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I Love Golf, But Don't Always Enjoy It

Golf has a alternate name and it is called yoyo. Everybody who plays golf has a yoyo in their game and it's a permanent part of the game. Get use to your yoyo and hopefully yours will be more up than than down.
 
TC said:
I love golf and I always enjoy it. I think we take too many things for granted sometimes. The thought of not having clubs or not being able to play makes me enjoy every round or practice session.

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I've never played golf with you but Ole Gray says you are SUPER to play with because you are always so encouraging to your play partners and so much fun. I sincerely believe your attitude is why you play so well. We could learn from you!!!!
 
When I first started playing (2 years ago) I would get pretty frustrated on the course and a bad shot or hole would stick with me through an entire round, perhaps even the entire day. But now, the most a bad shot or hole will stick with me is just that hole, and sometimes just that shot. I try to forget about the mistakes and remember that I could turn my score around anytime if I just stay focused and enjoy myself.

I can definitely identify with cj3ap2's thought of trying to enjoy "the grind of a struggling round" because that stuff just happens and if you stay positive and work through it, good things will happen later on.

I love golf and try my best to enjoy every minute of it.
 
I don't enjoy bad rounds but I am always willing to play another 9.
 
KellyBo said:
I've never played golf with you but Ole Gray says you are SUPER to play with because you are always so encouraging to your play partners and so much fun. I sincerely believe your attitude is why you play so well. We could learn from you!!!!
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Thanks for the compliment KB! Perhaps we should fix the bolded part for the Thursday round at PGA National?
 
I can be totally stressed out in life, and a round of golf allows me to relax. If I haven't had that great a day on the links, a good finish at 18 will always bring my back. Even a single good/great shot keeps me hooked and coming back.
 
TC said:
Thanks for the compliment KB! Perhaps we should fix the bolded part for the Thursday round at PGA National?
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I would be honored!
 
SKIM:

I agree with those thoughts about love vs enjoy but I subscribe to the theory:

A bad day golfing is better than a good day working.
 
I've had more bad scores than I care to remember, but I almost always have a great time on the course. The only thing that gets me down is really slow play. The cool thing about golf is that I remember my good shots, but rarely remember the bad ones.
 
Hawk said:
I've had more bad scores than I care to remember, but I almost always have a great time on the course. The only thing that gets me down is really slow play. The cool thing about golf is that I remember my good shots, but rarely remember the bad ones.
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Jack Nicklaus was the same way. :)
 
Only my Socttish ancestors could have come up with a game so addictive and painful at the the same time. But the frustration is why we love it some much. It makes the sweet rounds, holes and shots all that much sweeter and memorable.
 
I'm usually the opposite. I'm a good ball-striker yet wildly inconsistent in the short game. My example? Before the past couple of weeks, I couldn't remember the last round I'd had WITHOUT a three-putt. Thankfully, changes I've made seem to be working and my 3-putts have diminished greatly.

I'd gotten very mechanical in my short game, too many items on the mental check-list. Feel and imagination diminished. Yet if you give me 185 into a pin tucked left with wind blowing to the right, the creative juices start flowing. I'm not saying that I can pull the shot off all or even most of the time but I don't get in my own way, either. I'm committed, loose, and ready to go for it.

For the past five rounds, I've been determined to use the same instinct, feel and mental approach toward my short game as I do with my full-swing.

...So my rambling rant made longer. Maybe you're very much the feel player with your short game yet have become very mechanical with your full swing? If so, I personally don't see how varying approaches can work for the same golfer. Like our swing tempos usually match our personalies, I believe that a feel player needs to be a feel player in every facet of the game. In working so hard on your swing, it may have only made you that much more results oriented and led you to stray from a strength, instinct and feel. None of us can control where the ball goes exactly, but we can control our thought patterns and free ourselves up to concentrate more upon strategy rather than results.

I saw a Playing with the Pros episode on TGC... forget the pro. But he said when he finds his swing going south, he'll let his mind wander to other things. His kids, nature around him, whatever. He said more often that not, once he allows his mind to take a break from fixating so much upon results, he tends to relax and the swing comes back. The lesson being, in golf sometimes the more you want something, the less chance you have of getting it.

I've used this very idea when my swing is off and so far, everytime, it's worked in helping it to come back.

But at the end of the day, it's flaws in your swing that are causing your bad results. Absolutely, you should seek out a pro for lessons. But first, I think you need to identify what your comfort zone or personality is on the course. Your strength. If you're a technical, analytical type of person then sure, concentrating on mechanics should benefit you. But if you're a person who enjoys the best results with your short game based upon feel, then you need to incorportate that into your full swing. Maybe find a teacher that will adapt to his students rather than one who would rigidly adhere to a particular philosophy.

As for me, I love the game. It's challenges, successes and yes, even failures. I get frustrated and disappointed but never truly upset. Golf is an escape from the things in life which stress me. I'll be damned if I'd ever allow it entry to that list.

Sorry to run on, best of luck!
 
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I love the game. I love practice. I love hitting the ball. There are times when I just do not focus enough energy on making sure that I am doing the things that I need to do to succeed. That is when I really get angry with myself. I don't throw clubs or yell and scream on the course but I will really get disappointed in myself. I have not found a good formula for playing in the cold for one thing as I am getting older and I just don't turn as freely no matter what I do. This has been a very cold spring here in NeW England as I am sure Sean will agree. The wind has really been howling as well knocking down an entire fence at my neighbors house the other day.

I have had some some very good days and some pretty bad days. I am beginning to wonder if I should just resign myself to only being able to accomplish so much in the cold as I now am worried that I get myself too screwed up over what is wrong with my ball striking when the truth is I am just too old to play that well in the cold. Often I will start a round in the cold hitting the ball decently but the longer I am out there the more I stiffen up and the worse my swing gets.

I do have to find a way to deal with this and I think I will just have to resign myself to enjoying the game as much as I can on the cold days without expecting too much of myself.
 
I used to feel that way and it led to me leaving the game for about 5 years. Now, I am just grateful for any opportunity that I have to get out and it makes my rounds much more enjoyable. I would much rather shoot in the 70s than the 80s, but in the end there are very few things I would rather be doing.
 
I have that happen on holes, but I'm really trying to concentrate on leaving a bad hole behind me.

At the end of the day, no matter how bad the round was that day, I'm still thankful I got to go out and play golf. That's why I keep coming back.
 
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