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

[Kalnoky]

43 minutes ago, No Mulligans said:

How can we be looking at this so differently? 

 

Well, for me a "blowup hole" is a triple bogey or worse (not sure if that has been established here or not). I hit a lot of bogey and double bogey, which I don't consider to be perfect ball striking by any stretch.

However a double is pretty much as bad as it gets for me. In a typical bogey scenario, I will hit my driver into the rough, then punch out (+1 stroke), then my next shot will land just off the green, and I will chip on (+1 stroke) and 2-putt. I can manage this type of golf very easily with my current mechanics/consistency. It's not good golf, but it's not what I consider "blowing up" either. 

I think the difference is, because your skill level is higher, you are probably attempting more difficult shots than the average bogie golfer. So your blowups are going to be based on mishits. 

 

 

Edited September 12, 2016 by Kalnoky

[CarlSpackler]

2 minutes ago, Kalnoky said:

Well, for me a "blowup hole" is a triple bogey or worse (not sure if that has been established here or not). I hit a lot of bogey and double bogey, which I don't consider to be perfect ball striking by any stretch.

However a double is pretty much as bad as it gets for me. In a typical bogey scenario, I will hit my driver into the rough, then punch out (+1 stroke), then my next shot will land just off the green, and I will chip on (+1 stroke) and 2-putt for double bogey. I can manage this type of golf very easily with my current mechanics/consistency. It's not good golf, but it's not what I consider "blowing up" either. 

I think the difference is, because your skill level is higher, you are probably attempting more difficult shots than the average bogie golfer. So your blowups are going to be based on mishits. 

Just curious if you are trying to advance your ball as much as possible out of the rough or simply trying to get it back in the fairway.

[mcanadiens]

9 minutes ago, Kalnoky said:

Well, for me a "blowup hole" is a triple bogey or worse

I'll say quad or worse.

Triples, at our level, can happen with a bit of bad luck and not necessarily a succession of (relatively) horrific swings particularly on a tough hole.  

[Kalnoky]

12 minutes ago, CarlSpackler said:

Just curious if you are trying to advance your ball as much as possible out of the rough or simply trying to get it back in the fairway.

If I am under or near a group of trees, then I just punch it back into the fairway by the shortest route possible. I can punch out very reliably with my 5-iron, I've had lots of practice :)

As I get better, and depending on the lie, I have successfully hit hybrids and long irons out of the long grass and occasionally even onto the green.  That is not a typical play for me however. 

[CarlSpackler]

1 minute ago, Kalnoky said:

If I am under or near a group of trees, then I just punch it back into the fairway by the shortest route possible. I can punch out very reliably with my 5-iron, I've had lots of practice :)

As I get better, and depending on the lie, I have successfully hit hybrids and long irons out of the long grass and occasionally even onto the green.  That is not a typical play for me however. 

As long as you are advancing the ball as much as possible safely. 

[boogielicious]

1 hour ago, Groucho Valentine said:

Oh yeah. But thats golf. Thats all you could do, there. That would be a blowup if you got that 3rd on the green and then proceeded to 5 putt because you just batted the ball around. 

That's a nightmare!!!?

[metbid]

Watch this video, it should put it into perspective   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YefULut6YrA

[oregongolfguy]

even at a 7.6 handicap i accept that i will have occasional holes that dont go as planned.  ob drive, mishit iron that finishes in a bad spot etc.  i basically shrug my shoulders.  accept that it happened and try to figure out what i need to do to get it in the cup minimizing the damage.  

keeping the ball in play off the tee and not getting cute around the greens keeps the blow ups to a minimum for me.  i will take a high percentage bogey taking double and par largely out of play rather then a low percentage shot that brings double into the conversation.

[MrDC]

Stopping the madness and keeping cool is just another skill to learn in golf, and I've struggled with it.

I think the psychology needed just comes from experience playing well, knowing that you can get past a bad hole and not let it affect the next shot, because you've done it before, knowing one bad hole will not ruin the round, or even two.

I've just been trying to have fun always, relax and have fun, stay focused on my swing and game plan, but smile and relax, that's a winning formula, no dark side.

 

Edited September 13, 2016 by MrDC

[kpaulhus]

Last night I had a blow up hole that would have resulted in an even par front 9. 

It was only a double bogey, but it sucked when up to that point I had 2 birdies, 2 bogies, and 4 pars. My drive ended up about 40 yards short of the uphill green. Simple wedge pitch shot over a green side bunker and 2 putt for an even par 36 front 9. I ended up hitting my pitch lower so it would run to the back pin, but it caught the very top lip of the bunker (uphill shot) and plugged. Terrible lie which took two shots to get out of the bunker, 2 putt for a double. Normally a double bogey is manageable. THEY REALLY SUCK, but I can manage. It was just a thorn in my side last night because I had hit 6/8 greens up to that point, and I was really hitting the ball well tee to green.

[Groucho Valentine]

53 minutes ago, kpaulhus said:

Last night I had a blow up hole that would have resulted in an even par front 9. 

It was only a double bogey, but it sucked when up to that point I had 2 birdies, 2 bogies, and 4 pars. My drive ended up about 40 yards short of the uphill green. Simple wedge pitch shot over a green side bunker and 2 putt for an even par 36 front 9. I ended up hitting my pitch lower so it would run to the back pin, but it caught the very top lip of the bunker (uphill shot) and plugged. Terrible lie which took two shots to get out of the bunker, 2 putt for a double. Normally a double bogey is manageable. THEY REALLY SUCK, but I can manage. It was just a thorn in my side last night because I had hit 6/8 greens up to that point, and I was really hitting the ball well tee to green.

Im not to sure that was a blowup. Thats just golf. 

[CarlSpackler]

58 minutes ago, kpaulhus said:

Last night I had a blow up hole that would have resulted in an even par front 9. 

It was only a double bogey, but it sucked when up to that point I had 2 birdies, 2 bogies, and 4 pars. My drive ended up about 40 yards short of the uphill green. Simple wedge pitch shot over a green side bunker and 2 putt for an even par 36 front 9. I ended up hitting my pitch lower so it would run to the back pin, but it caught the very top lip of the bunker (uphill shot) and plugged. Terrible lie which took two shots to get out of the bunker, 2 putt for a double. Normally a double bogey is manageable. THEY REALLY SUCK, but I can manage. It was just a thorn in my side last night because I had hit 6/8 greens up to that point, and I was really hitting the ball well tee to green.

I hate it when I do stuff like that. How many times have I turned an easy par / probable birdie into bogey or worse? Too many. Frustrating...

[zero]

During tournament play last week, I had a blowup that continued for several holes, i never fully recovered. I think it's just stress hormones in the body. No matter what I did - thinking of other things, checking out funny stuff on my phone, focusing intently on the shot, taking the easiest possible shot, nothing worked. My body was physically stressed, muscles tensed up, and topping the ball etc. just was going to happen. I'm hoping that it's like public speaking - the nerves will just lessen and confidence in those situations will increase with experience. 

Unfortunately....

Quote

Wikipedia: When a stressor acts upon the body, the endocrine system is triggered by the release of the neurotransmitter noradrenaline by the autonomic nervous system. Noradrenaline stimulates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) which processes the information about the stressor in the hypothalamus. This quickly signals the pituitary gland and finally triggers the adrenal cortex. The adrenal cortex responds by signaling the release of the corticosteroids cortisol and corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) directly into the bloodstream.

 

Edited September 28, 2016 by zero

[WUTiger]

One problem that a terrible bad shot triggers: wondering what went wrong? How did I hit so imperfect a shot?

If you have three or four bad shots in sequence, the way out is to try to do things right. Take a moment, rehearse your pre-shot mentally, and go through the steps as you align and set up. Then, hit the ball.

Once you're over the ball, block out any happy talk; happy talk may make you exaggerate some part of your swing, and you might over-correct. Just hit it! Trust your training.

If we have to wait on the next hole to tee off, I may go off to the side and hit a few 7i chips to check the feel of contact.

[Kalnoky]

Based on my limited experience, this is the worst thought you can ever have while playing golf:

"I can't believe how good I'm playing today!"

Edited September 28, 2016 by Kalnoky

[Natural Patrick]

On 9/28/2016 at 3:17 PM, Kalnoky said:

Based on my limited experience, this is the worst thought you can ever have while playing golf:

"I can't believe how good I'm playing today!"

The 2nd worst thought is "I can double bogey this last hole and still break 80"

[p1n9183]

Any thought starting with "i can´t do that..." it´s not good.

Last Saturday, 1 over at 13th, missed green pin high on the fairway 15 feet from the pin. 3 putted. I said, "I can´t make a silly bogey like that!" That made me really angry, led to a blow up hole. 2 balls OB on 14th for a 9 on a Par 4, also leaving the putter in the bag for the rest of the round just because been mad at it. End up shooting 10 over.

Intead of that i should calm down and say what i generaly say "Even Pro´s make supid shot and bogey/doubles" and keep on the good round i was playing 2 over thru 13th. .

How to recover from a blown up hole ?? Really don´t know, never recover from one. I guess is easier to avoid it by better course management.