Good Day Bad Day Crap

[gregsandiego]

On a couple of recent rounds I hit almost every drive fairly straight. Not far, but good enough.

Today I hit most of them far right into the OB, topped it, popped it up, etc.

I remember reading some post here that just when you think you have the game under control, the "wheels fall off" and something like this happens. Why do we have good days and bad days ?

 

Edited March 4, 2018 by gregsandiego
typo

[Piz]

Without each...there would be neither.  

[gregsandiego]

16 minutes ago, Piz said:

Without each...there would be neither.  

Nice. I like an #existential point of view.

[Piz]

9 minutes ago, gregsandiego said:

Nice. I like an #existential point of view.

Yeah.  I'm real philosophical when I'm sitting around having a beer.  Trouble is that Stoicism (mine anyway) doesn't seem to travel well.  

[Patch]

47 minutes ago, Piz said:

Without each...there would be neither.  

This is the only answer. Well done. No need to go any further. I suspect some where in that answer is the actual answer to playing golf. 

[DaveP043]

I think this, wildly varying results, is the biggest reason for working to improve your swing.  You can time your various compensations some days, I know I do, but you can't always time them quite right.  My first lesson ever, the pro said my good shots were plenty good enough, the goal was to improve my bad shots.  The more sound your swing is overall, the narrower the fluctuation between good and bad shots.

[billchao]

14 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

I think this, wildly varying results, is the biggest reason for working to improve your swing.  You can time your various compensations some days, I know I do, but you can't always time them quite right.  My first lesson ever, the pro said my good shots were plenty good enough, the goal was to improve my bad shots.  The more sound your swing is overall, the narrower the fluctuation between good and bad shots.

I agree with this. As I improve, I'm noticing that what I consider a miss or a bad shot can still have decent or even good results.

We're always going to have good days and bad days and everything in between because we're not machines.

[NEhomer]

The height of my personal good/bad was three years ago. I had missed the entire previous year from a partially torn/injured rotator cuff. I was able to avoid surgery but it cost me the year. I think the point of that is that I'm basically a decent player but hadn't played in a long time.

In my weekly 9 hole league match one week I shot even par 35. In the following week's match (and first time playing since) I made a nice 6 footer on 9 to save par and break 50! Cripes! 35-49. I was spraying the ball. WTH happened?!

...nothing like that before or since.

 

[DaveP043]

@billchao reminded me of one thing I forgot to mention.  Even when you've done the work to improve your swing, you'll still hit "bad" shots, and have "bad" days.  But those bad ones will look a whole lot better than the bad shots and bad days from before.

[nevets88]

Bad shots, for me, are a lot easier to swallow when I have a better idea of why it happened. Having seen them on video and associating feels with them, those shots sting less because ok, I have an idea of how to correct.

[Patch]

Good, and bad days (rounds) are relevant to the individual's talent level, and how they mentally percieve their play that day. Another golfer's bad day, might be a great day for me. 

Myself, I have poor rounds, but it was still a good day playing golf. For me a good shot is anything I hit, that leaves me an easier next shot. A bad shot is having to really work to get to an easier, next shot. A lost ball is as bad as it gets for me. Then again, I carry extra balls for when I do lose one, so how bad can it really be, since I expect to lose a ball once in a while....?

You just take the bad, with the good, and have fun with it.  Golf is alot like life in that respect. 

[billchao]

22 minutes ago, Patch said:

Good, and bad days (rounds) are relevant to the individual's talent level, and how they mentally percieve their play that day.

That's a good point, too. I tend to judge my performance based on how well I struck the ball as opposed to how well I scored. I have days I feel good about my play despite not scoring well and days I'm disappointed in my play but surprised by my score.

[MuniGrit]

I have been even par on 14 only to hit two tee balls on and make a quad. Then I birdied the next hole lol. It was a chance at my best round ever.

[gregsandiego]

23 hours ago, Patch said:

This is the only answer. Well done. No need to go any further. I suspect some where in that answer is the actual answer to playing golf. 

Yes.

12 hours ago, nevets88 said:

Bad shots, for me, are a lot easier to swallow when I have a better idea of why it happened. Having seen them on video and associating feels with them, those shots sting less because ok, I have an idea of how to correct.

Agreed. And I usually have NO idea why during a round. I suspect it's a combo of feeling anxious and fatigue.

13 hours ago, NEhomer said:

The height of my personal good/bad was three years ago. I had missed the entire previous year from a partially torn/injured rotator cuff. I was able to avoid surgery but it cost me the year. I think the point of that is that I'm basically a decent player but hadn't played in a long time.

In my weekly 9 hole league match one week I shot even par 35. In the following week's match (and first time playing since) I made a nice 6 footer on 9 to save par and break 50! Cripes! 35-49. I was spraying the ball. WTH happened?!

...nothing like that before or since.

 

Nothing stings like hitting a ball of to the side.

12 hours ago, billchao said:

That's a good point, too. I tend to judge my performance based on how well I struck the ball as opposed to how well I scored. I have days I feel good about my play despite not scoring well and days I'm disappointed in my play but surprised by my score.

Agreed. Ever rolled a ball on to the green from far away? It's just OK.

[onthehunt526]

On 3/3/2018 at 10:19 PM, gregsandiego said:

On a couple of recent rounds I hit almost every drive fairly straight. Not far, but good enough.

Today I hit most of them far right into the OB, topped it, popped it up, etc.

I remember reading some post here that just when you think you have the game under control, the "wheels fall off" and something like this happens. Why do we have good days and bad days ?

 

 

Because Golf is Hard (R). It's the Golf Gods way of keeping you coming back with a couple good days. Then remind you that Golf is Hard for another couple days. That's why.

[gregsandiego]

On 3/4/2018 at 8:22 PM, onthehunt526 said:

Because Golf is Hard (R). It's the Golf Gods way of keeping you coming back with a couple good days. Then remind you that Golf is Hard for another couple days. That's why.

Golf gods are bad gods.

[onthehunt526]

26 minutes ago, gregsandiego said:

Golf gods are bad gods.

They are kind from at times though,

[Moxley]

I think the counter intuitive nature of some parts of golf lead some of us into continual cycles, particularly between hook and slice. 

If you slice, you think that you better get the ball left and end up putting more slice on the ball. Then you get active instruction and correct it. All is good for a while but after 1 or 2 odd misses left you start to do the opposite and swing to the right (while rotating the clubface round and creating an ever increasing face/path differential).

Infuriating game