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Complacency - is it something holding your game back?

obedt

obedt

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I was thinking a little about my game. I'm a bogey golfer and generally consider bogeys to be "ok." I don't give them much thought. 3rd shot on par 4s I'm usually around the greens. Pitch on and 2 putt. I may be on but a good distance away, 3 jack and walk off ok.

I've gotten used to this, and really don't give these holes a second thought. I focus on the holes I had a double or worse on, try and find the cause, and that becomes what I try and practice before my next round.

My problem may be complacency. If I learn to focus on every shot and try and play for par more often that may help decrease my scores, but with the rest of reality (work, baby, assisting extended family) and golf being more than anything an escape for me right now, I convince myself that this approach would just take too much energy.

Is this something the rest of you have to wrestle with in order to improve?
 
I'm not complacent with bogey golf, but it happens. I'm OK with it because there is no sense in beating myself up about it. I get out and have fun. But it does make a par or birdie when you get them that much sweeter.

But I always try to play my best, and try to get better. Some days you play horrible but still bogey golf. Other days you play well and hit some of those shots you want to hit and make the shots you have to. That is golf.

Even tour pros have off days and play horrible golf, though usually their bad golf is better than our good golf.

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Not complacent about my golf, just stubborn! I know I can do it because I have. I just have to focus to do it consistently!
 
Not complacent with my game. There are good bogeys and bad bogeys. Not getting up/dwn from around the green or 3 jacking is a bad bogey IMO. Having to recover and making bogey instead if double is a good bogey.
 
emart2173 said:
Not complacent with my game. There are good bogeys and bad bogeys. Not getting up/dwn from around the green or 3 jacking is a bad bogey IMO. Having to recover and making bogey instead if double is a good bogey.
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This is how I approach it, but at a slightly lower handicap than the OP, I am also trying to limit the blow-up holes and take chances where I can to get shots on holes where I have a stroke based on my handicap

Eg, if I manage to make a par on the stroke index 1 hole, I will consider that a shot gained on my handicap, if I bogey the stroke index 2 / 3 / 4 holes I will not get disappointed unless I had a good chance at a par or even birdie. As long as I can keep the double-bogeys off my card and try to make pars on the holes that are stroke index 15-18 then I should be able to play to my handicap
 
Wrestle with? no. I mean whats the alternative? Frustration for not being better? Its far easier to be frustrated than complacent but its also less fun. But is excepting or learning to enjoy ones place of ability really mean complacent? Does it really mean you don't want to get better? or wont get better? I dont think any of this prevents anyone from playing better and trying to get better at all.

I don't believe the whole idea or logic that if one simply thinks bigger (or better) (in golf) that they will then get better. To be honest I simply go out and think about executing each shot one at a time. I think from the tee's what the (my) plan for how to play this hole and then I simply attempt to execute my first shot. And then I adjust accordingly depending how that first shot finished and again just try to execute the next shot best I can and so on. The results of all of them is something one has to accept because that's what you did and its all you got and it cant be changed. Does accepting them mean your complacent? I don't think so nor does it have to mean that. But there is nothing you can do about them once they are hit. All anyone can do is simply try to execute the next shot. You don't magically become better and more consistent because you chose not to accept your current scoring. All that does is offer frustration imo.
 
At some point, the degree of focus one brings to the game is a big determinant of how one scores.

I know when I am focused and locked in, I'll more likely than not shoot in the 70's, at worst low 80's. If I am not and just having a good time, I am more than likely to shoot mid-high 80's.

At this point, for me, it's focus (developing the right approach, synchronizing my mental approach with my physical execution, maintaining a consistent tempo through the round, focus on quality strike, not being lazy) that really drives how well I score.

I think it would be fair to call the lack of that complacency.
 
100%

I have nothing else going on in my life that precludes me from working on my game. I should practice more and I should definitely work out more. I don't need to do the Tiger or Rory routine, but I could benefit from being in better shape. I'm 6'3 and I've gotten this far on natural ability. I could be so much better, but I hate being out among people (at the grocery store/gym; it's stupid, I know).
 
I get complacent about my putting sometimes but today was not that day. I putted for 2 hours and made some progress, I think.
 
I'm not complacent while playing but I am complacent with my game in that I don't practice.

So darn hot here in the summer that any thought of hitting the range is completely off my radar. Although never one to practice much, I'm am trying to mentally coach myself up to the idea for the fall/winter. ?
 
To me complacency is not a problem, it's more of I forget how much focus I need to stay in the zone, and how quickly things can go south if I lose my focus.
 
Not complacent with my game at all. I know I'll never be a scratch or close to it but I try like hell to limit blow up holes. Always trying to improve. Right now stats show I'm losing over a shot on par 3's so that's my focus. Par 4's/5's losing less than a shot which I can live with.
 
I am a bogey golfer right now. I really try to have a lot of pars and bogeys.
I'm definetly not complacent with where I'm at because i do want to get better but I try to focus more on the process of fairways (or at least not penalty strokes) greens in reg, and then putts. I figure if I take care of those then my score will take care of itself.


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JMN57 said:
At some point, the degree of focus one brings to the game is a big determinant of how one scores.

I know when I am focused and locked in, I'll more likely than not shoot in the 70's, at worst low 80's. If I am not and just having a good time, I am more than likely to shoot mid-high 80's.

At this point, for me, it's focus (developing the right approach, synchronizing my mental approach with my physical execution, maintaining a consistent tempo through the round, focus on quality strike, not being lazy) that really drives how well I score.

I think it would be fair to call the lack of that complacency.
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I'm the same way. Most if not all my golf is orientated to the social aspect. This could also lead to a lack of execution EASILY.
 
JMN57 said:
At some point, the degree of focus one brings to the game is a big determinant of how one scores.

I know when I am focused and locked in, I'll more likely than not shoot in the 70's, at worst low 80's. If I am not and just having a good time, I am more than likely to shoot mid-high 80's.

At this point, for me, it's focus (developing the right approach, synchronizing my mental approach with my physical execution, maintaining a consistent tempo through the round, focus on quality strike, not being lazy) that really drives how well I score.

I think it would be fair to call the lack of that complacency.
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Does being complacent mean one treats his game more lazily with lack of focus, tempo and execution? I don't think it equates to that. I think some of that is simply just being lazy and not caring. Imo that's two different things. One can imo be complacent with what they scored today and yet did not treat it lazily. You can still focus and try to execute good shots and tempo while also being complacent with the results. If one loses desire to improve and/or also doesn't care to, nor care what he scores then he is basically putting less of everything into it and I guess could be considered complacent. But being complacent doesn't mean those other things have to be true. Unless I am misunderstanding the meaning of complacent. Being complacent of how you already scored (or played) vs being complacent with what your about to do is perhaps a whole other thing and where the big difference lies.
 
rollin said:
Does being complacent mean one treats his game more lazily with lack of focus, tempo and execution? I don't think it equates to that. I think some of that is simply just being lazy and not caring. Imo that's two different things. One can imo be complacent with what they scored today and yet did not treat it lazily. You can still focus and try to execute good shots and tempo while also being complacent with the results. If one loses desire to improve and/or also doesn't care to, nor care what he scores then he is basically putting less of everything into it and I guess could be considered complacent. But being complacent doesn't mean those other things have to be true. Unless I am misunderstanding the meaning of complacent. Being complacent of how you already scored (or played) vs being complacent with what your about to do is perhaps a whole other thing and where the big difference lies.
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I think being complacent is, to some degree, not caring so much as to the outcome that one doesn't do all one can.

For me, there are two frames of mind when I am golfing:

If I am with friends, I am enjoying that and don't focus that much/enough on my play & scoring (I probably need to learn how to change that).

If I am golfing alone or with strangers, I tend to immerse myself in the game more, concentrate more and, generally score better.

I don't know if the former is complacency or, perhaps, different things mattering at that moment.

ADDED: to the second part of the question (holding one back), I don't think what I experience holds me back as I think my best golf is getting better. If I gauge it against all my golf, then I guess it is but I tend to differentiate between social golf, practice and "focused" golf and have different rulers for those circumstances.
 
By definition being complacent doesn't mean you're lazy. It just means you're not as critical about yourself. If I smile and shrug off a bogie of bad round, it doesn't make me lazy. It means I have my priorities in order. Non of us play this game to pay our bills. It's a recreational past time, nothing more.

Now if you constantly Beotch and moan about your lack of good play, but don't practice. I think I would call you lazy. You get what you put into the game. If that consist of every weekend playing with the boys but no practice, then how can you expect to play well. There are more than plenty of people like that and I just laugh. Now of your happy being a chop, Bogie golfer, 10 hdcp, scratch, more power to you. But if you want to improve you better practice and practice right!
 
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