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What causes you to play bad?

It may be fatigue for me. I have known for a while that my score goes up when tired. I've used the Sky Caddie app to record all my rounds for 2015 and trends jump out with the main one being that as the round progresses, I miss left more and more. At first I didn't pay it any mind but the same thing has happened at "away" courses as well.

So, losing it left, fatigue, what's the link? In my last trip to the orthopedic Doc, he found my left leg to be much weaker than my right leg which would become even weaker with fatigue. Today, I made a conscience effort to get the left side through on drives late in the round with much better results with decent results, one over the last three holes. Good short term fix, now must get that leg stronger in the long term.
 
Wet ground. I'm in the rough a lot, and hitting out of wet rough is hard. It's tiring, especially with a bad rotator cuff. My club plays early in the morning when it's wet, and I'm playing winter rules all summer if necessary. It makes it a little easier. DQ me. I don't care. My shoulder is more valuable than a competition. I probably shouldn't be playing, but then I probably would miss the entire summer.
 
InTheRough said:
Wet ground. I'm in the rough a lot, and hitting out of wet rough is hard. It's tiring, especially with a bad rotator cuff. My club plays early in the morning when it's wet, and I'm playing winter rules all summer if necessary. It makes it a little easier. DQ me. I don't care. My shoulder is more valuable than a competition. I probably shouldn't be playing, but then I probably would miss the entire summer.
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Absolutely, take it out of the bad places and don't do any further damage. I have two friends with rotator cuff injuries, each had the decision to either get surgery or give up golf. One has given up golf, the other is leaning toward surgery.
 
Having to rush, which often happens when I'm playing after work. Rush to get to the course (damn rush hour!), rushing to get to the tee in time, things like that.
 
When I drink too much. Although fun with my buddies, drinking will cripple my game
 
Getting off of the tee is the big issue in my game right now. It's hard to play well when I'm not in the fairway very much and having to manufacture shots around trees or hazards just to get near the green.

Outside of how I'm playing, things that throw off my pace can get me to play bad: either feeling rushed to get around a course, or having to wait for a long time before every shot because of slow play in front of me.
 
Familiarity of a course certainly cause struggles, as I tend to play a course better the second time around. That being said, I think it starts with taking of myself. Nutrition and fatigue - I am finding that if they are off for me, then I tend to struggle.
 
Wind. Blow up holes. If my wedge game is off.

I rely on my wedge game a lot, and usually it's one of the strongest parts of my game, so when it's off I usually have a bad round. Other than that, what's keeping me from scoring and having a pretty decent handicap is my rounds are usually ruined scoring wise by 5 holes or less. For example the other day I shot an 87, and was just 4 bad holes away from a 78/79. That's about 8-9 extra strokes on 4 holes that should of been able to be avoided for at the least a low 80's round.

But I know I can bounce back from those blow up holes, because I have a ton of the medals on the nike golf app that you get for getting a par or better after a double or worse haha. But that doesn't take away from the doubles or worse being there.
 
My back. It got me out of the game for years. I could start the day well but as the round wore on my back would start locking up, tighten, and restrict my range of motion. It would start in the lower back and move its way up. Hard to play when you feel stiff and uncomfortable. My swing would go to hell as I tried to compensate for the lack of ability to turn. I finally went to a doc for groin pain that got worse 4 years ago when skiing, an injury I initially suffered in 1976 as a sophomore in high school, and he told me that I never hurt my groin, but I tore the labrum. He also said I had a fairly significant impingement on that side. Both issues can cause lower back pain. Also, rotating the hip with the labral tear would cause intense, catching pain (the kind that sends you immediately to your knees). Had surgery and my lower back problems have greatly subsided (I expect it hasn't gone away completely because I have 25 pounds I need to lose). Still dealing with an upper back problem that I hurt in 1986 (years that end in six are not lucky for me) that my return to golf has aggravated, but I have found that accupuncture has done an amazing job on the post op scar tissue and bursitis in my hip. I haven't asked her to do anything with my one bad spot in my upper back but given how much better I am now versus two months ago when I started seeing her I think she can really help my upper back as well.
 
For me the biggest thing is when something goes wonky in my swing and I develop a two-way miss. When I have no clue which way my miss is going to be, it's going to be a long day.
 
Add me to the list of peeps with bad backs. A few slipped discs and some scoliosis can make walking 18 a little tough sometimes.
However - the biggest setback is probably still between the ears. When my confidence is up - I hit the ball well. Have one mis-hit and let it get to you... things start to breakdown fast.

Second biggest factor is probably over-swinging.
 
Thinking too much about a shot. If I try to get to particular with what I want to do, I hit awful shots. If I pick and area and swing, life is good.
 
Also the 7th hole on my home course. For the past 9 rounds I've been in excellent shape after my drive only to skull my 60 yd lob wedge over the green onto the river dyke on the other side of the cart path.

Next time, I'm there, competition or not, if I do that I'm dropping another ball and hitting it even if it DQs me. I need to get my confidence back on that hole. Run it? The ground in front of the green is soft so it can die in there leaving you with an up and down. The green can be firm and the ball can easily run off the back if it doesn't check. I need to hit that shot.
 
Not hitting enough fairways and then trying to advance my ball too far forward from the trees and not getting out of them.
 
Just recently I've learned that bad play comes from a negative attitude and not having fun. If I relax, focus on the shot at hand and don't beat myself up, I play vastly better. This was the greatest realization because who doesn't want to have fun and play good golf at the same time? For me having fun leads to good golf and even more fun, jackpot!
 
Having a bad hole within the first 4-5 just ruins me.

Also my driving is key. I hit the ball pretty well and am very accurate so when that goes away I have big problems .


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The biggest thing that causes me to play bad is myself, the mental aspect of it. if i hit a few shots bad in a row, I have been tending to let it get to me mentally, which in turn causes me to second guess myself on the next few holes worth of shots. and many times causes me to play worse than normal. I can be having a great round and all of the sudden just hit a few bad shots and i let it get to me. That is also what i have been working on. If i hit a bad shot on a hole trying to not let it get to me mentally and get myself out safe and finish the hole with a respectable score for me.
 
It's official. Alcohol is my arch nemesis. Was playing so well in the front nine decided to have a couple beers and it totally messes with my head. Back nine wasn't horrible but shots that I can hit easily turned into bad shots.
 
Slow a**holes in front of me.
 
My greenside game is a trainwreck.
 
Quicksand, when I make a mistake and start to press, first one thing goes wrong, ( a bad tee shot ) then I try harder to get it back, (force a shot I should not take) and then another thing goes wrong. (Making a bogey on a par 5 birdie hole) and the next thing I know my game is sinking even deeper.
 
Maddog701 said:
Quicksand, when I make a mistake and start to press, first one thing goes wrong, ( a bad tee shot ) then I try harder to get it back, (force a shot I should not take) and then another thing goes wrong. (Making a bogey on a par 5 birdie hole) and the next thing I know my game is sinking even deeper.
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Sounds very similar to what Shane Falco said in "The Replacements" :)
 
Hitting into too many bunkers.

Thinking too much when hitting a shot.

Drinking too much

Getting frustrated

Trying to kill a drive and slicing it OB, into water, etc.
 
Easy, definitely the driver. When I can drive the ball decent everything else falls into place. The confidence I have when the ball is in the fairway is priceless
 
Thinking too much.
Not drinking enough.
Hero shots.
Failure to get off tee box.
 
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