Blaming everything but yourself during bad rounds

[Bamberdele2.0]

you’ve had a bad round but it wasn’t your fault, right?

If it’s not the 30mph wind, that PP you just can’t seem to score well with atm, bumpy tee boxes or the fact you never ‘warmed’ up before your round. Actually, it must be the dodgy golf balls you’ve played with.

Can’t get out of this slump where during my round I’m thinking ‘well if that didn’t happen I would have been pretty good today’ kind of attitude. Not my fault I’m *** at golf is it? I blame that golf pro who taught me how to swing a club like this etc

Anyone relate?

Taking a few days off now before I fall out of love with it.

 

[Neilds]

it's all part of the wonderful game that is golf
At the end of the day, you need to ask yourself why you play golf. Is it to pay the mortgage, put food on the table, pay the bills?
If the answer to all the above is no, then you need to accept it is just a game/hobby you took up to enjoy yourself and stop beating yourself up when it doesn't go right every round. Just look at the difference between Rory's 4 rounds this weekend and notice that the best have very different rounds so it should be accepted that us mere mortals can't be perfect all the time

 

[Orikoru]

Sometimes I blame slow play in front holding me up and not being able to get into a rhythm - but ultimately it's my issue, I need to learn how to still be able to hit good shots after standing around for 5 minutes. You can blame the wind - but you need to learn how to play in the wind.

Even when you do blame yourself it's not overly helpful. On Saturday I'd have had a much better score if I didn't putt like an idiot - but then I'm a handicap golfer, it's highly unlikely I'll be good at everything on the same day anyway! The next time I putt well I'm sure my driving or chipping will be crap instead. It's as @Neilds says above - it's not easy but you need to learn how to still enjoy the bad rounds.

 

[Foxholer]

you’ve had a bad round but it wasn’t your fault, right?

If it’s not the 30mph wind, that PP you just can’t seem to score well with atm, bumpy tee boxes or the fact you never ‘warmed’ up before your round. Actually, it must be the dodgy golf balls you’ve played with.

Can’t get out of this slump where during my round I’m thinking ‘well if that didn’t happen I would have been pretty good today’ kind of attitude. Not my fault I’m *** at golf is it? I blame that golf pro who taught me how to swing a club like this etc

Anyone relate?

Taking a few days off now before I fall out of love with it.

Spoken (well, posted) like a true Golfer!
It's easier, and more pleasant, to recover from a round of golf (notice I didn't mention 'bad' as there'll be lot of 'bad' in almost all rounds of Golf) than the alternative/equivalent - self flagellation! Just rearrange the name of the 'sport' - 'Golf'!

 

[Bamberdele2.0]

the only thing I have enjoyed during last couple of rounds is the thought of the 19th hole.

Makes everything better.

 

[Springveldt]

you’ve had a bad round but it wasn’t your fault, right?

If it’s not the 30mph wind, that PP you just can’t seem to score well with atm, bumpy tee boxes or the fact you never ‘warmed’ up before your round. Actually, it must be the dodgy golf balls you’ve played with.

Can’t get out of this slump where during my round I’m thinking ‘well if that didn’t happen I would have been pretty good today’ kind of attitude. Not my fault I’m *** at golf is it? I blame that golf pro who taught me how to swing a club like this etc

Anyone relate?

Taking a few days off now before I fall out of love with it.

I've just post in the "Today I played" thread and it's exactly like this.

 

[sweaty sock]

Not sure of your swing understanding... but if possible try and "diagnose" rather than blame.

Makes a massive difference if you can say X went wrong because.... and learn something.

I chipped it against the face of the bunker because my shot choice was bad, and I didn't consider the "bad miss" before hitting my shot.

Will lead to much better scores than "Despite my perfect execution, my chip hit the face of the bunker because the stupid, unfair greenkeeper hasn't sorted the inconsistent gravity"

 

[Deleted member 15717]

you’ve had a bad round but it wasn’t your fault, right?

If it’s not the 30mph wind, that PP you just can’t seem to score well with atm, bumpy tee boxes or the fact you never ‘warmed’ up before your round. Actually, it must be the dodgy golf balls you’ve played with.

Can’t get out of this slump where during my round I’m thinking ‘well if that didn’t happen I would have been pretty good today’ kind of attitude. Not my fault I’m *** at golf is it? I blame that golf pro who taught me how to swing a club like this etc

Anyone relate?

Taking a few days off now before I fall out of love with it.

you truly are going through a rollercoaster of emotions the past few weeks.

First its winning money from playing partners, then about submitting cards, then the right compression golf ball for you and now who to blame for a bad round of golf.


Hit ball, find ball, hit ball again. Repeat for as many times required to complete 18 holes. Have beer (or other beverage) and head home. Its a hobby/game...don't overthink, and don't worry. You aren't getting paid millions to play.

 

[Imurg]

I think it's, initially, important to blame everything else for your bad shot...but equally important to realise it's the knob holding the club that's made the balls-up and nothing else..

 

[Slab]

I’ve done my fair share of blaming ‘outside influences’ for a bad score, like a different grass at this course etc (even once blamed the thickness of the blades of grass) but the more I play the more it becomes obvious where the issues lie (because most of the time I know what went wrong) and these days I just blame myself for it

 

[nickjdavis]

I hit a duff shot into our 9th green yesterday and promptly blamed myself for not telling the noisy mob on the 7th tee to STFU.

 

[The Fader]

Only 2 things to blame for poor golf

The Grip and who is holding it

LOFT - lack of flipping talent.

Anything else is just being in denial.

 

[pendodave]

The need for hallowed silence (and everything else to be perfect) is just learned behaviour imho. If you think it'll bother you, then it will.
Most golfers (myself included) are just a but rubbish, and some of them take a while to get to grips with this concept.

 

[Foxholer]

Not sure of your swing understanding... but if possible try and "diagnose" rather than blame.
...

Huge potential to cause even more problems imo.
There are some mistakes that should simply be forgotten cf 'diagnosed'! At least during a round.

 

[Oddsocks]

At the weekend it was simple “ I played crap because the liv didn’t offer me £120k to come last so my mind was elsewhere, I should have concentrated more “

 

[chico]

Got a book one Christmas 101 excuses for a bad shot. Manage to use most of them in a round.

 

[Mel Smooth]

My lad always has an excuse for a bad shot, never his fault. Could be a bird tweeting, something most people wouldn't hear, but he does, just incase he hits a bad 'un.

 

[Backsticks]

It isnt your fault. It was the wind. The bad greens. The annoying partner with his poker chip marker. Your clubs. The tip the pro gave you when he saw you on the range has harmed nit helped your swing. The swine who didnt rake the bunker you were in.

The benefits of blaming the outside, and retaining your own sense of perfection, is a consistent and well established phenomenon in sports psychology of all the most successful elite sports achievers.
Across all sports. It can be the umpire, VAR, the judge, the linesman, the weather, whatever.

So , believe it wasnt you. It was other.

 

[Backache]

'The uproar of butterflies in an adjoining field.'

 

[Voyager EMH]

I've never found "blaming" to be much use.
For a bad shot I might curse myself or laugh at myself. Then I will forgive myself.
For a whole bad round - I just forget about it. Next round will be better - look forward to that.
Well, it works for me.