What do you do when your game falls apart?

[rudebhoy]

Played absolutely awful this morning. Driving completely gone to pot, and shanking just about every wedge shot. The only club which worked for me was the hybrid.

Said to my partner on the 6th that I was going to pack in after 9 if it didn't get any better. Then played 7, 8 and 9 well so carried on. Sure enough, come the 10th, it was back to being awful and continued that way until the end.

The really annoying thing is I have been playing consistently well (by my standards) for the last month or so, scoring in the 30s most rounds. Then today I played like someone who had never seen a golf club in his life. The harder I tried, the worse it got. One of the nicest days of the year, and I hated every single minute of it.

Confidence is at an all time low, playing Monday and Tuesday and dreading it.

Has this happened to you and if so, how did you get back from the abyss?

 

[Shooter McPowick]

Last weekend was dire, I couldn’t do anything right, 13 points on the front 9 but from the turn to 13th it was like I’d completely forgotten how to golf. Playing partners were similar and we decided to call it a day. First time I’ve walked in since I was a kid and only then it was due to lack of light most likely

I was going to do a bit of practice on Wednesday but went out with a couple of chaps, no warm up nothing and shot a blinding front 9 of +2 gross, back 9 wasn’t wonderful (our 10-18 difficult by comparison to 1-9) but shot 84 and was well chuffed!

cue another dire round this weekend but I hope not!!!

 

[Coffey]

This happens to me every so often. Feels like everything is going against you as well, when you hit a good shot you get a terrible lie or something similar.

For me, I try and put it behind me. Make the next shot a good one and focus on one shot at a time. If the card is gone then I try and play the next few holes in X over par or whatever. Try and take something good from the day. I played a stroke comp recently, was playing really well in the rounds before and felt like I could shoot low. Before I knew it after 4 holes I was 9 over par and thought the card was gone. Tried to calm down, relax and take each shot at a time. Managed a 2 over par back 9 for 16 over total (only 1 over my handicap). What I took from this round was that nothing is ever over and you can pull it back.

I also normally find the issue is something small like setup or grip. Before each shot make sure they are correct as it could be your grip is slightly out. Some days you just have a bad day. It is how you pick yourself up from that which makes a difference. Get out and practice to get some confidence back.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Not happened for a while mate but I have been there in the past. For me, deep breath, go back to basics. It will be different for each person but go back to a lesson that you have had previously and think what were the two main points. Nothing more, those two points. Carry that out, shorten the swing and swing slowly. I found that the worse I played the faster and bigger the swing became. I needed to reverse that for starters.

If that means 7 iron off the tee for a couple of holes then do it. Anything where you go back to getting a good connection. Once you hit a few good shots then move up the bag.

What is your trigger will be different but that is what I did and it would tend to right the ship.

I'm sure you will sort it.

 

[Imurg]

Bad rounds happen. One bad round doesn't make you a bad player.
2 consecutive bad ones can happen
3 bad ones and there's something going wrong...

The main thing is to remember that this is a game. None of us rely on golf to pay the bills, it's something we do for fun.
Yes it's annoying as hell when you play badly but the sun will come up tomorrow, there will be more beer to drink..

 

[User 99]

I tend to stay away from the game for a period then when you go back you have no swing thoughts.

 

[NorwichBanana]

BLAME THE COURSE

 

[thesheriff]

When I used to play really bad I remember trying to:

1) Enjoy being out in the fresh air
2) Look at the flowers and the birds
3) Remember its only a game
4) Enjoy the company of my PPs

Now I skip all that nonsense and proceed to despatching the offending clubs into the nearest gorse bush and vow never to return to the god forsaken place.

 

[ademac]

If my game is poor in general then I try and just take a week or two out and forget about golf for a bit, it is only a game after all and I soon realise that I am just lucky to be able to play the game at all.
If however my game takes an unexpected turn for the worse mid round, I always take an extra club for each shot and try to slow the swing down and not knock the cover off the ball.
Seems to do the job for me.

 

[ADB]

Sounds like you need lots of new clubs, that always works.

 

[Marshy77]

Happens all the time but only for a couple of holes. I never seem to have a full 9 bad holes, unfortunately a mate of mine does and he can't seem to break it if it happens. If it's within the group of 3 of us then we'll try give an opinion of how each other is swinging - over swinging, too fast, too far/close to the ball etc. We are all high handicappers so it's just a basic visual view rather anything technical.

Sometimes you have to laugh at yourself to get yourself back on track, once you start over thinking I think that's when it starts to go wrong, well for me it does. Just start at the basics and try keep scoring even if it is hitting the most reliable clubs in your bag and go from there.

 

[Cherry13]

Not happened for a while mate but I have been there in the past. For me, deep breath, go back to basics. It will be different for each person but go back to a lesson that you have had previously and think what were the two main points. Nothing more, those two points. Carry that out, shorten the swing and swing slowly. I found that the worse I played the faster and bigger the swing became. I needed to reverse that for starters.

If that means 7 iron off the tee for a couple of holes then do it. Anything where you go back to getting a good connection. Once you hit a few good shots then move up the bag.

What is your trigger will be different but that is what I did and it would tend to right the ship.

I'm sure you will sort it.

This for me, and its something i discuss regular when getting lessons. My go to thought changes depending on what is going wrong, but in the main its two thoughts. Swing as far right as possible, and feel all the weight on the inside of my right foot.... these are obviously extremes, but tend to get me back swinging ok. The other thing i’ve Learnt is when to ditch the driver off the tee.

 

[Crow]

I've been playing like this for a few years now, occasionally scrape into the 30s Stableford but usually less.

I've just got used to it now and treat it as the norm, played 9 holes yesterday and scored 51 gross, 8 Stableford points.
Had 3 or 4 shanks and a few scabby drives and couple of duffed chips, typical of my golf these days.

One thing I wouldn't advise is to start changing things mid round to try and self correct, check that you're doing the fundamentals right but nothing more.

If it continues for a few weeks I still wouldn't recommend changing things unless you're certain where the fault lies, instead I'd suggest going to see a Pro.

I've tried the self analysis route and I think that's where half my troubles stem from, my swing is never the same from one round to the next.....

 

[patricks148]

Thats golf for you, no matter what your handicap is you will play poorly now and again.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Thats golf for you, no matter what your handicap is you will play poorly now and again.

Amen to that.

When I was going through my recent rounds to see what my handicap would be under the new rules, if they were in place now, and my last 20 rounds varied between level par and 16 over par.

 

[jim8flog]

Think to myself

" I am glad that I'm not doing this to earn a living"

 

[Carpfather1]

That’s golf for you ,solider on through the bad and treat the next round as a fresh one .

 

[williamalex1]

Live in hope, but sadly the bad rounds are happening more as i get older and stiffer.

 

[Hobbit]

Mid round, I just accept that my timing is out on the day. If it runs to several rounds; a visit to the practice ground and just hit 3/4 7 irons, concentrating on contact through the ball. Once I'm hitting good, consistent 3/4 shots I slowly ramp up the speed and start swapping to longer clubs. Never fails me.

 

[srixon 1]

Bad rounds happen. One bad round doesn't make you a bad player.
2 consecutive bad ones can happen
3 bad ones and there's something going wrong...

The main thing is to remember that this is a game. None of us rely on golf to pay the bills, it's something we do for fun.
Yes it's annoying as hell when you play badly but the sun will come up tomorrow, there will be more beer to drink..

Is the correct answer.