, chopped my wedge over the green for five. Wedged on, two putted and an eight.

Fortunately. I put it behind me as soon as I stepped to the third tee. Finished with an 81 (granted our easiest course) in spite of the snowman. Sometimes, you best chance to stop the bleeding in the next hole. I suppose it helps to do this earlier instead of later.

 

 

[newtogolf]

24 minutes ago, chilepepper said:

How do I keep from blowing up? During those times I try to keep in mind what my grandfather told me as a hotheaded 11 year old trying to learn the game

" your not good enough to get mad" 

Externally I subscribe to that thought and do not show anger when I play poorly but internally it's a different story.  I realize that at a 20 index I'm going to have some blow up holes and they shouldn't be a surprise when they happen but it doesn't ease the sting when they happen at bad times.   

[mcanadiens]

47 minutes ago, chilepepper said:

" your not good enough to get mad" 

I've said it before and I'll say it again. This is the single worst golf-related phrase I've ever heard. 

If anyone ever says this to me on the course, it will be the last time I ever play with them.

[CarlSpackler]

There are several ways that I keep from blowing up and losing my temper. One is to look at the horizon or slightly above. For some reason, looking at the ground creates negative emotion where looking straight ahead or slightly up helps to curb anger. I forget where I read that, but it was many years ago and seems to work. The next is intentional breathing focusing on breathing out. If you keep your emotions in check. Negative emotions seem to encourage irrational thought (like @mcanadiens thinking he could get over that tree), where a sense of calmness brings on rational thought.

 

[Jeremie Boop]

4 minutes ago, mcanadiens said:

I've said it before and I'll say it again. This is the single worst golf-related phrase I've ever heard. 

If anyone ever says this to me on the course, it will be the last time I ever play with them.

Most times that's something people say to themselves, though I have rarely heard it said from one person towards another.