Is this down to poor golf, bad luck, a weak mind or anything else.

[Vikingman]

At the moment I'm probably playing the best golf I've ever played, with the exception of usually 4 holes.

The holes are nearly always consecutive, though not the same holes and its destroying me at the moment.

It just needs something to trigger it.

A couple of weeks ago it was a tee shot going marginally oob.

The other day it was a tee shot reaching a stream that I was told I had little chance of reaching.

Today I turned one over that would have been ok on any other hole.

From this point it then seems that any slight mistake gets punished mercilessly.

Be it virtually unplayable bunker lies, trees or bushes, ponds whatever.

A seven is usually the best I escape with and the damage these holes are doing to my score is soul destroying.

Does this happen to anyone else and has anyone any tips because if I can sort this I reckon I can really get my handicap heading in the right direction.

 

[anotherdouble]

It's just the golfing gods conspiring against you. I am also one of those people that has his fair share of bad Khama on the course. Forget it and keep smiling

 

[HawkeyeMS]

At the moment I'm probably playing the best golf I've ever played, with the exception of usually 4 holes.

The holes are nearly always consecutive, though not the same holes and its destroying me at the moment.

It just needs something to trigger it.

A couple of weeks ago it was a tee shot going marginally oob.

The other day it was a tee shot reaching a stream that I was told I had little chance of reaching.

Today I turned one over that would have been ok on any other hole.

From this point it then seems that any slight mistake gets punished mercilessly.

Be it virtually unplayable bunker lies, trees or bushes, ponds whatever.

A seven is usually the best I escape with and the damage these holes are doing to my score is soul destroying.

Does this happen to anyone else and has anyone any tips because if I can sort this I reckon I can really get my handicap heading in the right direction.

It's down to poor golf, a weak mind and bad luck

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Have the same feeling.. of sorts. Feel like I am playing some good golf and striking it well but can't make a scored. The poor shots get punished with a bad lie, putts aren't dropping when I play good recoveries and I am still making bad swings at the wrong time. If only I could get it to click for 18 holes

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Its down to us being amateur golfers

 

[Junior]

Ive no doubt you can get your handicap down !!

A tip that I use , that was given to me by a pro at our club , is that when your in trouble, just try to not to make worse than bogey. Pitch out or lay up to within a short iron distance as opposed to try a miracle shot with a wood or long iron.

You hit the ball well at Frodsham mate, i reckon you got a cracking score in you this season!!

 

[backwoodsman]

My thought tend towards "weakmindishness". A bad shot triggering something in the head. It's happened to me often enough. Difficult to know quite what it is that sends you the wrong way for a while, nor what gets you back on track a few shots (holes?) later. But I've tried hard to not let things affect me recently, and to have a positive mind-set - which seems to work. Started today with a blob. But thought - ah well, can get one of those points back on next hole. Which I then blobbed. Until recently that would have been a game wrecker. But recently have taken to thinking "thats only four three pointers to get them back". Ended up with 35 points today - including one more blob. Not long ago, a similar start would have ended in 26 or 27 points. But deliberately thinking positively has helped enormously in recent times.

 

[rosecott]

It's down to poor golf, a weak mind and bad luck[/QUOTE

And don't forget "anything else".

 

[muttleee]

A couple of weeks ago it was a tee shot going marginally oob.

For some reason, the phrase 'marginally oob' made me giggle.

 

[ger147]

At the moment I'm probably playing the best golf I've ever played, with the exception of usually 4 holes.

The holes are nearly always consecutive, though not the same holes and its destroying me at the moment.

It just needs something to trigger it.

A couple of weeks ago it was a tee shot going marginally oob.

The other day it was a tee shot reaching a stream that I was told I had little chance of reaching.

Today I turned one over that would have been ok on any other hole.

From this point it then seems that any slight mistake gets punished mercilessly.

Be it virtually unplayable bunker lies, trees or bushes, ponds whatever.

A seven is usually the best I escape with and the damage these holes are doing to my score is soul destroying.

Does this happen to anyone else and has anyone any tips because if I can sort this I reckon I can really get my handicap heading in the right direction.

Pick a number, for argument's sake let's call it 6.

What the 6 means is you are allowed to play 6 absolutely horrible shots without worrying about it or getting upset. And I don't mean just a poorish shot or a not 100% perfect shot, I mean a VERY bad shot which is going to cost you quite a few shots on the hole you're playing at the time e.g. a 10 yard shank from the middle of the fairway, lost ball off the tee etc.

I'm sure many folk will disagree and say it's a bad idea to go out expecting to hit bad shots but different things work for different people but nothing stopping you giving it a try and see if it helps.

 

[muttleee]

Even the great Walter Hagen allowed himself 7 bad shots per round (although to be fair, he probably didn't expect many 10 yard shanks from the middle of the fairway): http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-instruction/2010-01/tom_watson_shake_bad_shots

 

[Robobum]

Its down to us being amateur golfers

If only more would factor this in

 

[mcbroon]

It's golf - happens to everyone.

The way to overcome it is to work your short game until it's razor-sharp. You WILL continue to get bad lies and bad bounces, so being able to make par or bogey from poor positions will stop you bleeding too many shots.

And then, when you have days when the ball striking is good and you don't get unlucky, your short game will be the thing that turns bogeys into pars and pars into birdies.

Easy game, this

 

[CMAC]

If only more would factor this in

[video=youtube_share;RpKRfwQbYC8]http://youtu.be/RpKRfwQbYC8[/video]

 

[chrisd]

Its down to us being amateur golfers

That's it Phil .............. shatter our illusions!

 

[Birchy]

I sometimes do the same. When you do something bad whether it be crap or unlucky you chase. Chasing leads to more trouble which leads to more chasing.

When you have a nightmare hole just try and consolidate on the next hole. Get it out of your mind that the crap that has gone needs to be made up for.

As soon as I start chasing I may as well throw my clubs in a pond. Bit like I did at Frodsham lol

 

[CMAC]

At the moment I'm probably playing the best golf I've ever played, with the exception of usually 4 holes.

The holes are nearly always consecutive, though not the same holes and its destroying me at the moment.

It just needs something to trigger it.

A couple of weeks ago it was a tee shot going marginally oob.

The other day it was a tee shot reaching a stream that I was told I had little chance of reaching.

Today I turned one over that would have been ok on any other hole.

From this point it then seems that any slight mistake gets punished mercilessly.

Be it virtually unplayable bunker lies, trees or bushes, ponds whatever.

A seven is usually the best I escape with and the damage these holes are doing to my score is soul destroying.

Does this happen to anyone else and has anyone any tips because if I can sort this I reckon I can really get my handicap heading in the right direction.

best advice I heard was directly from the touring pro's themselves who state [paraphrase] 'never follow a bad shot with another bad shot..'

in other words no heroic "i'll hook this around that tree from this bad lie in the rough" etc just accept it was a bad shot and play the safest shot out of trouble. :thup:

 

[Deleted member 15344]

That's it Phil .............. shatter our illusions!

Sorry

I just think sometimes if people took the game less seriously and just enjoyed it and look at it as a relaxing time then their scores could come tumbling down

 

[Jack_bfc]

I'm looking forward to seeing how my game holds under pressure. whether its matchplay or club comp...

At the moment I can get over bad shots/holes quickly and recover well. Be good to see what happens with a card in my hand.

Starting my matchplay forum meet against a 6 HC er at Delamere should concentrate the mind a bit...

 

[Foxholer]

Sorry

I just think sometimes if people took the game less seriously and just enjoyed it and look at it as a relaxing time then their scores could come tumbling down

I agree. However, the tension of Strokeplay/Medal is actually something that can be quite enjoyable as well!

At one old club, the pattern of a bad competition round was - Win the Medal; Beat my handicap; save the handicap; make a 2; Play the last 3 holes in 6 points; Birdie the last. There was always something to strive for, so was never a complete washout.

Btw. There was a time when my good rounds would suddenly spring 3 consecutive bad holes om me. No idea why, nor really how I overcame it, but it went away eventually. That doesn't really help does it!