Im Either great or crap!! Why?

[SteveJay]

I can relate to this thread.

My initial handicap was 14, after a couple of goodish cards submitted in roll ups over last winter (preferred lies and yellow tees). Thought that was at least a couple shots lower than it should be, but was chuffed with the outcome.

Now, off whites, I am struggling - not really badly, but a poor shot here and there costs me and I blob a few holes. Had a torrid front 9 yesterday in a roll up, scoring 6 pts. Recovered on the back 9 and scored 18. Scored 34 and 35 at another course a few weeks ago which I had never played before and so know I can play close to that handicap.

I am hoping its mental, but the whites seem to have a spell on me even though some holes are only a few yards longer. Similarly to the OP, any advice would be welcome as likewise I am nervous over entering competitions for fear of my handicap going up and up!

 

[10cclo]

I used to be hopeless dealing with nerves when it came to competitions and bad shots, they would f88k me up for the rest of the round and once I lost interest, that was it, I would putt with one hand or take 3 seconds to hit a drive, the interest has left the building!

Nowadays, I'm a very different proposition, I think I've pretty much got the mental side under a modicum of control, yes, of course, no matter how much amazing self-control we have, bad shots happen and always will, even to the best players in the world (Ernie Els, putting marathon!)

What I struggle to get my head around though is no matter how calm I feel standing over a shot and still go though my pre-shot routines, I can still have a blow up big style. Theres at least one of those ****as per round and in my "calm" mind Im just waiting for that to happen .....

I tried asking fellow players in a comp if we could play a matchplay but still mark a normal comp card in the process, that is a fantastic way of taking your mind off the man vs course, the problem is not too many people will agree to it feeling it will compromise their game, when in actual fact it could probably help a lot.

So still looking, still searching and even after yesterdays overall disaster I celebrated a fantastic 2 over par front 9 on a difficult course in windy conditions and relegated the back to the learning centre. Im enjoying the journey and will continue to do so

 

[the_coach]

I can relate to this thread.

My initial handicap was 14, after a couple of goodish cards submitted in roll ups over last winter (preferred lies and yellow tees). Thought that was at least a couple shots lower than it should be, but was chuffed with the outcome.

Now, off whites, I am struggling - not really badly, but a poor shot here and there costs me and I blob a few holes. Had a torrid front 9 yesterday in a roll up, scoring 6 pts. Recovered on the back 9 and scored 18. Scored 34 and 35 at another course a few weeks ago which I had never played before and so know I can play close to that handicap.

I am hoping its mental, but the whites seem to have a spell on me even though some holes are only a few yards longer. Similarly to the OP, any advice would be welcome as likewise I am nervous over entering competitions for fear of my handicap going up and up!

speaking as someone who has worked through the game to the point am at now have found that this stuff is pretty crucial to consider in looking to improve the game & score

only real ways to improve the game is by biting the bullet & entering the comps
- but to get anywhere cannot approach them from the get-go by being concerned in anyways over what happens to the index
- neither by thinking about the results outcome before or during play - do any of this & that's a surefire ways to have the wheels come off

it's real important to work through a process, a psr & identifying the particular target for a shot & the smaller more definitive you can identify the target (from a few steps behind the ball) the better the brain copes with organizing the information to produce a decent swing
work to be able to do that along with visualizing the flight to that target
all this 'process' engages the thinking process in an ordered ways so thoughts are kept to a positive task so the negative imagination is kept out

develop a decent process that is always repeated (doesn't have to take a bunch of time) then a couple of deeper breaths & pull the trigger to that 'image' in the brain of 'target'
the 'box' behind the ball that line to target/visualization is the thinking area soon as target locked in step over the line to begin set-up at ball the mind gets occupied by the process of setting up to the target - club face first then alignments stance & posture - because this has been repeated over n'over set-up is kinda automatic

would also point you to the advice in post #40

 

[SteveJay]

Cheers coach......am sure I will work through this. Have played other sports to a far higher standard so it shouldn't really affect me!!!

 

[10cclo]

omg another day, another nightmare midweek competition, heres the lowdown on each stableford hole before I canned it and walked off.
1. par, 2. par, 3. birdie, 4. par, 5. par, 6. par, 7. par, 8. No score 9. No score. 10. No Score 11. scrambled 1 point, 12. No Score , then Back to the car and home

In my mind was complete negativity just waiting for the blow up which inevitably came, any bad shot was a shrug of the shoulders and an " ah well not unexpected" thought

This is getting to the point where I really dont want to play competitions now for this fear and expectation and to say Im not enjoying golf at the minute is the understatement of the year.

Really dont know what to do about this at all

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Sorry to hear it's still a struggle but is walking off the answer? I know we only do it for enjoyment and so if it's going badly it can be hard to keep going, but walk off in a comp once and will it make it easier to throw the towel in again and again each time you have a run of bad holes? I did walk of myself not so long ago in a social game (Sunday roll up) but would always stick it out in a comp and use the opportunity to find something positive, even it that's trying a different club off the tee, trying a different pre-shot routine or seeing if I could get the short game working to some degree

If it's getting to the point of not wanting to play in comps there is clearly a huge issue and it's either time for a break from competitive golf or to sit down with your pro or golfing mates and finding a way to change your mindset and get back to having fun. I hope you can get it sorted soon though

 

[10cclo]

Thanks Homer, my thoughts exactly. Ive cancelled the 2 comps this weekend and am gonna have a break for a couple of weeks. Walking off is normally not me but I felt that my heart wasnt in the game, wasnt enjoying it and had nothing more to bring at that moment.
The frustrating part about the last 2 comps is that I set off like a greyhound out of the traps, everything worked, great scoring, comfortable, then Boooom!! Bad hole, head goes down, start losing interest, cant get it back, downward spiral.....
Ive dug out Golf is not a game of perfect again and gonna have a good read through again.

 

[10cclo]

Hi All Just thought I would report back at the end of the season with an update. Since I started this thread back in May, ive been chipping away (geddit!) at getting rid of the bad shots, lots more practice especially on short game has paid dividends. Im now down to 5.6 and pretty much all aspects of the game especially on the mental side seem to have calmed down a lot. I no longer have the tragedy shots or if I do I can usually mitigate the damage. My bad holes are usually no worse than a bogie and usually with only a missed putt. So all good and as our resident pro has said, work it out through practice, wise words!