Frustrating day

[TwoSolitudes]

Worst round of my life yesterday. 123. That's right, 123.

My putting was great, just over 2 puts average for the whole game, I was even in contention for the longest put made in the whole group (of 40).

Chipping and short game was decent. Inside 120 yards I either hit the green or dropped right on the fringe almost every time. Had a couple of beautiful shots to 'save' a 7 on a few par 4,s.

But off the tee and the long second shots just killed me. Couldn't get the driver over 150 yards all day. Only hit one fairway (barely). Lost 7 balls off the tee. My second shots were usually from deep rough, behind a tree, and one just rolled up to the ladies tee or 'three off the tee'. It was taking me the full par just to get to the green on most holes. I needed to make the hole in two puts just to save double bogey. Carded two 10's and a 12 during the round.

The sad thing is that my driver used to be the strongest part of the game. I could always hit them down the middle nearly 200 and get myself set up for a bogey. I was breaking 100 pretty much every time last year- but I look like a total beginner now.

I am taking lessons and rebuilding my swing trying to get more use from my irons and some length. I hit the irons much much better (though still shorter than I would like). But the new iron swing has totally destroyed my old driver and wood swings. I feel lost out there.

The pro says I need to me patient. That that the irons swing needs to come first and the woods will follow. He also says I am now way too tense when using a driver, if I can just relax and treat it like my 9 iron swing I will see a huge improvement.

Still frustrating though. Hard to have any confidence....... sigh. I have to just keep remembering last year. I CAN break 100 and I have done it MANY times. It will come again... right?

 

[thedue]

Hang in there buddy, sometimes you have to hit rock bottom to see big results. Hard work and patience will get it done.

 

[tgtt]

Try teeing off with a 5 iron for awhile.

 

[Hackin' Lefty]

The best advice that I could give you would be to not let it get to you. I know that it's frustrating but it is golf and this is a frustrating game. If you get to the tee box and you keep telling yourself that you won't do whatever it is you are trying to do then you won't. A positive attitude has such a huge effect on this game. Listen to your instructor and try not to tense up. As you have said, you know you can do it. Just keep at it.

 

[hartattack52]

The best advice that I could give you would be to not let it get to you. I know that it's frustrating but it is golf and this is a frustrating game. If you get to the tee box and you keep telling yourself that you won't do whatever it is you are trying to do then you won't. A positive attitude has such a huge effect on this game. Listen to your instructor and try not to tense up. As you have said, you know you can do it. Just keep at it.

Good advice. Staying loose is very important IMO. When I am struggling, I slow my entire swing down. It helps my tempo and gets my swing back together. It also helps when I am not striking the ball correctly. It might help you.

 

[blaise2089]

Try teeing off with a 5 iron for awhile.

Not to discredit you any tgtt nor do I mean any harm by this. Although this strategy may work short term and get you in the fairway, it possibly (stressed here) could mess you up long term with the driver. First hand experience, when I first started playing I used a hybrid and occasionally 3 wood off the tee only. I ended up getting used to this style of play and never pulling a driver at all and went from being bad with it to being horrible. What I had to do was work twice as hard to get my driver usable, but am glad I did so much work as my driver is one of my best clubs.

 

[Griff]

It'll come back to you. Step one is to check your grip. If I am going low or high I can put a death grip on the club.

When things are really bad have been known to hit only irons for the day. 2 iron shots and a wedge will cover most of the golf holes out there for me less the really long par 5s. Pretty much guaranteed to be on in 3. Imagine your good putting day with being on in 2-3 day all day? 175 down the middle with an iron is a great way to start a hole. If that doesn't work, let the wheels come off and enjoy a beer or 6.

 

[tgtt]

Not to discredit you any tgtt nor do I mean any harm by this. Although this strategy may work short term and get you in the fairway, it possibly (stressed here) could mess you up long term with the driver. First hand experience, when I first started playing I used a hybrid and occasionally 3 wood off the tee only. I ended up getting used to this style of play and never pulling a driver at all and went from being bad with it to being horrible. What I had to do was work twice as hard to get my driver usable, but am glad I did so much work as my driver is one of my best clubs.

During a round the driver is hit a max of 14 times; ergo, working things out means at the range. He is admittedly trying to play bogey golf, the driver is only going 150, and he hits his irons better. I still say, during a round, play the irons off the tee until the range shows significant improvement with his driver.

 

[Smallville]

Ouch, that hurts. You'll get the driver back.

That said, that's at least 14 shots better than my worst score (Shot 137 in my first high school tournament - - - yeah, we had a bad team!)

 

[Thechosen1]

Sorry to hear man but even pros have those days. Kevin Na comes to mind quickly haha

 

[Griff]

Ouch, that hurts. You'll get the driver back.

That said, that's at least 14 shots better than my worst score (Shot 137 in my first high school tournament - - - yeah, we had a bad team!)

You'd have been our 4th with those scores! We had one scratch and the rest of us barely broke 100. The scratch I still play with and I have NEVER beat that SOB even when I go low. Shot 73 with him many years back and he goes off and shoots 69. Grrrr.

Stay with it TwoSolitudes. I admire you for keeping score to that number. That is a testament to your attitude and I have every confidence you'll be back in double digits in no time.

 

[Smallville]

You'd have been our 4th with those scores! We had one scratch and the rest of us barely broke 100. The scratch I still play with and I have NEVER beat that SOB even when I go low. Shot 73 with him many years back and he goes off and shoots 69. Grrrr.

Stay with it TwoSolitudes. I admire you for keeping score to that number. That is a testament to your attitude and I have every confidence you'll be back in double digits in no time.

I think our golf team is better now. Actually our first 4 guys all shot in the 80s, then me, then a guy who shot 147. We were last and next to last for the whole tournament! hahaha

My next tournament I shot 121, then I shot 105-115 the rest, when I made tournaments, only the first 4 guys lettered Varsity; between the rest of us, none of us got into enough tournaments.

 

[TwoSolitudes]

Cheers guys.

Just to make it worse (or better) I went to the simulator at lunch today and cracked off 10, 200 yard shots in a row right down the middle. I can feel the difference. I am definitely tensing up waaaaaaaay to much on the tee. How to relax? Maybe some self-hypnosis tapes or something?

 

[mdbuschsr]

I'd say continue to work on the irons and allow the driver to come around 'by itself'. It will obviously take some work, but don't over think it. Throughout my lessons, my iron play has gotten better only at the detriment of my driver, & FW. Get your irons to a happy place and then have your teacher take a look at the driver swing.

 

[White Rhino]

Cheers guys.

Just to make it worse (or better) I went to the simulator at lunch today and cracked off 10, 200 yard shots in a row right down the middle. I can feel the difference. I am definitely tensing up waaaaaaaay to much on the tee. How to relax? Maybe some self-hypnosis tapes or something?

I did ( and still do ) the same thing. I now take a big deep breath and exhale before I swing. It sounds silly but it actually works for me. I was also holding the club way too tight, I loosen that as well. Hope this helps.

 

[Condorll]

Cheers guys.

Just to make it worse (or better) I went to the simulator at lunch today and cracked off 10, 200 yard shots in a row right down the middle. I can feel the difference. I am definitely tensing up waaaaaaaay to much on the tee. How to relax? Maybe some self-hypnosis tapes or something?

Beer works

 

[JohnEB]

Cheers guys.

Just to make it worse (or better) I went to the simulator at lunch today and cracked off 10, 200 yard shots in a row right down the middle. I can feel the difference. I am definitely tensing up waaaaaaaay to much on the tee. How to relax? Maybe some self-hypnosis tapes or something?

I had a similar problem with tee shots on the course two years ago. What I decided to do was focus entirely on making a fundamentally good swing, and (this is the important part!) not care if I only hit the ball 150 yards. Just made a good shoulder turn, keep my left wrist flat, and start the downswing with the hips, don't cast (which I tend to do when I'm trying to kill it). Again, I wasn't just "telling" myself 150yards was okay, I really would be okay with that.

This focus on form, not result, really helped -- being more relaxed ended up with most of the shots being nice, straight -- and quite often 200 yards (or more). It's amazing what a less tense swing can do. But again, you have to "take what you get" for a while, and just concentrate on form. I hope this might help.

 

[Ole Gray]

I played bad yesterday and when I lose it my problem is almost always tempo now. If I get too quick with my hips the ball is a big push right, too quick with the hands and pull hook. Something to help you make solid contact is count a slow one on the take away and two at ball contact. Some people use 1, 2, 3 count but find your personal rhythm. Remember this thought and your control and solid contact will come back. You don't hit the ball on the back swing so nice smooth take away and then accelerate down, through, and around your body. Good tempo is so critical for solid ball striking.

 

[Tadashi70]

Nothing worse than not having a day that you can't figure out on the course. We have all been there and done that. The good news is that it can't get any worse.


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[Wongstongs]

I have had days like this before! Sometimes I find it helps to just take a few days off and forget about golf for a little bit. That way when you come back later in the week you are excited to get out there and play again!

Whenever I went to the range right after a bad round or the next day after a bad round, I found I was in a bad state of mind and didn't focus on what I was actually doing wrong. In the end it probably just made me more frustrated than taking a quick break.

 

[oiler3535]

Keep at it, and it'll get better. It's a weird and frustrating game at times, but it always (for me anyway) seems to go in cycles. I spent a month shooting 76-79, and in the past 5 rounds I haven't broken 85 b/c I haven't hit more than 1 or 2 fairways per game! I agree with Wongstongs to take a few days off, and then go back in a totally non-competitive way (I like going at an odd time and playing by myself or some green feers I don't know). My key to getting it back is usually to have only 1 swing thought, and that is to have a slow and deliberate takeaway. Good luck! I know I've got my work cut out for me too, unfortunately I couldn't take any time away b/c my club championships were this weekend. Sucked badly too. Hit the ball better today, except off the tee.