Compounding mistakes

[lyden]

So today for my first ever medal I was in high spirits and started out decent, however I got to my third hole a par 5 and took a 9. My issue is not with the next hole because I can reset quite easily as I followed with birdie, birdie. What I can't do is reset while playing a hole, all that is going through my head is.....( you need to pull off a miracle to make par now, then my further sub conscious is saying ( who are you kidding you won't even make bogey)) I then more often than not 3 putt making a few mistakes even worse. I put together a front 9 of 43 despite a quadruple and a double with a lost ball. The start of the back 9 was a 10 on a par 4 with a chain reaction of bad shots beginning at the tee. After this my attention and enthusiasm had gone and despite 3 pars on the back I was in, in 53.

I'm a deep thinker and my brain goes in to overdrive when I make a mistake, I would be interested to see what a good players trail of thought is, we all know what the textbook tells us to think but what actually happens in your head?

 

[CMAC]

Most pro's philosophy is "Never follow a bad shot with another bad shot"

i.e if in the clag, dont go for the Seve escape that might (will) put you in a worse position, get back onto the fairway, play for the middle of the green and take the punishment of probably a bogey over a triple or quadruple

 

[Neddy]

So today for my first ever medal I was in high spirits and started out decent, however I got to my third hole a par 5 and took a 9. My issue is not with the next hole because I can reset quite easily as I followed with birdie, birdie. What I can't do is reset while playing a hole, all that is going through my head is.....( you need to pull off a miracle to make par now, then my further sub conscious is saying ( who are you kidding you won't even make bogey)) I then more often than not 3 putt making a few mistakes even worse. I put together a front 9 of 43 despite a quadruple and a double with a lost ball. The start of the back 9 was a 10 on a par 4 with a chain reaction of bad shots beginning at the tee. After this my attention and enthusiasm had gone and despite 3 pars on the back I was in, in 53.

I'm a deep thinker and my brain goes in to overdrive when I make a mistake, I would be interested to see what a good players trail of thought is, we all know what the textbook tells us to think but what actually happens in your head?

It's taken me two years to realise that you should only take on shots you are very confident of pulling off.

Example - was playing the other day, par 4, dogleg left to right with a green way below the level of the fairway and a whole load of crap between the end of the fairway and the green. Ideal shot is driver/3 wood to the fairway and a 8/9 iron to the green from a spot where you can actually see it.

I pulled my drive left leaving about 185 yards to a target i couldn't see from a dodgy lie in the rough.

The old me tries to hit a hybrid over the rubbish to the green, probably messes it up and takes 7 or 8.

New me hits a 60 yard pitch to where my tee shot was supposed to go and a soft 9 iron to the green. 2 putts and an easy 5.

I made 5 pars on the back 9 but i was actually more pleased with this hole than the others.

My advice? Deep breaths, take a drink, and think "how can i make a bogey (which for us is essentially a par) from here"

 

[Bucket92]

Did the same as you today, third hole, par 5, 9. Takes the biscuit!

 

[JustOne]

The old me tries to hit a hybrid over the rubbish to the green, probably messes it up and takes 7 or 8.

New me hits a 60 yard pitch to where my tee shot was supposed to go and a soft 9 iron to the green. 2 putts and an easy 5.

60yd pitch?..... 9 iron to the green and 2 putts is EASY? hmmmmmm...

 

[Ian_S]

It's likely because you have a plan in your head for how to play the hole, and you don't want to change it. So you start off thinking drive, iron to green, 2 putts for a par then when your drive goes wayward, you don't change your plan so you still think the way to par the hole is to get your second shot onto the green.

When you get in the rubbish, just think about the best way to get down in three from there. Forget about a possible birdie and just try to get to the green and give yourself a chance to one-putt.

 

[Doon frae Troon]

Most pro's philosophy is "Never follow a bad shot with another bad shot"

i.e if in the clag, dont go for the Seve escape that might (will) put you in a worse position, get back onto the fairway, play for the middle of the green and take the punishment of probably a bogey over a triple or quadruple

Spot on Darth.
How many times do you see the opposite though.

Two of my golden rules were
1] The above.
2] Avoid a double bogey at all costs. ie don't go for the death or glory shot when you can still make a par by playing safe.

 

[Neddy]

60yd pitch?..... 9 iron to the green and 2 putts is EASY? hmmmmmm...

Well....if i can do it.....it must be easy

 

[lyden]

Spot on Darth.
How many times do you see the opposite though.

Two of my golden rules were
1] The above.
2] Avoid a double bogey at all costs. ie don't go for the death or glory shot when you can still make a par by playing safe.

If you do happen to hit 2 bad ones on a row what then? My head drops really fast :|

I've certainly questioned if I'm mentally capable of achieving at this game or am I expecting too much for my 4th ever round of competitive golf?

 

[Justman]

This is my real issue at the moment. Mine can stretch to several holes though before I can regroup and it is costing me so many strokes. I can play 7 or 8 holes well and keep up with my mates who's handicaps are in the low teens. Then I hit a poor shot and it plays on mind which of course leads to more poor shots mainly owing to all of a sudden being tense in the swing and raising my head looking for the ball.

I'm aware of what I am doing wrong, but when it unfolds on the course, I fall into my bad old habits. I often wonder like you Lyden whether I'm mentally strong enough to be a decent level of player. Hopefully you can find something to help with this.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

My advice would be to download the Karl Morris app "The Five Shots Lower Programme" It has helped me a lot this season and has got my body language better, how to deal with a bad hole and how to stop the mind worrying about the previous hole or the next few ahead. I am playing with a more neutral mind and not letting the (many) bad shots affect me as much. I just need to get the game in the same shape as my thinking

 

[Justman]

My advice would be to download the Karl Morris app "The Five Shots Lower Programme" It has helped me a lot this season and has got my body language better, how to deal with a bad hole and how to stop the mind worrying about the previous hole or the next few ahead. I am playing with a more neutral mind and not letting the (many) bad shots affect me as much. I just need to get the game in the same shape as my thinking

Thanks for this. Downloaded the app and it makes a lot of sense. Not put it into practice yet but I know I play my best stuff doing some of the things he describes. Hopefully this will my help my game a lot. :thup:

 

[Ethan]

This is where the Rotella 'one shot at a time' thing kicks in. If you hit a good tee shot on a par 5 and decide you can't reach it in 2 with your 3 wood, why then would you think you can hit the same shot after chipping out of the trees, just because it is your 3rd or 4th? You can't. You should decide what is possible and apply the same risk assessment for the shot regardless of how you got there.

Note an exception applies in matchplay when you have a shot that you must make or the alternative is to lose the hole/match.

 

[Region3]

No matter where you are on the golf course, or how many shots you have taken so far on that hole or for the round, your mindset for the most part should be - "How can I get down in the least amount of shots from here without risking disaster".

As Ethan said, if you've had to chip out after a bad drive, why would you try to smash a 3 wood as hard as you can to reach a par 5 with your third shot if you wouldn't do it if it were your second shot?

The biggest mistake I used to make was thinking I HAVE to do *whatever* to make par. You don't. You have to keep disaster numbers off the scorecard.

Answer this: (Ignoring special circumstances) You're playing you're second shot over water to the green and the carry you need is about on your limit with a well struck shot. Do you take it on if the hole is a par 5? Do you take it on if the hole is a par 4?
There's no right or wrong answer, provided it is the same for both questions imo.

 

[duncan mackie]

No matter where you are on the golf course, or how many shots you have taken so far on that hole or for the round, your mindset for the most part should be - "How can I get down in the least amount of shots from here without risking disaster".

As Ethan said, if you've had to chip out after a bad drive, why would you try to smash a 3 wood as hard as you can to reach a par 5 with your third shot if you wouldn't do it if it were your second shot?

The biggest mistake I used to make was thinking I HAVE to do *whatever* to make par. You don't. You have to keep disaster numbers off the scorecard.

Answer this: (Ignoring special circumstances) You're playing you're second shot over water to the green and the carry you need is about on your limit with a well struck shot. Do you take it on if the hole is a par 5? Do you take it on if the hole is a par 4?
There's no right or wrong answer, provided it is the same for both questions imo.

yep - the context is the shot and absolutely nothing else; even Doon's 'avoid a DB at all costs' is, IMO, completely the wrong starting point because the risk reward ratio of a particular shot doesn't change because of the par on the hole and the number of shots you have already taken...

 

[kid2]

I have a playing partner of similar mindset.....Take yesterday for instance......
Our index 1 hole which off of 19 he has a shot is pretty tough at the best of times......If you can get a decent tee shot away down the left hand side of the fairway it opens up the hole......Your normally left with 160-170 mtrs carry into a shallow kidney shaped green over 2 lakes.....Between the lakes is a really tall old spruce tree which needs to be avoided like the plague.....

I hooked my tee shot into a spinny at roughly driving distance and had to chip out with a 7 iron and take my medicine..... So i now faced that same carry for my 3rd.....
We were playing a team of 3 stableford format.....He asked for my advice on what to do..... So i said seeing as he has an extra shot he had 170mtrs to the centre and i told him to play to the front of the green...This took both bunkers both lakes and the tree out of play...He took a 6 iron landed it perfectly about 15 mtrs from the front of the green ...Flag at the back and all he had was a bump and run with a 7 iron to get to the pin...No trouble......

I took a 6 iron and went for the pin then as it was only 1 score to count i put my faith in his easier shot..... I pulled mine off chipped on and Bogied for 2 points..... He duffed his chip hit his first putt too soft...Hit his second putt too hard missed the 3rd and got the 4th.....What should have been nearly a guaranteed 3 points with an outside chance of 4 ended up being 2....

But it just goes to show some peoples though process....... Iv seen him hit that green before from that distance but because he did it before he automatically thought that it would happen again......Im trying to teach him how to weigh up the odds when he plays Medals so that he doesnt make those mistakes... But he doesnt seem to take too kindly about what advice he should listen to.... Instead he does his own thing so i gave up offering it in the end.

 

[Oddsocks]

So today for my first ever medal I was in high spirits and started out decent, however I got to my third hole a par 5 and took a 9. My issue is not with the next hole because I can reset quite easily as I followed with birdie, birdie. What I can't do is reset while playing a hole, all that is going through my head is.....( you need to pull off a miracle to make par now, then my further sub conscious is saying ( who are you kidding you won't even make bogey)) I then more often than not 3 putt making a few mistakes even worse. I put together a front 9 of 43 despite a quadruple and a double with a lost ball. The start of the back 9 was a 10 on a par 4 with a chain reaction of bad shots beginning at the tee. After this my attention and enthusiasm had gone and despite 3 pars on the back I was in, in 53.

I'm a deep thinker and my brain goes in to overdrive when I make a mistake, I would be interested to see what a good players trail of thought is, we all know what the textbook tells us to think but what actually happens in your head?

I went from 22 to 16 in a very quick time just by taking my medicine. Now I often just get it back in play, especially on a par 5, or par 4 with a shot.

Bogeys to recover are better than triple or quads to kill a card in my opinion. A lucky putt or good chip claws back that dropped shot, but four lucky putts is asking a bit much