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Burnt out


Valleygolfer
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 I spent all I spent all summer working hard at trying to lower my handicap and now that it is getting closer to fall I am realizing that I am wore out. Plus I have not scored that much better than I had in previous years. My handicap is lower so I do have more consistency obviously, up until now when my score is keep creeping back up due to lack of focus.

Anybody else suffering summer doldrums? I still play but it just doesn't seem like my heart is in it.

Maybe I am trying too hard.

"My ball is on top of a rock in the hazard, do I get some sort of relief?"

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Yeah, I am kinda getting that way as well. I improved my ball striking and thus lowered my handicap this season by practicing at home with my net and using video. However, after a string of mostly good/great rounds (for me), I find that when things don't go as expected it feels that much worse and I end up getting frustrated. It sure is hard work maintaining whatever gains I made, and like you, I think I'm starting to struggle keeping focused.

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Actually, it is sort of the opposite for me.

The last competition of any sort for me was a couple of weeks ago. Now that its done, I'm relaxing better during my rounds and hitting better shots in general. Although I'll continue to make an honest effort to score the rounds that I play with others and post them properly, it's sort of beside the point until next year. If I end up stinking the joint up on a given day, I'm just going to pitch the scorecard.

Despite some temporary driver issues, the last few rounds have been some of the better of the entire year.

 

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It might be time to just play a few rounds of golf with friends, just for the fun of their company and enjoyment of the great outdoors.  Its not easy for all of us to do, but if you can play without thinking technical swing stuff, and without trying to compete, without actually trying to shoot a score, you may get back to some of the fun.  If that doesn't work, take a week or two off, a month even, until you're itchy to get back to playing and practicing.  

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Dave

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Pressuring yourself leads to tension. Tension kills a golf swing. You have to enjoy golf. Once it becomes a chore, you will lose focus. Perhaps take a break from working on your swing and play some golf without caring what the result is. 

- Shane

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Perhaps you are trying too hard, and some time away from the game will help. 

I think there are a lot amateur golfers who take the game way too seriously. They spend so much time trying to get every little thing (positions?) in their swing right, they just defeat their purpose. 

Then there are folks like me, who could play consistently better, if I took the game a little more serious. I just like hitting the ball around the course. :-O

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7 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

It might be time to just play a few rounds of golf with friends, just for the fun of their company and enjoyment of the great outdoors.  Its not easy for all of us to do, but if you can play without thinking technical swing stuff, and without trying to compete, without actually trying to shoot a score, you may get back to some of the fun.  If that doesn't work, take a week or two off, a month even, until you're itchy to get back to playing and practicing.  

This is similar to how I've approached my burning out. Getting so focused on improving does tend to make golf not as much fun. When I get to that point I just go out and play some rounds. After a few rounds of just playing I can go back to focusing on my swing improvements.

KICK THE FLIP!!

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30 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

It might be time to just play a few rounds of golf with friends, just for the fun of their company and enjoyment of the great outdoors.  Its not easy for all of us to do, but if you can play without thinking technical swing stuff, and without trying to compete, without actually trying to shoot a score, you may get back to some of the fun.  If that doesn't work, take a week or two off, a month even, until you're itchy to get back to playing and practicing.  

Problem with taking time off is that we do not have much playing time left here in the northeast. I have been doing the other stuff, playing light rounds and with the girlfriend but I still don't enjoy hitting poor or lackadaisical shots due to lack of concentration.

"My ball is on top of a rock in the hazard, do I get some sort of relief?"

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4 minutes ago, Jeremie Boop said:

This is similar to how I've approached my burning out. Getting so focused on improving does tend to make golf not as much fun. When I get to that point I just go out and play some rounds. After a few rounds of just playing I can go back to focusing on my swing improvements.

There are times where I feel like a bit of an oddity within the TST community, because I'm not actively working on making swing changes.  I do try to spend one short range session reinforcing basics like alignment and tempo and proper sequencing, but my course time is all about just playing.  For me, I enjoy the competition and the company of my friends, even when I play poorly.  Sure, I have more fun when I play well, but I never have a bad time at the golf course.  The biggest part of my enjoyment comes from time with my friends, good golf is just a sideshow.  Think of the time invested.  If you take 100 shots, and concentrate an entire 30 seconds on each one, that's still less than an hour.  3/4 of your time on the golf course, maybe more, is spent NOT hitting shots, enjoy that part of it.

2 minutes ago, Valleygolfer said:

Problem with taking time off is that we do not have much playing time left here in the northeast. I have been doing the other stuff, playing light rounds and with the girlfriend but I still don't enjoy hitting poor or lackadaisical due to poor concentration.

OK, I accept that you're going to continue playing as deep into the fall as you can, but you want to somehow improve your enjoyment.  What else can you change?  Can you play with different people?  Should you temporarily curtail your swing practice, and just play?  Can you somehow change your mental approach to take pressure to perform off?  

It seems like you feel its your duty to continue playing, because the season will end before long, rather than playing because you look forward to it.  I have a duty to go to work, to earn my paycheck, but I play golf because I enjoy it.  To continue doing the same thing, and continue to not enjoy the time, seems pretty counterproductive to me.  So what if you take a couple of weeks off in the middle of golf season, that seems like a better choice to me than going out there and having a bad time.

Dave

:callaway: Rogue SubZero Driver

:titleist: 915F 15 Fairway, 816 H1 19 Hybrid, AP2 4 iron to PW, Vokey 52, 56, and 60 wedges, ProV1 balls 
:ping: G5i putter, B60 version
 :ping:Hoofer Bag, complete with Newport Cup logo
:footjoy::true_linkswear:, and Ashworth shoes

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37 minutes ago, Valleygolfer said:

 I spent all I spent all summer working hard at trying to lower my handicap and now that it is getting closer to fall I am realizing that I am wore out. Plus I have not scored that much better than I had in previous years. My handicap is lower so I do have more consistency obviously, up until now when my score is keep creeping back up due to lack of focus.

Anybody else suffering summer doldrums? I still play but it just doesn't seem like my heart is in it.

Maybe I am trying too hard.

I haven't felt that way about golf yet.  However, I can relate as I had that same issue with tennis.

I was a scholarship tennis player and tennis instructor.  I got so competitive that winning wasn't that much fun due to pressure and when I did lose a match it was awful.  It always felt like a high pressure job after I graduated high school.

Then I discovered golf playing Tiger Woods video game.   This wonderful sport is only as competitive as you want to make it.  You can play higher pressure stroke play events and betting games with other players, or choose the low stress route of "playing against the course" and playing in scrambles only.

No matter how low my handicap gets I will never play another stroke play event.  The last one I played in I shot 3 rounds in the low 80's and lost to a guy that couldn't break 90 due to his "handicap."  I said to hell with that...and I've stuck to scrambles and playing the course ever since.

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It has been years since I played enough, or put enough pressure on me, to reach the worn out stage.  Usually I would hang them up for a while, however, due to your upcoming weather changes, that may no be what you really want to do.

I am not sure of the handicap rules, so I don't know if you can just throw out a series of rounds if just want to go have fun.  Since handicap seems to be driving a lot of this, you probably need to figure if you can just throw out the next 2-3 weeks as practice(?).

You can always get a little inventive with your bag to change things up, say play a 7 club bag.  Figure out the mix for the course and then improvise as you go.

You may want to pull out some older or vintage clubs and have a go at them.  Probably too late to put together a true vintage bag, but since this may be recurring again at some point, spend the winter finding old blades and persimmons and put a set together.  Playing with them may be refreshing, or frustrating, who knows, but it will be different.

You can always play some rounds with high handicap golfers to make you feel better about your game.  Not sure how well this will work, but it may change your perspective when someone is thrilled with getting a bogey.

John

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5 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

It seems like you feel its your duty to continue playing, because the season will end before long, rather than playing because you look forward to it.  I have a duty to go to work, to earn my paycheck, but I play golf because I enjoy it.  To continue doing the same thing, and continue to not enjoy the time, seems pretty counterproductive to me.  So what if you take a couple of weeks off in the middle of golf season, that seems like a better choice to me than going out there and having a bad time.

Well you know what they say....a bad day golfing is better than a good day of work... I get what you are saying and there is some underlying pressure to meet your goals for the game before the courses get covered in leaves, greens punched, lack of daylight.... etc. It is hard to explain but it is a double edged sword. I think I want to back off but then again maybe I don't. Maybe I will declare my rounds practice rounds for a while.

"My ball is on top of a rock in the hazard, do I get some sort of relief?"

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I've ran into the same issues before and when I do I just take some time off , usually about a week or so and if I get the itch I typically just chip a little and practice putting. Kind of seems like you are becoming more focused on just lowering your handicap than enjoying playing golf, it's definitely great to want to improve but you can't lose track of the big picture which is playing golf for enjoyment.

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I was bummed on golf a few weeks ago. After shooting an all-time best, I played two lousy rounds. The little victories did no longer satisfy me.

So, I mixed it up. I put my old putter back in the bag. And, I bought some Orange Volvik Vivid balls, just to try them. And it was a lot of fun... It forced me to concentrate again on what I was doing. I played really well too.

So that's my advice. Try something new. Mix it up. 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Patch said:

Perhaps you are trying too hard, and some time away from the game will help. 

I think there are a lot amateur golfers who take the game way too seriously. They spend so much time trying to get every little thing (positions?) in their swing right, they just defeat their purpose. 

Then there are folks like me, who could play consistently better, if I took the game a little more serious. I just like hitting the ball around the course. :-O

This is pretty much how I have always approached golf.  I play golf because it's fun.  For that reason I have never worked that hard at my game.  By mostly playing regularly when my schedule and the seasons allowed it, and only practicing sporadically, I got down to a 10 handicap and stayed in that general range for 20 years.  Since that was far better than I ever really expected to be, I was not just satisfied, but ecstatic about it.  I never even considered working harder to try and go lower.  

I play for recreation - even when playing tournament golf it is still for fun, not blood.  I had a lot of success over the years playing handicap competitions, and that is all I ever asked of the game.  After retiring, I worked as a starter to support my golf habit, and I averaged playing about 3 times a week during most of the season.  I would occasionally work on my chipping, but I don't think I hit more than about 3 baskets on the range in the 5 years I worked at the course, even though I got unlimited range balls for free.  There were weeks when I would only play once because I just didn't feel like playing when my buddies couldn't.  That's about as close to "burn out" as I ever got.

One thing I used to do to change up the sameness of playing one course too often was to take half the clubs out of my bag and force myself to play "touch" shots more often.  Lots of half and three-quarter swings.  It got my head back in the game, made me think more and use my imagination.  I'd do that 3 or 4 times a year, and use a different mix of clubs each time.  It made my normal game with a full bag better.

Rick

"He who has the fastest cart will never have a bad lie."

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For years, I enjoyed practicing along with playing. I would play after work some days, play a par 3 course or spend numerous hours putting or just hitting various wedge shots and bunker play. I just loved practicing.

Now when and if I get my game in a funk, I'll head out and practice. It relieves the thoughts of poor play.

Johnny Rocket - Let's Rock and Roll and play some golf !!!

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9 minutes ago, Fourputt said:

This is pretty much how I have always approached golf.  I play golf because it's fun.  For that reason I have never worked that hard at my game.  By mostly playing regularly when my schedule and the seasons allowed it, and only practicing sporadically, I got down to a 10 handicap and stayed in that general range for 20 years.  Since that was far better than I ever really expected to be, I was not just satisfied, but ecstatic about it.  I never even considered working harder to try and go lower.  

I play for recreation - even when playing tournament golf it is still for fun, not blood.  I had a lot of success over the years playing handicap competitions, and that is all I ever asked of the game.  After retiring, I worked as a starter to support my golf habit, and I averaged playing about 3 times a week during most of the season.  I would occasionally work on my chipping, but I don't think I hit more than about 3 baskets on the range in the 5 years I worked at the course, even though I got unlimited range balls for free.  There were weeks when I would only play once because I just didn't feel like playing when my buddies couldn't.  That's about as close to "burn out" as I ever got.

One thing I used to do to change up the sameness of playing one course too often was to take half the clubs out of my bag and force myself to play "touch" shots more often.  Lots of half and three-quarter swings.  It got my head back in the game, made me think more and use my imagination.  I'd do that 3 or 4 times a year, and use a different mix of clubs each time.  It made my normal game with a full bag better.

Good point on that partial bag game. I've done that myself. I have also played short irons off the tee, then played longer fairway clubs to the pin.  Just to change things up. 

Some of my more satisfying memories have been my recovery shots, after a poor shot. The old "how the hell do I get out of this mess" scenario. How Igot myself in the mess was of no importance. So, if I had a better game, I wouldn't have some of those memories. 

I don't get burnt out in the mental sense, but there have been times where I have been physically tired from too much play. Usually not playing for 2-3  days cures that issue. 

With the weather cooling off, while heading into fall, I will be playing quite a bit. Need to make up for lost time the past couple of months. 

In My Bag:
A whole bunch of Tour Edge golf stuff...... :beer:

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7 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

 It seems like you feel its your duty to continue playing, because the season will end before long, rather than playing because you look forward to it.

This statement struck home with me. I'm in the same situation as @Valleygolfer in that October or early November will be it until April rolls around next year. By the end of September, I'm really drained with the effort and concentration it takes to sustain improvement. Any real setbacks become more of a kick in the nuts than they would had they occurred during the beginning or middle of the season.

So the reason I keep going out is because I miss the game so much in the Winter... I mean REALLY miss it. No matter how well or poorly the previous season ended, I obsess about that first week when the courses will open again.

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Jon

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