How does it go so wrong !!

[Jaco]

Played a couple of times last weekend and it felt great. Hit 45 (par 35) on my regular 9 hole course and was annoyed that I’d left 5 bad shots out there. Some poor 3 putts and a couple of fat iron shots. My day to break the magical 40 wasn’t there yet but it was around the corner. Maybe another 6 months.
Managed to take a flyer from work yesterday and rushed to the course to catch the light. It was pretty windy but I was really looking forward to it. And then it fell apart. Spectacularly. It was like I’d gone back 10 years. I seemed to have forgotten how to do everything. Drives going left, irons going nowhere, divots you could hide a body in.
Frustrating doesn’t come close.
I’ve got a lesson Wednesday, I’m hoping that helps.

 

[patricks148]

Played a couple of times last weekend and it felt great. Hit 45 (par 35) on my regular 9 hole course and was annoyed that I’d left 5 bad shots out there. Some poor 3 putts and a couple of fat iron shots. My day to break the magical 40 wasn’t there yet but it was around the corner. Maybe another 6 months.
Managed to take a flyer from work yesterday and rushed to the course to catch the light. It was pretty windy but I was really looking forward to it. And then it fell apart. Spectacularly. It was like I’d gone back 10 years. I seemed to have forgotten how to do everything. Drives going left, irons going nowhere, divots you could hide a body in.
Frustrating doesn’t come close.
I’ve got a lesson Wednesday, I’m hoping that helps.

its called Golf, even the best in the world struggle. you see it all the time in the pro game. course record one day, over par the next.

 

[User101]

Greatest game in the world, nobody has mastered it yet.

 

[Maninblack4612]

First thing is to start talking like a golfer. You don't "hit" 45 you either "shot" 45, to use an Americanism, "scored" 45 or "took" 45. Do this & it will help your game & your mates will think you're a proper golfer.

 

[Captainron]

Ja boet. My consistency is my biggest issue. Just don't play enough to actually get grooved. It is just the way it is and that is why we go back and try again time after time

 

[Imurg]

Never forget that this is a game of fractions...
When you look at how far the clubhead move from address to contact, your face a couple of degrees one way or the other, your swing path a couple of degrees one way or another, your point of contact a fraction of an inch one way or the other and you've gone from a beautiful soaring baby draw to a vicious slice via a chunk.....
It's amazing we manage to get the ball somewhere near where we want to when you think about it.
Some days it's "on", some days it isn't...

 

[Hobbit]

It happens exactly the same to the pro's. One day they'll shoot 65, and the next day its a 75. Don't beat yourself up, it is what the game is.

 

[Jaco]

Ja boet. My consistency is my biggest issue. Just don't play enough to actually get grooved. It is just the way it is and that is why we go back and try again time after time

Yes I agree with that. I play a good round, then life gets in the way. Be nice to get to the course five times a week, but I’ve seen friends who run small businesses let the game take over and it rarely ends well financially.

 

[inc0gnito]

How long have you been playing?

ive been playing <1 year and I’ve had my fair share of those days. Usually a day or two later, or the next round, I’ll realise what I was doing wrong last time. It takes a long time to not only learn good technique, but to be consistent with it, so that bad days don’t turn out to be terrible days.

 

[Dasit]

Tiny things make a massive difference


Maybe your swing is off my 1 degree, over a few hundred yards is the difference between being on the green or in the water.

Some days your swings be a few degrees out, maybe you didn't stretch, rushing the transition, wearing more layers etc

 

[the_coach]

Played a couple of times last weekend and it felt great. Hit 45 (par 35) on my regular 9 hole course and was annoyed that I’d left 5 bad shots out there. Some poor 3 putts and a couple of fat iron shots. My day to break the magical 40 wasn’t there yet but it was around the corner. Maybe another 6 months.
Managed to take a flyer from work yesterday and rushed to the course to catch the light. It was pretty windy but I was really looking forward to it. And then it fell apart. Spectacularly. It was like I’d gone back 10 years. I seemed to have forgotten how to do everything. Drives going left, irons going nowhere, divots you could hide a body in.
Frustrating doesn’t come close.
I’ve got a lesson Wednesday, I’m hoping that helps.

difficult game for sure - towards improvement folks still have to have an objective assessment of their current overall skill levels

how folks feel & manage the emotional responses both to their expectations to how they 'might be' about to perform both before starting out & then importantly how folks react & manage these emotional responses in relation to the shot results during play are hugely important to the outcome

 

[HomerJSimpson]

It happens. I've regularly had a good round on a Saturday and gone out the next day expecting more of the same and played poorly. As handicap golfers consistency is a problem. Similarly I can go to the range and hit it well and rock up the next day with no idea what I'm doing and shank half the bucket. Forget it and try to have a better day next time. If the issues in the game remain, and show no signs of going it may be time to get a pro to give you a once over

 

[Sweep]

Maybe there is a clue in your own description?
“Played a couple of times last WEEKEND” - Played well and scored well
” Took a flyer from work, rushed to the course” . “ It was windy” - played and scored badly.
Turning up in a relaxed state of mind, ready to play in good conditions and with no expectations other than to just enjoy the experience will always help.
Dashing from work, hurrying to the tee full of expectations that you may break your best score in poor conditions usually won’t work.
Targets are great but my advice would be to not make them the “be all and end all”. It’s something that a lot of relatively new golfers do when they first start to see some really positive results and that’s fine, except it leads to a lot of frustration in what is already a frustrating game.
I once went to a mind coaching session and the coach said something that really reasonated with me. He said that when you step on to the first tee you are effectively doing a deal with the game of golf. Your part of the deal is you will accept what happens to the ball, accept the bad bounces along with the good and take in your stride all those shots that inexplicably don’t go as intended. You have to do this because even the greatest golfers who ever lived can’t control those things. By accepting them as your part of the deal will make the game easier and more enjoyable which will lead to a calmer state of mind and therefore more success.
It sounds to me like you are really hitting the ball well and seeing some positive results and you are naturally keen to beat your best. My advice would be to just let it happen. Let it come to you. Enjoy your golf. Play as much as is reasonable and lap it up. Don’t ever think you have the game worked out because you never will. Your PB’s will be beaten without you hardly realising.
It sounds like you are in for a great season ahead. Enjoy!

 

[Capella]

Welcome to my world No, actually, just welcome to the wonderful world of golf. Every time when you think: "now I've got it", it turns around and kicks you in the shins. The sooner you accept that, the less it hurts. (No, just kidding. It still hurts. Every time.)

 

[bobmac]

I always try and teach self analysis, that way you don't hit the same bad shot twice in a row.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Welcome to my world No, actually, just welcome to the wonderful world of golf. Every time when you think: "now I've got it", it turns around and kicks you in the shins. The sooner you accept that, the less it hurts. (No, just kidding. It still hurts. Every time.)

Maybe I need to be custom fitted for shin pads. Hit a few balls tonight after my minor set up tweaks at the weekend and much better but I'm not getting too excited until I count my score on Saturday.

 

[USER1999]

I always try and teach self analysis, that way you don't hit the same bad shot twice in a row.

Bob, you clearly dont have a shank. Twice in a row is easy peasy. 5 times, now we are talking.

 

[ScienceBoy]

I remember almost walking away once, game was so bad.

Weeks later I was almost on the honours board twice, missed out by one point and one shot on consecutive weekends and took 1.5 shots ohh handicap.

 

[need_my_wedge]

It's the vagaries of the game we play. As has been mentioned above, there are a lot of moving parts, a milimetre difference in any one of them at impact will change the result and magnify the outcome, especially if there are multiple changes - there always will be because we are not automated metal robots that only move in the same programmed way.

It can be a horrible game at times, get cut 6 shots in two weeks, then struggle to score more than 26 points for a whole year and drop two shots back. It gets so bad that it would be easier to jack it in, but if you love the game, just keep persevering, learn to accept the bad, yes, I know how difficult that is. Stop trying to compete and just enjoy the game, things will start to get better again.