Mental block on par 3s?

[UKGolfer86]

So ive been working on my swing, fixed a small issue causing big problems with my driver (thanks again Monte!) and playing well, for me, on par 4s and Par 5s. But Par 3s are causing me a huge headache.

To put this into context, im an 18 hcp (have been down to 15, but last 12 months ive had my issues. Im driving great, whether driver, 3 wood, hybrid or long iron on par 4s and 5s. Driver average 280 yards, hitting 65% of fairways overall. Why am i an 18 handicap i hear you ask!

Here is the problem, last night I played 18. I played the 14 par 4s and 5s in 8 over, played the 4 par 3s in 10 over..... I know its a mental thing as when im stood over the ball at adress i struggle to get comfortable, which leads to tension, which leads to shanks and fats. Ive hit 4 of 28 par 3 greens in reg over the past 7 rounds. Theyre not hard, in fact theyre stroke index 13, 16, 17 and 18, ranging from 149 to 188 yards. 3 of them essentially have fairway from tee to green, 1 plays over scrub, with a wrap around bunker at the front.

I have a PSR i try to stick to, stand behind ball, pick line, visualise shot, take meaningful practice swing, check line and pick spot 2 feet in front of ball to align to, address ball, relax arms, swing away. Yet, as soon as i go to pull the trigger on a par 3, my swing crumbles. Yesterday i pulled the 1st 20 yards left, next par 3 i went long (actually hit it great, but with the weather we have it went long), 3rd was a complete shank and 4th was fat. So not a consistent miss either.

Sorry for the long rant, but anyone have any tips for calming the mind/anxiety over par 3s. Before lockdown i had hit 100% for 3 rounds running, so i have it in me. I seem to hop from 1 issue to the next which means my handicap never seems to get to where it should be

[goaliedad30]

So, to score better, why not play them as "super short par 4 holes"? If they have fairway from tee to green, hit a wedge purposely short ... chip, and take two putts for a bogey. Play whatever club off the tee that allows you to easily be on in two ...

[SNIPERBBB]

Are you using a tee on the par three's? If so, how high?

 

I used to tee it too high and used to really mess with me.

[UKGolfer86]

I use a tee, but effectlively push right down so ball appears to be a perfect lie on the ground. 3 wood i tee it up a little and obviously the driver is higher, everything else is right down. Give me a 4 iron on a par 4, no issues, same height, longer club.

I hit 6 of 9 greens on the front 9 yesterday, so its not like i cant use an iron off the fairway either. I hit the green in 2 on stroke indexes 1-4, made par on all of them. Approaches varied from an 8 iron up to a 5iron on those 4. Yet put me on a par 3 tee, 150 to middle of green with a 9iron in my hand and there is no telling where it is going.

I hit up a mate who doesnt play often that wants to visit the local 9 hole, which is a great little course of 7 par 3s and 2 long par 4s. i figure plenty of par 3 practice, plus a change of scenery might help.

[UKGolfer86]

This might be worth a try. Its not my ability to hit the shots, its somethign mental, so a couple of rounds where i execute a well struch wedge off the tee may help alleviate some of the stress... unless of course i shank those too, then il really be stumped!

[SNIPERBBB]

Another thing too is working on a 3/4 or knockdown shot for the par three's. Helps to slow you down a bit and helps resist the urge to nuke an iron.

[Red4282]

After your last look at the target before your Hit, Take few seconds to block out anything mental. I like to imagine im just hitting a ball on the driving range. It works good for blocking out all those hazard thoughts or “dont hit it there” kinda deal. We often dont commit to the shot we want to hit because of the subconscious fear of the dreaded miss.

[juststeve]

How long has the bad on par threes persisted? There is very little you can conclude rom one day of poor play on the par threes.

Steve

[chippa13]

Generally speaking, I think you're being a bit hard on yourself. Remember, you're an 18 and played the round in +18. A shift in perspective might help you. Instead of looking at the card and seeing where you "lost" strokes on the par 3s, focus on the rest of the card and how you saved strokes on the 4s and 5s. Par 3 are generally ranked easier on the card due to distance and not necessarily what is surrounding the green. They can actually wind up playing harder for folks who don't hit a high percentage of greens.

One thing that has helped me on par 3s was to stop trying to be so precise with my tee ball. Unless it is a large green, any par 3 over 150-160, my target is the middle of the green, especially if I'm looking at a sucker pin. My goal on par 3s is a reasonable par putt on the longer and a kick in par on the shorter. Birdies are always welcome but I'm not going to put that kind of pressure on myself as that often leads to disaster. When you start seeing 3s and 4s on the card instead of 5s and 6s on the par 3s, that is when you'll see your scores really improve.

[Leftlove94]

Pick a target behind the green and hit at that. Kinda like you would for an iron shot off the tee. Pick your line, not the exact landing spot, the club selection takes care of that. Also don’t aim at the pin. You don’t pick the most aggressive line close to the tree/bunker line of the tee, why should you on approach from that far out.

[Mikey5e]

I just had a similar scoring situation like the OP.

14 par 4/5's = 10 over

4 par 3's = 9 over

For me I think I put too much pressure on myself on par threes to make the perfect shot. With our type of handicap we should be approaching par 3s by saying a bogey is okay, after all we are pretty much bogey golfers. There has got to be a mental shift to someplace negative in our minds to fail to score on par 3s when we are somewhat successful on the rest of the course. I've strive to put less pressure on myself and just make a fair shot to the safe part of the green. Sometimes I even say to myself anywhere around the green is sufficient for me because I can always chip on and one putt, and worst case scenario is a two putt for a bogey.

[Fuscinator]

Trying to pretend you're calm, when you're not, is a waste of time. A better approach is to try to blow off some of the energy fueling your nervousness. Ten jumping-jacks, a dozen violent practice swings, or the like, will do the trick.

[UKGolfer86]

Last 7 rounds I've hit 4 of 28. Last 3 rounds before lockdown I hit 12 of 12. Hence really dont believe it's my ability that's holding me back. At that time i was struggling a huge low hook off the tee with my driver.

Got the driver sorted, now cant hit a par 3, despite hitting my irons well from the fairway.

I will for sure take on everything said here. Less expectation, pick a target past the green etc. I'm already aiming at the middle of the green, not flag hunting, I dont have that in my locker yet. I also tend to compound mistakes on par 3s more than other holes. Such as missing green short, leaving a chip over a bunker. Il then chunk my chip into said bunker. Where I've actually been solid chipping on the other holes also.

 

Playing again sunday, Monday and Wednesday, so let's see where that takes me. I will relax my expectations, take an extra club, swing easy for a target over the middle of the green.

[SNIPERBBB]

That's the thing about par three's, they are designed to put pressure on you. They are much more penal for wayward shots on most courses than their par 4/5 brethren.

 

You really have to be able to step up to the shot with confidence with zero doubts and make your swing.

[J_Tizzle]

My only thought would be to 100% ignore the flag on them. Get a yardage to the absolute middle of the green and aim there. You do have pressure on par 3s to hit it tight and try to make a hole in one. Just accept your par or bogey from the middle of the green and go on to the next one.

[scooterhd2]

Stop thinking Par 3s are the easy holes because they are shorter. At your handicap bogey is a good score here. Make it a goal to get on the green in two shots, and 2 putt. Allow your self to hit it thin or fat and to come up short. It's okay is you pull or push one off the green by 20 yards. It might look like a terrible shot, but its fine. Hit a decent wedge anywhere on the green. Literally anywhere on the green is a good wedge shot. And then 2 putt. Take your bogey and be happy with that.

[llewol007]

I was about to say the same thing. 4 over versus 10 over is a big difference

[AngusBurger]

Are you sure you are not subconsciously hitting up on it? Remove the tee completely and pretend you drove it there and have a great lie. If all else fails go play a par three course until it is a non issue.

[UKGolfer86]

Ok, so just back from this afternoons round. Played well really well, 5 strokes under my handicap. However, I still only hit 1 par 3. I took an extra club on all holes, but it was super windy, talking 60kmh gusts, swirling so no consistency to use. But I took a better mindset with me, missed better and only dropped 3 shots. I made par on the one I hit and took a bogey on the others.

Hole 1 is a par 3, and 95% of the time I pull my tee shot, this is the safe spot and it leaves the easiest chip. One I caught thin and took a bounce off right, put my chip to 2 feet but somehow missed despite putting very well all day, with 29 putts, and no 3 putts on the card. The 4th was playing 190 straight into the wind, tried to go after it a little too much and pushed it behind a bush, managed to get it center of the green to 10 feet, 2 putt bogey.

So while I haven't solved the tee shots, I missed better and didnt compound the mistakes.

Playing the local 9 hole tomorrow with 7 par 3s, so hopefully this will help.

 

[goaliedad30]

One thought here is to change your mindset. You played four par three holes, and had three 4's and a 3. As an 18 handicap, thinking of that as "giving up three bogies" is not necessarily the best mental view. Another way to look at it is that as an 18, you're trying to be under 90 - better than level 5's. In that mindset, you didn't play those par 3 holes in three over .... you were FIVE UNDER!

Getting a mindset of "four is a GOOD score" on those holes might help you take some pressure off.

[UKGolfer86]

Yes, agreed. I need to start looking at things from my handicapped score more. There was an element of this, hence the better misses and certainly putting less pressure on myself to get up and down for par on the misses. Just making sure that the ball was on the green in 2 was my focus. Being an 18 handicap though, those holes are essentially 4s, not 5s, so i played then 1 under, rather than 5 under, but i get where you are coming from. But they werent the biggest issue on the card yesterday, so just talking my 'issue' through on here gave me some perspective.

I do think there might be some merit in playing it off the floor on my next round too, just to make sure i am encouraging the downwards strike as even the one i hit yesterday was not the solid strike i get off the fairway. 7 chances to practice on the 9 hole tonight, so hopefully this will help me along.

[UKGolfer86]

So went for a lesson yesterday where we checked on progress with a couple of drills to stop a bit of casting which have settled in well. After this i explained my Par 3 woes to my pro and he decided to grab a cart and drive me out to the par 3s as the course wasnt busy. He had me set up and play each tee shot which he filmed, didnt tell me anything. Then took me back to the studio, asked me my usual miss on each hole and then showed me what was going on.

Usual miss is over draw, missing the green left 80% of the time. - Watched video and what do you know, im set up straight for the middle of the green, start the ball straight and the ball draws left.... pretty obvious. There is a bunker that covers front right which i always used to aim at, which allows my natural shape to come back into the center of the green. If i dont get the draw, right of the green is ok, if i overdraw il be left of the green. Usual miss is actually right on this hole. The tee box is aimed just left of the green. I was set up with feet following the aim of the tee box to the left of the green, but my club face open, aiming towards the hole. So fading off the right. Makes sense!Longish par 3 plays from 180 to 200 depending on tee position. Tee was on the right side of the box and aimed at the left of the green. Again set up straight at the hole and started the ball on that line, draw took it left. I just caught the edge of the fringe, but often miss futher.This one is relatively short, but has a super deep wrap around bunker up both sides and along the front, bushes 3 yards off the back, so while short, needs accuracy or its trouble. This one is inbetween clubs and i think ive just been taking the wrong club, trying to give a bit more with a PW rather than a smooth 9. On this one he had me hit 3, as i said i dont have a consistent miss. I caught one a bit fat and came up short. HIt the front of the green with another, and pulled one left. The inconsistency in the swings for sure suggested trying to give it too much as my number for this club was bang on the front edge. So rather than a mental block, it was just not using my brain. I wasnt concentrating on my setup, repeating the same mistakes. Now I have a new plan for them to try for the next 2-3 rounds, no swing changes, just setting up correctly.

Aim for the right bunker, usual swing, try to hit over the bunker. Get feet in line with the club, not the box, to allow for natural shape, rather than leaving the club open while aiming leftAim for the right fringe.More club, smoother swing.

[Mikey5e]

Par threes have been killing me lately. I am a 14 handicap golfer and have been as much over par, cumulatively, on par 3s than the rest of the holes. Ex, last 2 rds.

rd 1

5 par 3s = 9 over par

13 par 4/5s = 10 over par

rd 2

4 par 3s = 5 over par (not too bad)

14 par 4/5s = 14 over par

[UKGolfer86]

Looks familiar! Do you tend to have a consistent miss when you play the same hole? If you are anything like me, you may be lining your feet up with the tee markers and then the clubface to the center of the green or flag. All well and good when the markers are straight at the green, but if they are off to the left or right, you may be setting up open or closed, which is goingt to manipulate your ball flight, which as it wont be a concious decision, is going to give some issues.

I wont be playing until Sunday, which happens to be my first competition post lockdown, so will be interesting to see if i can put into practice the discoveries from my lesson.

[Mikey5e]

I don't think so, I always watch my alignment, but lately it's been choosing the wrong club. I was playing quite well the other day until I got to the 10th hole, a par 3, with an elevated green and didn't choose enough club. My shot came up short as a mild head wind knocked it down causing my ball to roll into a trap like real close to the edge. I hit it out but a bit thin and it flew over the green into the trap on the other side, then two more strokes to get it on the Greeng. Before it was all said and done I had a quadruple-bogey 7. Man was I p'd! It seems that I sometimes don't choose enough Club to get the job done.

[RobertBaron]

Par 3s can often be more difficult than 4s and 5s for the mid-high capper because there’s less room for error.

On a par 4 and especially a par 5, you can hit a poor shot from the tee and still recover from it with a strong approach. You don’t really have those opportunities on a par 3 and a poor shot from the tee on a 3 puts incredible strain on your short game, which is often a mid capper’s worst part of their game.

 

So I guess what I would do is just accept the difficulty of par 3s and try to keep the hole to bogey at worst. From there, aim for the safest part of the green and think about how awesome it will be to just have to worry about putting

(For me personally, I love par 3s even though I find them difficult because I mostly don’t have to worry about hitting a wood off the tee. They’re almost a welcome relief after a string of 4s and 5s.)

[Justsomeguy]

Try this as a curve ball for 2 rounds: play those holes from the ladies' slash kids' teebox.

There are reasons that aren't complicated, but won't help overthinking to explain.

Just try it. Best of luck.

[UKGolfer86]

So, played a competition from the back tees today. Played well in general and actually hit my par 3 tee shots well... still only hit 1 green though. However this time it was down to 40kmh winds holding them up. All 4 played straight into the wind, 1 I put to 5 feet, 2 came up within 5 feet of the front edge, 1 in the bunker protecting the front. Felt more comfortable aiming to the right edge to allow for my draw, relaxed and swung the club better.

[Hawkeye77]

Seems like you are on the right track. Like someone said above, work on 3/4 swings - or like Monte preaches (for good reason) work on hitting your 7 iron 100 yards, for example, or whatever you 150 club normally is (about half swings with an 8 iron for me). That will reveal pretty quickly if your swing parts are matching up.

No coach here, but it seems like one of the main reasons you are an 18 is ball striking, which I'm sure you know. Your expectations may be a little too much at present. When you make progress on that, you'll hit better irons and hit them more often. Confidence soars, par 3s are just another approach shot (that you still have to be realistic about even as you get better and not beat yourself up when you may not deserve it).

[UKGolfer86]

Yes, ball striking is where i am focusing my practice right now. When working at the range, with some alignment sticks in place, i genuninely feel like a pretty competent player, but once i have no reference point for aiming my feet and club, i think this is where the issues begin. So im now working on changing up my pre shot routing a touch and how i align my clubface and then myself to the face. if i can figure this out, i think my ball striking will translate much better from the range to the course. Yesterday i struck all my tee shots well, there wasnt anything fat, thin or pulled like previous. So im on the right track.

Putting things down on here and having the resource to look back on and trying suggestions at the range and even talking thrm through with my coach have really helped. He is an open minded guy and is willing to discuss things ive picked up elsewhere, why they may help, why they may not etc. So im very grateful for peoples suggestions on this thread and others. I have a lot of motivation right now and really feel like i can start to lower my scores, especially if we can get a still day. Seems like we have had super strong winds here nearly all year so far, none of those perfectly still evenings that i enjoyed so much 12 months ago.