In a dark place... getting your confidence back.

[BrizoH71]

Back in March/April, I was playing some good golf.. our comps hadn't fully started yet, and my form in them while nothing great was enough to have me in or around buffer and but for a slice of luck I'd have been on the receiving end of a couple of decent cuts.

Since the competitions started in earnest, in which I've played 9 since May, I've buffered three times and had 0.1 raises in the others, with four on the spin - it'll be five after today. I haven't come close to actually getting a cut; my buffer scores have been scrape-ins.

My golf is awful just now, and not just in competitions.. even in bounce games, I'm utterly honking right now, and I'm not happy with any aspect of my game. I'm slicing drives, falling off irons, thinning chips, missing 3-footers... I never used to be one to dwell on bad shots, but they're eating me up now, and as soon as I've had a bad hole, my mind goes and doesn't come back and I lose any fleeting confidence I may have had before I set out.

I've NR'd the last three comps before reaching the turn because I've thrown in a card-killer.. usually double-digits.

I have a lesson tomorrow with my pro, but I have absolutely no confidence in my game right now, and it's fast becoming a chore now to play rather than what it should be - enjoyable. I'm usually happy and cheery on the course, and I exchange pleasantries with my playing partners, but deep down I'm wishing I were somewhere else rather than hacking my way around a golf course.

I try not to put pressure on myself and just aim to relax, in the hope I'll find some spark to reignite the level of form I know I can play to.. but the spark never comes. I had hopes to get below 20 and had set a target of 15hcap for the season, which now looks remote given the way I'm playing and I don't know what to do. I try not to get hung up on handicap, but it is just more the overall current level of form that I'm displaying just now, rather than my ever-increasing handicap that's bothering me.

How do you get your confidence back when you are going through a slump? Is it a case of playing through it, or should I take a break from competition golf? Or just take a break from golf altogether until I get some sort of hunger for the game back?

If things don't improve in the next few weeks, and I'm not feeling I'm making any progress with my form, part of me will want to chuck the game altogether and I wouldn't want that to happen.

 

[AmandaJR]

I'd back off the comps and stop keeping score. Play for fun with your mates and try to relax out there. Hopefully the pro will sort out the technical faults and give you some confidence for practice/play and improvement. Stick in there - it will turn around.

If your head is full of technical thoughts and negatives, a good read is The Inner Game by Timothy Gallwey which has some useful drills and "back/hit" is my backstop if things really go pear shaped.

Good luck - keep the faith.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Have the lesson tomorrow, retire to the range or practice ground for a few days and work on the changes and then maybe just go out and play some roll up games for fun. I enjoy playing on my own a lot of the time solely so I can work on things on the course and try and find a swing. No keeping score. Hit it, enjoy the views walking to it, hit it and repeat. If you hit a bad one then it's not the end of the world and the worse that'll happen is a lost ball. So what?

 

[williamalex1]

You're not alone Bri, it happens to us all so- chill out slow things down - don't try and take the skin off the ball- don't take on the wonder shot, don't count your score or worry about it , we're all the same mate :thup:

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

You've been in a slump since March?

I've been in a slump since 2010 :ears:

 

[Deleted member 15344]

It's only a game of golf

There should be nothing ever to worry about as our lives aren't riding on it and we don't need it to earn a living

Relax , enjoy and have fun

I call that - ENGT - even newer golf thinking.

 

[williamalex1]

It's only a game of golf

There should be nothing ever to worry about as our lives aren't riding on it and we don't need it to earn a living

Relax , enjoy and have fun

I call that - ENGT - even newer golf thinking.

We'll make a GENT out of you yet.:rofl:

 

[19thagain]

I find, as I play in the same company each week, that a degree of assistance can come from this source.

Stance, hands, ball position, speed of swing and of course, the dreaded sway, can all be remarked on if the higher scoring is impacting on their enjoyment.

This cannot be offered during a comp and it also requires a degree of acceptance of criticism and this is not always easy when the swing is fighting with you.


Just watch that your intensity, under your current pressure, is not creating a barrier for very basic help from your playing partners.

Your pro will sort you out but good playing pals can, if wished, give a push in the right direction and save lots of heart ache.

 

[Richuk123]

It's only a game of golf

There should be nothing ever to worry about as our lives aren't riding on it and we don't need it to earn a living

Relax , enjoy and have fun

I call that - ENGT - even newer golf thinking.

I Have to Echo the above. Relax and have fun.

I had a shocking last 7 holes today, developed out of nowhere a massive pull with the driver and hooking all my irons. me of 11-12 years ago would have been back down the range over analyzing it, but now , i look for positives. For me , it was the fact i played holes 1-11 very solid, some great shots and try to focus on them.

Try and find a good shot you played, it may only be a simple chip you knocked stiff and remember how that felt.

For us mortals on here, it is now only a game, and as much as i would love to get back down to 3-4, win our club champs, i am not going to go home, put some Radiohead on and cry about it, should i have a bad one or two

Lighten your grip, free up some tension, swing smooth. As Moe Norman once said "Slow Down and Feel Your Shots"

 

[BrizoH71]

Just wanted to say thanks to all for their comments, good and bad, useful and useless alike.

I do try to relax, but my current tendency to have a 'mare just makes me uptight, and I feel that it isn't fun.. not least for me, but for those I'm playing with who I'm sure would rather not have me chopping my way around behind them.

However, I had my lesson today with my pro, and thankfully I have no major surgery required... the main points he picked up on were to try to stay a little more behind the ball on the downswing as I have a tendency to move ahead of the ball, and to try to extend the club more through the impact area and down the target line as I have a tendency to pull it inside off the target line through impact.

Having had the lesson and seeing the results, I feel a little better now and hopefully now with a bit of practice I'll start to stoke a few embers of confidence.

 

[williamalex1]

Just wanted to say thanks to all for their comments, good and bad, useful and useless alike.

I do try to relax, but my current tendency to have a 'mare just makes me uptight, and I feel that it isn't fun.. not least for me, but for those I'm playing with who I'm sure would rather not have me chopping my way around behind them.

However, I had my lesson today with my pro, and thankfully I have no major surgery required... the main points he picked up on were to try to stay a little more behind the ball on the downswing as I have a tendency to move ahead of the ball, and to try to extend the club more through the impact area and down the target line as I have a tendency to pull it inside off the target line through impact.

Having had the lesson and seeing the results, I feel a little better now and hopefully now with a bit of practice I'll start to stoke a few embers of confidence.

Glad to hear that , but my game has disappeared now gone to pot, especially my putting

 

[Cymro14]

Me too. Going through a really bad stretch. I've been on 28 since i joined my club 4 years ago. I look on every game competition or just a ramble on my own as a practice session. BTW i usually find i play better on my own, so i'm now trying some personal psychology to isolate myself from others - pretend they're not there if you like and most importantly relax those shoulders. It gets my confidence up.

 

[la_lucha]

I was in the same bad place about a month ago. I got on here with a swing vid and got some great pointers. I then hit the range every night for a week to bed them in. I also spent an hour on the putting green and would you believe it, I'm now playing my best ever golf. Had two or three rounds under par from the yellows and scored 37 points off the whites yesterday.

I was so close to jacking it in back in May/June but I'm so pleased that I didn't now.

 

[ArnoldArmChewer]

I had the same issue's, I spat the dummy and packed it in (April 2014), didnt pick up a club until last week, shot 2 under h/c (admittedly a friendly game) and was very happy with ball striking, now feeling the love again.

You need to row your own boat on this issue.

 

[williamalex1]

I had the same issue's, I spat the dummy and packed it in (April 2014), didnt pick up a club until last week, shot 2 under h/c (admittedly a friendly game) and was very happy with ball striking, now feeling the love again.

You need to row your own boat on this issue.

:thup:

 

[Canary_Yellow]

ArnoldArmChewer is right - you need to do what you need to do in order to start enjoying your spare time again. The fact you're on here suggests to me that giving up isn't the right answer though!! Everyone has a different approach, Homer likes to get stuck in to a lesson and practice is way out of a problem, whereas others prefer to take a break and not think about golf for a few days then just go again, trusting that it was just a one off.

Personally, whenever I have a slump, and it's quite often, first I have a break from thinking about golf, might be a couple of days or perhaps nearly a week, then I just try and go back to basics. I go to the range and I make sure my set up, grip etc is where it should be, then just focus on practicing rhythm, nice relaxed swings with an easy rhythm and focus on nothing other than making good contact with the ball, forgetting about distance.

Normally, this starts me off in a good direction and things only slip again if I start trying to hit it too hard or start thinking about technique.

If this doesn't work and I'm doing something fundamentally wrong but I have no idea what, then I have a lesson.

One thing is for sure though, the slump will come to an end and you will play some great golf again before long, everyone goes through what you're talking about, even professionals have periods when they don't hit it as well as they feel they should be. I thought the advice above about playing with mates and not worrying about the score was excellent - whenever it's just me and my regular playing partner we always play matchplay and never keep score - it's so much more relaxed and enjoyable.

 

[dontfancythisputt]

Been in a similar situation myself this year with 9 x 0.1 added and until this weekend no buffer for 7 comps.

Very frustrating as I was playing well before the slump with only the short game letting me down and I now have a short game but the long game swing has been missing.

I think its good advice to practice on the range as much as you can and avoid the comps if they are really getting to you.

I had a few weeks off comps, just range work and gradually it started to come back. A few lessons and a nudge from the coach on here and I'm now starting to see some consistency again.

I started to get my head back in gear once I stopped wanting every shot to be perfect and to just be happy with nothing horrendous. I seem to score far better this way.