Giving up after bad shots!

[delc]

I have a friend who just gives up and stops scoring if he hits one or two bad shots, and sometimes even walks off the course. This strikes me as ridiculous, because golf is a difficult game and even professionals occasionally hit bad shots that would make even a 28 handicapper cringe! Even if I am playing rubbish I always try to enjoy the walk, the scenery and the company, and to make the best score I can, even if it's 98 instead of 99. I had a round recently where I only scored 8 Stableford points for the front nine and then 22 points for the back nine, without consciously changing anything in my swing. An odd way to score 30 points, but there you go! Are you a quitter, like my friend, or a tryer?

 

[xcore]

I'm a big believer in taking bad shots as a chance to practice recovery/improvised shots and to not let it get into your head. I have acouple of playing partners that will shout and swear, even witnessed afew clubs being launched, which is frankly embarrassing for them and myself.

 

[Mr A]

I used to get mega frustrated when playing badly, not the case any more. That said, I've never walked in or quit! For example if Saturday in our first medal I was 15 over for the first 6 holes (my handicap is 11), but I wouldn't dream of giving up and I ended u playing the last 12 holes in 4 over!

I think the saying 'a bad day at golf is better than a good day at work' sums up my attitude these days.

 

[PJ87]

I have a friend who cant cope with bad shots and goes to pot.. anyone would think he actually was a pro!

played in stapleford comp last week.. been working on my drives so my pro said you may hit some really low and left (basically you will hit a few into the bushes off the tee) because of the changes but expect that

1st tee step up.. sure enough straight into the trees just past the ladies (phew) so reload.. straight down the middle.. then next shot to just shy of the green.. chip on and 1 putt for a 6 ..

saved a point.. but if I had given up after the tee could have been nothing

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Definitely a tryer. Bad front nine, try to beat your score on the back nine. Break it down to good strikes, good holes. Your head can go down, only natural, but I try to get something out of the day. If nothing else play the 18th well.

 

[davemc1]

I'm one of these angry people, wrapped clubs round trees, threw a few etc.. I struggle to handle the inconsistencies if the game. Ive never walked off though (however much pps have wanted me to )

on the plus side of snapping the odd bat, you get a bit of retail therapy replacing it


and don't get me started on them fools who insist on small talk and just chit chat their way through the round like a bunch of arl women...

 

[badgermat]

Alas, if I gave up after a couple of bad shots I'd never finish a game

bm

 

[Imurg]

Never give up but don't be afraid to have a quick rant too..
Everyone deals with a bad shot differently.
Some can just shrug their shoulders and some need to break something - most are somewhere in between.
I'm a believer in venting frustration before the next shot. Have a swear, bang your club on the floor, whatever - get the frustration out and gone before the next shot or you'll still be thinking about it.
Peter Finch was going on about this the other day. Draw an imaginary line a few yards in front of you.
Once you cross that line you forget about the previous shot and focus on the next.
I try to do that, doesn't always work though.....

 

[fundy]

Never give up but don't be afraid to have a quick rant too..
Everyone deals with a bad shot differently.
Some can just shrug their shoulders and some need to break something - most are somewhere in between.
I'm a believer in venting frustration before the next shot. Have a swear, bang your club on the floor, whatever - get the frustration out and gone before the next shot or you'll still be thinking about it.
Peter Finch was going on about this the other day. Draw an imaginary line a few yards in front of you.
Once you cross that line you forget about the previous shot and focus on the next.
I try to do that, doesn't always work though.....

now now Imurg, you cant make sensible posts like that and take the higher ground as the op wants to

 

[chrisd]

If I ever played with a friend who walked off the course when he played badly he'd be finding someone else to play with in future.

 

[Bigfoot]

I think that 7, 7, 2 as a start to my last medal round shows that I don't give up.

 

[Green Bay Hacker]

I must set my expectations too high in comps as a couple of bad holes early on see my head drop and I lose all interest in the round. I have been known on a bad day to continue the round but fail to hole out on the back nine.

 

[Dellboy]

Draw an imaginary line a few yards in front of you.
Once you cross that line you forget about the previous shot and focus on the next.
I try to do that, doesn't always work though.....

Something my pro told me to do 20+ yrs ago, he called it his 10 step rule. If you hit a corker, for the next 10 steps replay it in your mind then forget it, hit a bad shot, then do the same.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

I used to let bad shots affect the rest of the round. Now I am a lot more placid. I try to accept the bad shots for what they are. I still have moments when I have a little rant and swear at myself but I always put it behind me before my next shot.

 

[thesheriff]

I think it's just bad style to lose control of yourself on the course. I've played with many in the last few weeks who have shouted and sworn and even one who bounced his putter off his skull a few times following a lip out. It doesn't affect me as a PP, I just chuckle and think it's not a good look to be doing that in public.

The golfers who deal with the frustration without the histrionics are the one I respect most. Those who you wouldn't be able to tell whether they'd stiffed it or shanked it are the ones I admire.

 

[HampshireHog]

Definitely, one to keep going. Started blob, blob in a comp last month and still managed to return 37 points.

I don't see the point in walking in, golf is the 4 hours a week I look forward to. If any chance of making buffer has gone I can try out some different shots, but why prolong a bad round by stopping trying?

 

[delc]

I think that my friend described in the original post has unrealistic expectations of the game. He started about 3 years ago and initially seemed to be very promising. He quite quickly got his handicap down to about 16 but has been stuck there for a while. A couple of bad shots seems to put him into a state of total depression, even though he hits plenty of good ones. He is a bit of a perfectionist, and even a good shot that is not quite off the middle of the club face seems to upset him. We keep telling him that golf is not a game of perfect, and that even the great Ben Hogan didn't hit every shot perfectly, but this doesn't seem to help. Any suggestions on how to help him get over his problems?

 

[Norrin Radd]

just think how uncrowded the course would be if everyone walked in after hitting a couple of duffs .millionaire golf for us die hards .

 

[Foxholer]

Apart from a couple of notable exceptions - and they have actually explained their 'odd' approach' - I've found attitudes to Golf are a pretty close reflection of an individual's personality!

Seems to me that's why a lot of top level interaction/recruitment seems to be (or at least used to be) done on the Golf course - not just because of the length of time together and privacy.

So quitters and tantrum throwers get 'rejected' pretty quickly!

 

[chrisd]

I think that my friend described in the original post has unrealistic expectations of the game. He started about 3 years ago and initially seemed to be very promising. He quite quickly got his handicap down to about 16 but has been stuck there for a while. A couple of bad shots seems to put him into a state of total depression, even though he hits plenty of good ones. He is a bit of a perfectionist, and even a good shot that is not quite off the middle of the club face seems to upset him. We keep telling him that golf is not a game of perfect, and that even the great Ben Hogan didn't hit every shot perfectly, but this doesn't seem to help. Any suggestions on how to help him get over his problems?

He needs to be told to stop acting like a child and that a game of golf is not "all about him"