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The tale of two 9s

Tadashi70

Tadashi70

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As I read through THP this afternoon I am struck by the fact that everyone's front nine was worse than their back or visa versa. I wonder what clicks in us all that either makes us shoot better on the back after all went worng on the front. Or even worse when you have it on the front and lose it on the back. What happens, it's the same course, same player.

Today I shot 41 on the front and 35 on the back. The front was into the wind or cross wind on every hole and the back was cross or down wind. My attitude remained steady and my swing never really changed. My putter got hot although i didnt roll it bad on the front. my 56* wedge failed almost every time I swung it. I can't put my finger on one thing but a 6 shot swing in my book is huge. What do the rest of you think? What happens for you?
 
I did not play today but historically I play better on the back than the front. Maybe it is because I have fully warmed up or more relaxed after 6 or 7 holes.
 
This would be my assessment of those situations, when you start playing poorly sometimes you just 'let go' and get out of your own way as mentioned by Bob Rotella and I think it works the other way as well. You start playing well and then you are trying to hit perfect shots and it doesn't work that way.
 
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I think for me, I was pressing too hard hoping to have a good round. Only took about 5 holes before that was out the window, so I was able to relax.
 
White Rhino said:
I did not play today but historically I play better on the back than the front. Maybe it is because I have fully warmed up or more relaxed after 6 or 7 holes.
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This describes me to a T, unless it's just one of those days where nothing has gone right. I think I get into the groove after a few holes and I usually play better on the back as well.
 
For me, it can be focus...I gain or lose my focus for some reason.
 
motoo344 said:
This would be my assessment of those situations, when you start playing poorly sometimes you just 'let go' and get out of your own way as mentioned Bob Rotella and I think it works the other way as well. You start playing well and then you are trying to hit perfect shots and it doesn't work that way.
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Yep you took the words right out of my mouth.
 
That's my game most of the time , great front and terrible back or vise versa. If i could fix it i would but it happens alot. One thing I think when i have a good front side when making the turn i try to hard and hit shots I know i shouldn't hit , I believe this is my problem , If i just play the same on the front as the back without any heroics i do fine . Today I shot 40-40 PERFECT for me . When making the turn today I forced my self on #10 to not hit a shot I know i couldn't hit (fade around a tree) and took the extra stroke with a punch out to the fairway and it probably saved me 2 strokes .If I can continue to try and not be the hero, I think i can straighten some wacked scores out .

Great topic Freddie !
 
I think if I started out playing bad on the front nine I just say what the heck, and play more relaxed on the back. When I'm relaxed the swing works on all cylinders. If I shoot a really good round on the front, I tend to press a bit trying to maybe over do it instead of just playing one hole at a time.
 
I wish I had a good answer for this question. It would save me a lot of strokes.
 
Jersey Nate said:
This describes me to a T, unless it's just one of those days where nothing has gone right. I think I get into the groove after a few holes and I usually play better on the back as well.
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Then we need to get a round in sometime...make that 1 1/2 rounds...first 9 holes don't count...lol
 
On my home course the back 9 except for 10 & 18 are in a river bottom and hidden from the wind, therefore I usually score better on the back.....on those rare rounds when I score well on the front and the back goes to hell it usually because I get too aggressive on the back.
 
motoo344 said:
This would be my assessment of those situations, when you start playing poorly sometimes you just 'let go' and get out of your own way as mentioned Bob Rotella and I think it works the other way as well. You start playing well and then you are trying to hit perfect shots and it doesn't work that way.
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That is a great assessment Motoo
 
My back 9 is always way better than the front. But I chalk that up to the front at my home course being WAY harder than the back.
 
I know that if I don't hit 25-50 balls on the range and practice putting for 10-15 minutes prior to a round my front 9 will suffer. I typically play much better on the closing 9 and I attribute that to a) being warmed up, and b) knowing by the 10th hole what is working that day and what isn't.
 
I fall into this category a lot. I hate it. I just want to shoot consistent all the time. I don't care if it is 45 - 45, it just means then I have a problem and I can work on that part of my game at a later time and correct the mistake. But like you said Freddie a 6 shot swing is huge and there is nothing you different on the front compared to the back. Usually my goal is to just go out there and play as consistently as possible, whether it be a great score or a bad one atleast you can asses the round a little better to know what you did right and wrong. Good topic though!
 
I'm all over the place on this. Friday I had 36/43. Today I had 48/40. Different conditions, different courses. Wish it was easy to figure our why it happens that way. Almost have to just say "that's golf" and let it go.

On those days when we do get it all together and have both nines low, we set or challenge our PB's.

Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using Tapatalk 2
 
Normally if I set out pressing to much to go low (for me) then the front nine may end up being the higher of the two. And if I make the turn with a good number then I may start pressing for an overall low round. But, when I just focus on a single shot at a time, then I typically shoot my better rounds. I think it has more to do with focusing on the right thing, rather than getting ahead of myself.
 
I think I'm generally pretty steady. If I have a worse 9 it will generally be because of a blow up hole
 
I normally have a good, for me, back 9 but today it took me 12-13 rounds to get it together.
I played today with some good golfers & not wanting to look like an idiot, I pressed too hard. I finally just said to heck with it & relaxed. I somehow started playing a lot better, not good mind you, but better.
 
Mine really comes down to whether or not I hit more GIRs on either 9. As it gets later in the year and I don't play as much my short game is the first to go, so it gets tougher for me to get up and down from beside the green. If I hit more GIRs on the front or back my score will definitely show it on that 9
 
1. Warm up
2. Lack of focus on the first few holes
3. For some first tee jitters
4. Comfortable with the green's
5. Relaxing with new playing partners

That's my take on it.
 
for me i dont think its really about 9's. Thats just the way we happen to break up our game. Kinda like if golf were hypothetically broken up into 3 parts of 6 holes. then we'd be comparing 6's instead of 9's. I think it more of a hole to hole thing. At least I know for me it sure is anywhere on any part of a course where the inconsistancy can pop up regardless of which 9. I am much higher cap than the OP but reletive to each persons game the question can have the same answers.

heres what I mean by hole to hole. This can be laughed at but it is what it is. Just yeaterday morn I shot 91. +13 on front and +6 on back. One may say I struggled on front which I sort of did but here is why I say hole to hole and not 9 to 9. My front went like this..= (#1 quad), (#2 par), (#3 tripple), (#4 par), (#5 bog), (#6 par), (#7 tripple), (#8 par), (#9 double). Now that is just inconsistancy and nothing to do with 9's as a whole. Just my .02
 
I think for me, it just takes a while to get comfy and find a rhythm if I can't do it on the range.
 
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