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Mental Midgets

Lynchburg14

Lynchburg14

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My biggest problem in golf is that I have mental midgets in my mind. I have to stop letting one bad hole lead to another then to a bad nine and into a bad round. Anyone else have these problems? I think I just expect to much of myself sometimes. Played today and was 45 on the front with 14 putts. I was pleased. Went on the back and blew up two holes in and got pissed and the midgets took over. And of course I get to 18, second shot into green side bunker. I get out to within 10ft and drain the put for par. Golf is so mean!
 
Yep, unfortunatly anything double bogey or worse and I let myself go. I basically give up and don't even try as hard anymore. I feel that just one can ruin a round.
 
"Yep, unfortunatly anything double bogey or worse and I let myself go. I basically give up and don't even try as hard anymore. I feel that just one can ruin a round."

That sounds just like me but I can take a double but when I get a trip or worse I lose it.
 
One bad hole in a good (or even average) round doesn't bother me that much. It's when I start going DOUBLE, DOUBLE, BOGEY, DOUBLE that I lose it. I also can't play with my dad. He gets so @!#% lucky I can't stand it. Last year he skulled a wedge over a creek, off a fence, and back to about 5 feet of the hole. I was (angry?) he got that lucky I hit my next shot, which should have been a 100 yard 56* 30 yards short into said creek and doubled. That's ok though, because that day I ended up shooting 84 and he 99
 
I also seem to love to miss putts in the 3-7 foot range. Basically the putts I should make every time...........
 
Hmmmmmm I thought Pelly was talking about Bama :confused2:? (just kidding bro) But yes back to back doubles can pop the air right out of your ballon and the only way that sucker is going is down. Only the ones that can forget the bad holes and maintain their focus will survive.
 
As you can see by my handicap I have more than my share of bad holes, and I too am very concerned about trying too hard. Even started a thread about it. A wise man once said, golf is 18 little games played one after the other. I wish I could think more along that line.
Two weeks ago Jason Day duffed his tee shot 110 yards on a par 4, hit driver off the deck on his second shot and also drained a long putt. He was able to shake off his first bad shot and par the hole. Until we reach that kind of mental attitude we had better stay weekend golfers and just enjoy the good rounds we do have.
I am trying to relax more and enjoy the good shots I do make. In a nut shell I think when we "try too hard" we are actually beating ourselves up much more than we need to.
I'm sure that doesn't help, but it helped me to write it!
 
After every shot, think about something that makes you happy, something that makes you smile. Focus on something else between shots.
 
thepete said:
After every shot, think about something that makes you happy, something that makes you smile. Focus on something else between shots.
Click to expand...

I will try and go to my Happy Place. I just hope Shooter doesn't show up. :D
 
I'm really used to hitting bad shots. It doesn't seem to affect me much any more.
 
I think this is partly what makes golf so great, the mental aspect. I read a book by Bob "Doc" Rotella called The Golfer's Mind and it's all about taking the game one shot at a time. I think it helped me.

As a former hockey goalie, mental recovery is huge for me. I love the challenge of it!
 
I have found the golf is 90% mental....

The other 10% is in your head.
 
I can have similar problems when something goes wrong. My larger problem though is that I am constantly overly optimistic going into a round and then even an average day disappoints me and starts the downward spiral. What I mean is that I spend the whole week thinking about what went wrong last weekend and what fixes I can implement to correct it this weekend. I get so jazzed up by the possibility that my corrections will magically turn me into a scratch golfer :desire: that when I go out and hit a tee shot with the same miss as last weekend or bogey the par 4 first when I was 80 yards out after my drive I get so disappointed :disapointed: that I would almost call me depressed making the rest of the round a lot less fun and therefore a worse score than it could have been.
 
i once made a 17 on a par 4 in a tourny. ...17!!!!!! one seven!!!! i was crushed, but on the next hole i lipped out for birdie and nailed my drive on the the hole after that so clearly im pre good at keeping myself together
 
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