How do you avoid getting ahead of yourself...

AndrewG

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I'm sure this has happened to all of us, but this weekend, I was playing like a pro - 7 GIR's in the first 9 holes (but 2 weak 3 putts left me only two under my handicap sadly), I could have been 3 or 4 under my handicap for 9 holes easily. It was a dream round.

Of course, I mentally recognised that I was playing well, and started thinking about what my score COULD be at the end of the round, and in fact, I remember making the comment to my playing partners that my GIR was right up there. Big mistake.

I ended up shooting 9 over my handicap for the last 9 holes...

Is there a technique that we can use to train ourselves to not start thinking more than one shot into the future? Or is it just a matter of just trying not to?
 
Great question, the mental side of the game can always be a tough hurdle. Many golfers and athletes have heard the phrase, "Stay in the moment." What this means is to focus on your next shot and what you can control. All you can do is make a good swing on your next shot, too often I hear students say "I need to par the next two holes." This gets you focused on the outcome not the process. If you hit a good shot, followed by another good shot then your score will reflect that.

As far as a technique to train yourself for this there is nothing that can substitute experience. That is why you so often hear professionals talking about I have been practicing this moment in my head for years. This doesn't even require you to hit a shot for practice. You can think about the situation and put yourself there in your mind. Experience all the details from weather to the course to how it feels to hit the shots. Your mind won't distinguish between being there mentally and being there physically, if you can go through this exercise. That way when you get there physically, you mind believes it has already done it.

So next time you are practicing on the range, but yourself in that back nine situation where you know you are playing well. As well as doing the mental practice away from the course too.

As a last note, I would encourage you not to count up your score, GIR, putts, etc during the round. Count these up later, or better yet ask a friend to keep your stats and you keep theirs. This way all you are trying to do is hit good golf shots.

Hope this helps!


Josh Miller
PGA Certified Professional
GolfTEC - Golden, CO
 
I really like this answer Josh, great stuff here.
 
or better yet ask a friend to keep your stats and you keep theirs. This way all you are trying to do is hit good golf shots.

Love this and am going to absolutely try this next time out. Thanks Josh!
 
Many thanks Josh - glad to hear the pro's have the same problem :) I think this is what makes golf such a tough game - 95% if a round of golf is spent walking around thinking - to try and keep your mind off the next shot, the next hole, the back nine, or your final score is so hard...
 
i've had the same issue's throughout the season.i'd be level par through 12 holes or so and then fall apart after thinking about the end result too much.

i've tried all the different methods of playing

2 x 9
3 x 6 and 6 x 3 and it doesn't work for me.the problem i have this is i'm always aware of my score and even more so because of the playing 6 lots of 3 holes etc.

what i did try was just the simple play each shot as they come and concentrate fully on thsat shot.thinking about the yardage you have,the wind direction and what club you will need to get there etc.i found this helped.
 
Good stuff Josh, it never fails I'll say at some point in my round that I'm going to be 3 under from this point on. I end up not achieving that goal and loose focus. Trying to stay in the moment on the golf course can be difficult.
 
I tally shots on the scorecard but don't add them all up until after the last hole, I don't want to know exactly what I am doing, I play better if I don't know.
 
Great advice! I used your suggestion of having someone else track the score and ended up shooting par from the 8th hole on to the 18th where I shot a bogey after I snuck a peek at my score!

Tappin..
 
ugh, i experienced the negative effects of this when i was in scotland the other month. I was very aware of my score when i stepped onto the 16th tee box with 65 strokes played, and looking at a par 4/3/4 ahead of me. My lowest round ever is a 79, and i got way too caught up in trying to beat that score. Needless to say, i lost focus on my swing and finished double bogey, double bogey, bogey for the most painful 81 of my life.
 
I don't like to think about the rest of my round, just the hole I'm on. I used to get really pysched out when I played well then didn't all in the same round, but I found an awesome mental coach to help me with that. My father. He doesn't play alot of golf, but he is very logical and common sense oriented, and the best thing he has told me out of everything is to a.) From the tee, play the hole backwards so you know where you wanna be and b.) focus only on the shot you are hitting. Don't worry about what to do if it goes in a bunker or over the green, just "focus on putting this one on your target."

So basically what I'm saying here is just focus on here and now. Try to repeat what you are doing right and if you don't do it for one shot then don't get discouraged because no one is perfect.

Sorry if that was totally off topic, lol :eek:fftopic:
 
I think a good pre-shot routine really helps in this. If you have a routine that you repeat every single time you make a shot, it goes a long ways in bringing your focus to the task at hand. I find that if I mentally check out from the big picture and only focus on the extreme "now", I can stay on course. Just like a swing tweak or time on the range, the mental aspect needs to be trained and the more time you spend on it, the better you will get.

As soon as you say, "if I can just..." or "all I need is...", you're screwed.
 
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