How to avoid frustration during a round?

[RicYork]

I just remember how much I love playing this game, and how much fun it is to me. If I allow my self to get frustrated then it's not fun and there's no reason to be out there. So move on and enjoy myself.........

 

[Drumdog]

I get a bit frustrated sometimes and even angry with myself.
When that happens, I step back from the ball, take a real deep breath and then think about the last really good shot I made.
That calms me down and helps quite a bit.

 

[Badger_Golfer]

I could put 10 balls into a pond. Then I would get home and get a kiss from my daughter. Guess what, those 10 balls didn't mean a damned thing.

Bingo! Compared to some of the other problems in the world, hitting a few bad golf shots is pretty insignifigant.

 

[Perkins Rooster]

I've spent an entire round humming the theme song to Dora the Explorer. I played pretty well.

 

[Perkins Rooster]

Its amazing how relative this game is no matter what handicap we are, hence the thread about wether or not we can ever truely be content and/or satisfied. But my suggestion to the OP would be this and i hope it would help. Think about just how good you are to have a 6 cap. Most golfers, including myself can only dream of that. What you consider a collapsed round is probably what most could never even reach.

During that "collapsed round" considering your cap (relatively speaking) your probably still making more shots, more often then what most others can make at all. Some of your "frustrating" mishits are probably shots that many others might say "hey thats not bad"

I'm not saying you should never feel or shouldnt have the right to feel frustrated but mearly suggesting that if you think about how fortunate it is to be as good as you are vs most golfers who ever play this game and look at it in that light, then perhaps it will help to ease that frustration just enough so it doesnt stay with you for long at all while playing after couple bad(relatively speaking) shots.

I know what you're saying, and I thought the same thing years ago, but it just doesn't work for me...

 

[Scrap Iron]

The biggest factor for me is playing with people who are fun and enjoy the game and can dish some trash talk and take some When my partners and I can laugh at ourselves and each other it takes out all frustration.

 

[David Bloomer]

The biggest factor for me is playing with people who are fun and enjoy the game and can dish some trash talk and take some When my partners and I can laugh at ourselves and each other it takes out all frustration.

This is how I am too. Whenever I hit a bad shot if I get supportive talk from the others I keep fuming, however if they trash talk about how bad my shot was we joke around and I normally forget quickly.

 

[rollin]

I know what you're saying, and I thought the same thing years ago, but it just doesn't work for me...

yea I guess just human nature. I dont even know if that would work for me if i ever played at that level because i dont but sounded like a good suggestion.lol

The biggest factor for me is playing with people who are fun and enjoy the game and can dish some trash talk and take some When my partners and I can laugh at ourselves and each other it takes out all frustration.

This is true, i always enjoy a fun round, havin couple, few laughs or so, at myself and others who dont mind and being friendly even when with strangers. It does and certainly can take frustration level down quite a bit.

 

[Philly Golf Guy]

As someone who struggles with frustration and is pretty hard on themselves, I usually calm down by remembering that good golf is never (or rarely) played well when you're in that zone. If I get upset after a bad shot, I usually keep that thought in my head and try to focus on the next shot.

If I keep playing poorly, I start thinking about my bad score, how all that time I spend on practicing, etc. means nothing, how embarassing it is to be playing this badly and things can snow ball. At that point, I usually stop caring and inevitably play better or check out completely and take solace in the few good shots I end up hitting. That's why I'm interested in the Pro Mental Coach program, as it appears it help with focus, so maybe check that out as well.

 

[Smallville]

Only way I know is to not play! There is always a little frustration in every round I play.

 

[wadesworld]

Only way I know is to not play! There is always a little frustration in every round I play.

But then if you're like me, you're frustrated it's a beautiful day and you're not out on the course.

 

[dhjkelly]

Put the last hole behind you and go to the next hole with a smile on your face

 

[rangeballs]

A bad day on the golf course is better than a good day at work

 

[d_in_la]

I don't think you should avoid frustration. That's like trying to avoid the sun setting. I used to have major on-course frustration, it would snowball into self-focused rage. Somewhere along the way I recognized that the difference between golf and lots of other sports is that you have time to let your frustration settle. And boil. And fester. So as long as I am aware of it, stay prescient to my mood, the awareness helps me break out of the downturn pretty quickly.

That and I seriously started taking myself a whole lot less seriously.

 

[Acmike]

I recently read "The Unstoppable Golfer" by Bob Rotella. I used his info to set up up precise pre-shot routines for all phases of my game, this has given me more focus on the next shot allowing me to forget what I can no longer control (the previous shot). Since implementing this into my game I have cut down on back to back bad holes, also in a little over 60 days I have dropped my handicap by almost 3 full shots (11.4 to 8.6). Life is good...at the moment.

 

[Gus R]

I am someone who gets upset when I am playing well and suddenly a really bad shot comes into play. As another poster said, I swear under my breath perhaps hit the club on the ground then take a few seconds to recover. Then it is on to the next shot. I read somewhere that you are likely to hit more bad shots that really good shots in any given round and the best you can do after a bad shot is hit the next shot as well as you can. If you let it get to you it will ruin everything you have done up til them.

 

[Smallville]

 

[RKhan]

After the going through the responses I analyzed my frustation again and have come to following conclusions:

1. Am not at ease generally before entering the golf course. (Variety of reasons)
2. Afraid of the round as I knew I had many weaknessess in my swing and not knowing how to face them (Not confident of my swing.)
3. Not knowing what was happening with my swing when I hit a bad shot. (I had no clue whether ball will go left, right or centre)
4. Expecting higher performance than my potential. (Also partners expected more)
5. Playing in matchplay mode all the time i.e. playing do or die shots all the time
6. Trying to impress partners with long hitting rather than scoring
7. Trying to play shots and experiment during the round rather than focus on scoring
8. Blaming the caddy for my mistakes.
9. The round was lost even before the start of the first shot.
10. Scared of short game especially putting. Getting nevrous around the green and losing strokes. This would increase frustation level.

After putting in lot of effort I have overcome some of the items

1. I now know why I hit a poor shot. So have greater control over my emotions.
2. Still not overcome the putting yips and thus getting frustrated arorund the greens. I need to overcome this deficiency in order to have a more positive attitude.
3. Still palying in matchplay mode.

It is more enjoyable when you know what you have to do.

The main thing which is helping me is knowing what I am doing wrong during the round and how it can be corrected at the next shot.
I need to improve my putting so that I have a positive attitude when around the green.

 

[Canes]

If I see my round going south, I'll order a beer or two. Makes me relax and enjoy being out on the course. You gotta have fun out there. It's just a game for us amateurs and we will not have our best swing every round.

 

[fastbasser]

Way too funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! On a serious note, I used Bob Rotella's Cd's and saw improvement of the mental aspect and scoring of my game. With that being said, I have had a hard time coming back from surgery and blew up at myself on the course last time out on the 18th hole.. Can you say embarrassing....

Just gotta keep working I guess.......

 

[BBrattina]

man, I used to be an angry golfer...I know...sounds crazy. But I have learned this same thing...at the end of the day, its just a score. It can always be improved upon.

I get frustrated and usually call myself an idiot or something not so nice. Then I forget about it and try again. No advice I can really give you as to how to let things go. You just have to make the conscious effort to tell yourself to move on.

I am in the same boat. I laugh at myself quite often on the course, the only time I actually get frustrated would be the 18th tee if I still can't dial the driver in. Then I take out an extra ball and give it one last shot before I head to the 19th hole

 

[Certifi_able]

A bad day on the golf course is better than a good day at work

Amen brother!

Take a step back and remind yourself why you are "playing" golf

 

[v.man]

If I see my round going south, I'll order a beer or two. Makes me relax and enjoy being out on the course. You gotta have fun out there. It's just a game for us amateurs and we will not have our best swing every round.

Finally, someone in this thread is making sense! :laugh: There's nothing like a couple of Lite beers my Miller to change one's mood. I also keep the fixin's for Bloody Marys in my bag at all times for these occasions.

 

[giedz]

this is gonna sound cheesy but you just have to remind yourself it's just a game & nobody does exactly what they want EVERY single shot. go to your happy place. every time I hit a bad shot, I look at pictures of my son on my phone during the cart ride to the ball & it instantly makes me smile

 

[Attempo]

You can avoid frustration by realizing it's a self-defeating attitude. After a bad shot I believe it's OK to vent some frustration, I often do it by slamming the clubhead into the turf and muttering something unintelligible. Then I replay the shot in my head, analyzing what I did wrong as I put the club back in the bag; then I try my hardest to forget what just happened and look to the upcoming shot. Really, though, I think it is very important to accept the fact that frustration is self-defeating if you let it linger, and it doesn't help the other guys in your group either if you are a sourpuss for the rest of the round.