Great front 9, wheels feel off after 10.

[stevelev]

Started the day today feeling very optimistic,

I had a lesson on Monday, spent 1/2 hour a day practising my putting. Today arrived 45 minutes before tee time, for a loosen up and practise. Off the first tee, right down the middle not miles but nice and straight. Bogeyed 1st, Par'd 2nd, par'd 3rd, Par'd 4th, this went on till 9th, scored 24 on front.

Tee'd off for 10th, right down the middle, good distance, Duffed a pitch, double bogey, double bogey 11th, bogey 12th, bogey 13th, 4 over 14th, double bogey 15th, bogey 16th, bogey 17th, bogey 18th.

Was gutted to only finish with 37 points, blobbed 3 holes. I feel the swing was there, but the focus went after 8th hole, does anyone else start to flag midway, and is there anything I can do to lessen the chance of this happening. I take plenty to eat and drink so I know its not that, I do get distracted easily by playing partners, and they don't always understand that I want complete silence for the 15 seconds it take me to line up and hit my shot.

Tips welcome, but I must say I was really pleased I played so well for the front 9, I can see my hc coming down next year

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Do you eat and drink regularly as you play. By eat I mean sensibly like bananas, fruit or nuts and not chocolate. Do you drink water or a lot of sugary drinks. It might be you are dehydrated or you a suffering sugar spikes which has a huge impact on concentration.

I tend not to worry about my partners and just focus on the shot. If they are really becoming a distraction then tell them to shut up. Do you switch off between shots or are you thinking all the time. You need to smell the roses and only focus in short bursts

 

[stevelev]

I take a few pieces of fruit, cereal bars, bag of nuts and raisins, a drink of sugar free cordial (1.5 litres minimum). I aim to eat every 3rd hole, and drink every hole a few sips.

I try to think about anything other than playing between shots usually just general chatter or sing songs to myself ( I can't whistle.)

I only think about my shot as I approach my ball, thinking of a target then look at my lie to see what I need to do to get it to my target, or if the lie is no good, look at other options.

BTW the tempo is coming along nicely, when I remember to make a practise swing a say my matra lol

 

[rosecott]

I take a few pieces of fruit, cereal bars, bag of nuts and raisins, a drink of sugar free cordial (1.5 litres minimum). I aim to eat every 3rd hole, and drink every hole a few sips.
I try to think about anything other than playing between shots usually just general chatter or sing songs to myself ( I can't whistle.)

To summarise then:

If you're not eating and drinking, you're chattering and singing -and would be whistling if you only knew how - and then you demand total silence when it's your turn to play, Hmm.

Sorry - feeling a bit grumpy as had to pull out of a comp today as woke up with loads of lower back pain and am due to go to the Algarve next Sunday.

 

[StrangelyBrown]

Do you eat and drink regularly as you play. By eat I mean sensibly like bananas, fruit or nuts and not chocolate. Do you drink water or a lot of sugary drinks. It might be you are dehydrated or you a suffering sugar spikes which has a huge impact on concentration.

I think this happened to me on Saturday. I forgot to bring my granola bar with me and as I was putting out on the 16th it felt like someone had flicked a switch. I was about 3 under 5s at that point and took 17 strokes to play the last two holes.

 

[Liverbirdie]

Do you carry, push/pull a tro;;ey or have a leccy one?

I wont get into the benefits arguments, but one fella said to me that it can make a 30% difference in amount of energy expended. Just a fella on a course, so can't say if it's valid or not, but I dont tend to suffer tirdeness much since going to an eleccy trolley, puff that I am.

I recently carried around Pitreavie and St. Andrews old and hit 6 under my h/cap and 4 under respectively, so what do I know.

 

[Matty]

I'm reading between the lines here so forgive me if I'm barking up the wrong tree.

It seems from your description that it all went wrong after a duffed chip. Was this event what caused you to lose focus? Were you dwelling on the error or did you switch off as you had already decided that this single error was going to ruin your card (despite the previous 9 good holes).

If this is true then you need to find a way of shutting out the errors and moving on. There will always be bad shots in the game of golf, but once they've happened you can't change them. You can only influence the next stroke. Play your normal game, don't try to chase the game and 'get the shot back' as that creates unnecessary pressure. But also realise that one bad shot does not a bad round make - UNLESS you let it influence all subsequent shots.

 

[stevelev]

I'm reading between the lines here so forgive me if I'm barking up the wrong tree.

It seems from your description that it all went wrong after a duffed chip. Was this event what caused you to lose focus? Were you dwelling on the error or did you switch off as you had already decided that this single error was going to ruin your card (despite the previous 9 good holes).

If this is true then you need to find a way of shutting out the errors and moving on. There will always be bad shots in the game of golf, but once they've happened you can't change them. You can only influence the next stroke. Play your normal game, don't try to chase the game and 'get the shot back' as that creates unnecessary pressure. But also realise that one bad shot does not a bad round make - UNLESS you let it influence all subsequent shots.

No it was after my tee shot on the 11th it spiralled, it came right of the heel about 15 hards behind my left shoulder, but was feeling more difficult to focus, may have been just tired, was looking for idea on how to turn focus on/off really

 

[Matty]

I was up the wrong tree then!!

You are quite right though, it's impossible to concentrate on golf for an entire round. You need to switch off between shot or change focus to something else. Then focus purely on golf when it's shot time.

I find chatting about any topic other than my own golf is good - the pros, state of the course, football, weather etc etc.