Grinding thru the bad rounds

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Just could NOT make solid contact yesterday... I was coming over the top and everything was either off the toe or yanked left. In our 2-man 9 hole scramble game in the morning I damn near whiffed on a couple shots - barely scraped the ball with the toe of the club. Fortunately my partner kept us in the fairway and I made 8 of 9 putts. We ended up at -2 just out of the money... only 2 GIRs.

Went back out for 9 more and the over the top woes continued... considered quitting but decided to just grind it out and play the game I brought to the course. Lined up my tee shots hard right, grabbed 5i to minimize trouble and scooted a little closer to the ball to take the off-the-toe out of play. I kept yanking them left but kept the ball mostly out of trouble and relied on my short game to save the day.

Ended up shooting 40 with a double, 3 bogeys and 5 pars. Really pleased with that score given how terribly I was striking the ball.

Anyone else have any Grit Your Teeth and Get Thru It stories? What do you do to persevere when golf is kicking you while you’re down?
 
It's the nature of this beast, it's bound to happen. Key for me is having a go to shot I know I've got even when things have gone sideways in my swing. I play a nice little knockdown through my irons for this that is a take more swing less shot, ensures I'll get the ball around and be able to let my short game bail me out.

Its a silly game. But a fun one.
 
Been there, especially with the low left hooks and since golf is counterintuitive it can snowball. In some circumstances if you're hitting left aiming right only makes it worse.
Now I just try to relax and slow everything down.
 
It's the nature of this beast, it's bound to happen. Key for me is having a go to shot I know I've got even when things have gone sideways in my swing. I play a nice little knockdown through my irons for this that is a take more swing less shot, ensures I'll get the ball around and be able to let my short game bail me out.

Its a silly game. But a fun one.

That’s an idea I hadn’t considered... I’ll try hitting some knockdowns next time that happens. Usually if I get out of whack I go hit a bucket of half swing knockdowns until I am making crisp contact and that tends to fix whatever’s ailing my swing.
 
Been there, especially with the low left hooks and since golf is counterintuitive it can snowball. In some circumstances if you're hitting left aiming right only makes it worse.
Now I just try to relax and slow everything down.

I hear ya. I got fortunate yesterday as the ball was either going left or I was almost missing it off the toe so aiming right was the closest I could get to an on-course fix. I hit a few fairways that way and thankfully the chipping and putting was on point and kept my round from going completely down the crapper.
 
I hear ya. I got fortunate yesterday as the ball was either going left or I was almost missing it off the toe so aiming right was the closest I could get to an on-course fix. I hit a few fairways that way and thankfully the chipping and putting was on point and kept my round from going completely down the crapper.
OTT pulls and snaphook/quackers are due to different swing faults. Only issue is aiming right with the OTT pulls is when you hit it with the open face and it goes even more right. Same with an OTT slice and you aim left then close the face and it turns into that dead pull.
 
OTT pulls and snaphook/quackers are due to different swing faults. Only issue is aiming right with the OTT pulls is when you hit it with the open face and it goes even more right. Same with an OTT slice and you aim left then close the face and it turns into that dead pull.

Yep; not arguing with ya:drinks:

In this particular case I found it helpful but I certainly don't intend to suggest anyone else takes my word for it as a fix for their game.
 
When I'm struggling (whether it be in general, or with a specific aspect of the game), I have a really hard time accepting that I need to try a different approach. I am more likely to stubbornly continue to try to right the ship even when it's clear I'm having a problem with a certain part of my game. I wish I were more like the OP and more willing to adjust.

The other thing I've noticed as I've started improving my game is that, if I have a bad hole or two I get into a 'well, I just screwed up my round!' mindset. I know rationally that a couple bad holes are just that, a couple of bad holes, and that those don't prohibit me from having a great round the rest of the way. But it's a challenge for me to 'let it go' and forget the bad holes.

I'm guessing I'm not alone in that regard :)

I'm working on the 'I'm out here to have fun' and the 'All I can do is make the next swing/shot the best one possible and it'll all work out in the end' mentality.
 
When I'm struggling (whether it be in general, or with a specific aspect of the game), I have a really hard time accepting that I need to try a different approach. I am more likely to stubbornly continue to try to right the ship even when it's clear I'm having a problem with a certain part of my game. I wish I were more like the OP and more willing to adjust.

The other thing I've noticed as I've started improving my game is that, if I have a bad hole or two I get into a 'well, I just screwed up my round!' mindset. I know rationally that a couple bad holes are just that, a couple of bad holes, and that those don't prohibit me from having a great round the rest of the way. But it's a challenge for me to 'let it go' and forget the bad holes.

I'm guessing I'm not alone in that regard :)

I'm working on the 'I'm out here to have fun' and the 'All I can do is make the next swing/shot the best one possible and it'll all work out in the end' mentality.

I'm not great at just playing the game I brought with me to the course today... it's something I'm really actively trying to get better at rather than start goofing with stuff mid-round. I'm simply not athletic enough to diagnose and fix swing problems on the course.
 
Yep; not arguing with ya:drinks:

In this particular case I found it helpful but I certainly don't intend to suggest anyone else takes my word for it as a fix for their game.
Sorry if I came off as argumentative my friend. I was actually agreeing with you. Just reinforcing how sometimes it's a counterintuitive and sometimes it's not.
 
Sorry if I came off as argumentative my friend. I was actually agreeing with you. Just reinforcing how sometimes it's a counterintuitive and sometimes it's not.

No worries; I was checking myself a bit to make sure I wasn’t coming off that way.

It’s absolutely a counterintuitive game - that’s for sure. One of our group yesterday was trying to scoop all his chips and skulling every one of them. Never once had his hands in front of the ball at impact.
 
While it’s not always a perfect fix, I find that when things are going sideways if I concentrate on minimal grip pressure and slower tempo things start to turn around. Sometimes the act of trying too hard causes more problems than it’s helps.
 
For me I have to remove myself from the course mentally for a few minutes. What I mean is I will take in the surroundings, find something to look at and let my mind wander a bit. It will usually work for me.
 
I'm also in the knockdown camp when things go sideways.

I do it for two reasons. The first is because I concentrate very well over a recovery shot, the simplified mechanics tend to lead to positive results.

Secondly, with something obviously wrong with my swing, I don't want to run the risk of ingraining any flaw(s).

So I don't "change" my swing and run the risk of losing my way by fishing for a fix. Rather, I use another type of shot that I already play to get me through the round.
 
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