What do you do when your game falls apart?

[Guia]

I try and find what I am doing different. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. I just play through it.

[thedurtydurden]

First thing I do is check my alignment--most of the time that seems to fix it. If I'm playing and that doesn't fix it I try to hit 3/4 shots as much as I can since less can go wrong.

 

The one thing I don't do is go to the range and pound balls. The last thing I want to do is ingrain whatever has popped up. I'll take a day or two off (if possible) and the next time I go to warm up I'll make sure everything about my setup is correct before getting back into it. If you're setup correctly, the swing tends to happen by itself.

[thug the bunny]

I have gone through this a zillion times. Here is my recovery strategy:

 

1 mishit here and there: cmon idiot, just focus on each shot, don't rush the swing

 

2 mishits in a row (always leading to a double): OK, you're rushing the transition, pulling off the ball, and casting and lurching. Getting back to path and tempo usually gets me back

 

2 to 3 sh*tty holes in a row: Why the f won't my body do what I am asking it to do? I feel like I just got a new body. I take away the club, and want to start the DS......now, but my body starts the swing about a half count before 'now', so now, my clubhead is about to strike the ball when I had intended it to just be starting, so my brain is confused, but in reality my brain was the one who caused this confusion in the first place, so I start blaming my brain, but then I realize I AM my brain, so I am arguing with myself, and psychologists tell us this is not healthy. At that point, I just hit ball and stop thinking about timing or any other temporal 3-dimensional body related crap. Me. Hit. Ball. Lots of times it works.

[Steveleeifc]

Has anyone else noticed that they tend to play better with certain partners ??

 

When things start to go bad in a round I tend to stop talking and dwell on the negative shots - convince myself that I should do better but that never seems to work - but with certain playing partners (ones who tend to talk a lot) have often helped me get past this a lot quicker - sometimes something as simple as starting a conversation/telling a story something to disengage the brain from what has just happened I find helps coming back to take the next shot.

 

 

Also riding does not help - to quick to the next shot no time to mentally move on.

[Nomad Golfer]

Has anyone else noticed that they tend to play better with certain partners ??

 

When things start to go bad in a round I tend to stop talking and dwell on the negative shots - convince myself that I should do better but that never seems to work - but with certain playing partners (ones who tend to talk a lot) have often helped me get past this a lot quicker - sometimes something as simple as starting a conversation/telling a story something to disengage the brain from what has just happened I find helps coming back to take the next shot.

 

 

Also riding does not help - to quick to the next shot no time to mentally move on.

Yeah I play better with my brother. When his game turns to custard I play a lot better !

[thug the bunny]

Has anyone else noticed that they tend to play better with certain partners ??

 

When things start to go bad in a round I tend to stop talking and dwell on the negative shots - convince myself that I should do better but that never seems to work - but with certain playing partners (ones who tend to talk a lot) have often helped me get past this a lot quicker - sometimes something as simple as starting a conversation/telling a story something to disengage the brain from what has just happened I find helps coming back to take the next shot.

 

 

Also riding does not help - to quick to the next shot no time to mentally move on.

 

Actually now that I think of it I always play well with good ol fashion normal nice people. Knowledgeable about golf and etiquette, conversational, friendly. I got paired with 3 guys recently, and that can sometimes be like playing by yourself, but they included me in their circle immediately. We were all around the same level, so there was lots of good shotmaking, banter, and a good mixture of trash talk and compliments. Played lights out, I think I remember a 79.

 

Just last week I got paired with an unlikely two - an older Jewish guy and his grandson. Gotta admit, at first I was like, 'Uh oh'. But the kid was on the HS golf team, and the grandpa actually hit the ball quite well. Name is Ira. He had a perfect NY Brooklyn accent (I'm from NY so I know), and was such a gracious, friendly guy, and he knew his golf too. We talked a bunch of tour stuff. His grandson was a perfect gentleman, and never seemed to grow tired of saying 'thank you' to my compliments on his shots. And, I played really well, and did not grow tired of the compliments coming from those two. Great round.

[kadillackountry]

I try to just hit a shot that I know I can make. Stop aiming for pins and take as much trouble out of play off the tee. Usually for me that means I put an iron in my hand off the tee (assuming it's not a 480 yard par four on the next box), hit two iron shots to the middle of the fairway and middle of the green and try to two putt par. I also try to pin point my focus on a shot. Meaning instead of aiming at a bunker off the tee (assuming 10 yard wide bunker), I'll aim at the rake on the side of the bunker. This "hyperfocus" as I like to call it usually gets all the other thoughts out of my head.

[Lefthook]

Question to mods: Why is this thread pinned?

[platgof]

My golf bud lost it today. His problem is he thinks he is better than he is, by a lot. He really believes he should be able to spank the old guys butt. I think he should forget the score card and get over it. Everyone goes through these periods where nothing seems to help, then the next time out it all starts clicking together again. Yesterday I was him, just sayin...

[glm]

I have never been able to play my way out of a slump. I walk away for a week or 2 and most of the bad habits go away.

[thug the bunny]

If I am in a match or tourney and I'm stinking if up the first 6 holes or so, I will revert back to a 10 to 2 swing just to get the ball in play. If I'm just playing a fun practice round and I'm stinking after 12 holes, I will just start smacking it without any care, and sometimes I come in with some good holes.

[Nomad Golfer]

My golf bud lost it today. His problem is he thinks he is better than he is, by a lot. He really believes he should be able to spank the old guys butt. I think he should forget the score card and get over it. Everyone goes through these periods where nothing seems to help, then the next time out it all starts clicking together again. Yesterday I was him, just sayin...

yep, trying too hard will kill it every time for sure. My playing partners go ape when I haul out a 3 or 4 iron on the tee and smack it down the centre while they are spraying theirs into the jungle either side of the fairway. Just for fun some times I only put irons in the bag and this really plays psycho tricks on the competition because they never learned how to use long irons. hahahaha - old guys 1, smart guys 0

[platgof]

Frustration is a real swing killer. The best thing is to somehow loosen up. Swing the head of the driver till you can hear the swoosh again.Gotta do something till you hear that pop.

[span3636]

When my game has gone to pot there are a few things that I do. Before the round I practice my go to shot in preparation of things possibly going wrong. For me this is a little push cut. I tend to struggle with my driver if something goes wrong on the course. If I can get it back under control I can usually save the round. The other thing I will do is take a little more club and hit punch shots, again which I have practiced on the driving range. Unfortunately sometimes the reality is that you cannot save a round no matter how hard you try.

[Nomad Golfer]

Whoever said that golf is a mental game wasn't far off the mark. We think that we teach our body to swing a club - WRONG! - we teach our brain to swing a club. Some days the brain doesn't want to play golf, nup, can't be bothered, and no matter what you do, you can't hit that ball to save yourself. Brainfreeze. To preempt this malaise, whenever I'm addressing the ball I say to myself in a firm tone of thought "Hit the damn ball !" and in extreme circumstances "Hit the damn ball or I'll drink a glass of ice water and give you a headache you won't forget in a hurry"

Of course a frontal lobotomy works in a similar way.

Happy suffering.

[sebsmash]

Had this happen today! I remember that I'm not good enough for the score to matter anyway and just try to enjoy each swing. Also I just pretended the front nine didn't exist.

[rblmp32]

If it's just one bad shot on the course I just shake it off and think about the next shot and how I'm going to recover. I think about all the times I've hit great shots following a poor one. Stuff like that. Sometimes on the range I get into a bad groove where my tempo goes to hell and contact is horrible. (I actually hit it better on the course than the range, go figure). At those times I try to slow everything I'm doing down. I pause between shots and reflect. I slow my breathing down. I think about making a complete swing, as slow as possible. And my natural speed and ball striking ability comes through then. I also try to remember what it looks like watching professional players on the range... their swings are effortless. I try to imitate that. Usually it works. :)

[Sean2]

Before I injured myself last month I shot a 35 on my back nine and the next day shot 35 on the front...and then hole 12 I sustained the injury. I just started playing again and whatever I was doing is now done and gone. Sigh...

[MountainGoat]

After an extended absence, my swing has returned. I can’t begin to tell you what a relief this is.

 

You know what did it? Target focus. I’m not talking about alignment; I’m talking about the target, the exact spot where I want the ball to land. I stopped listening to instructors telling me what to do, I put away the training gizmos, and I stopped studying video. Instead, I spent a month on the range just focusing on where I wanted the ball to go and letting the swing find itself. Eventually, everything clicked back into place.

 

This has been a three-year nightmare. Never again will I allow anyone to tell me how to swing a golf club. Never again will I allow some teaching moron to destroy my confidence by pointing out all the things he thinks I’m doing wrong. Never again will someone else’s mechanics take precedence over my own. For me, the target is all that exists, and I let my subconscious take care of the rest.

[Nomad Golfer]

After an extended absence, my swing has returned. I can’t begin to tell you what a relief this is.

 

You know what did it? Target focus. I’m not talking about alignment; I’m talking about the target, the exact spot where I want the ball to land. I stopped listening to instructors telling me what to do, I put away the training gizmos, and I stopped studying video. Instead, I spent a month on the range just focusing on where I wanted the ball to go and letting the swing find itself. Eventually, everything clicked back into place.

 

This has been a three-year nightmare. Never again will I allow anyone to tell me how to swing a golf club. Never again will I allow some teaching moron to destroy my confidence by pointing out all the things he thinks I’m doing wrong. Never again will someone else’s mechanics take precedence over my own. For me, the target is all that exists, and I let my subconscious take care of the rest.

Spot on. The brain plays golf, the subconscious understands the swing better than we do, and the body just goes along for the ride.

Well that's my excuse when I hit the ground a foot in front of the ball.

[thug the bunny]

After an extended absence, my swing has returned. I can’t begin to tell you what a relief this is.

 

You know what did it? Target focus. I’m not talking about alignment; I’m talking about the target, the exact spot where I want the ball to land. I stopped listening to instructors telling me what to do, I put away the training gizmos, and I stopped studying video. Instead, I spent a month on the range just focusing on where I wanted the ball to go and letting the swing find itself. Eventually, everything clicked back into place.

 

This has been a three-year nightmare. Never again will I allow anyone to tell me how to swing a golf club. Never again will I allow some teaching moron to destroy my confidence by pointing out all the things he thinks I’m doing wrong. Never again will someone else’s mechanics take precedence over my own. For me, the target is all that exists, and I let my subconscious take care of the rest.

Spot on. The brain plays golf, the subconscious understands the swing better than we do, and the body just goes along for the ride.

Well that's my excuse when I hit the ground a foot in front of the ball.

 

We have been talking about this in the 'no swing thoughts' thread, and one of my more cynical thoughts was, ok, now you have somehow handed your swing off to your subconscious, but what if your subconscious also sucks?

[Nomad Golfer]

After an extended absence, my swing has returned. I can’t begin to tell you what a relief this is.

 

You know what did it? Target focus. I’m not talking about alignment; I’m talking about the target, the exact spot where I want the ball to land. I stopped listening to instructors telling me what to do, I put away the training gizmos, and I stopped studying video. Instead, I spent a month on the range just focusing on where I wanted the ball to go and letting the swing find itself. Eventually, everything clicked back into place.

 

This has been a three-year nightmare. Never again will I allow anyone to tell me how to swing a golf club. Never again will I allow some teaching moron to destroy my confidence by pointing out all the things he thinks I’m doing wrong. Never again will someone else’s mechanics take precedence over my own. For me, the target is all that exists, and I let my subconscious take care of the rest.

Spot on. The brain plays golf, the subconscious understands the swing better than we do, and the body just goes along for the ride.

Well that's my excuse when I hit the ground a foot in front of the ball.

 

We have been talking about this in the 'no swing thoughts' thread, and one of my more cynical thoughts was, ok, now you have somehow handed your swing off to your subconscious, but what if your subconscious also sucks?

Then you're probably stuffed and you subconsciously hate the game - take up tabletennis.. I cured a bad hook by aiming to the left - ball refused to go that way - scary. Is it possible to harness the mind as MountainGoat says? possibly. There have been a few shots in my game that would be classed impossible for someone of my skill level but they happened and I'm not a great believer in luck.

[MountainGoat]

After an extended absence, my swing has returned. I can’t begin to tell you what a relief this is.

 

You know what did it? Target focus. I’m not talking about alignment; I’m talking about the target, the exact spot where I want the ball to land. I stopped listening to instructors telling me what to do, I put away the training gizmos, and I stopped studying video. Instead, I spent a month on the range just focusing on where I wanted the ball to go and letting the swing find itself. Eventually, everything clicked back into place.

 

This has been a three-year nightmare. Never again will I allow anyone to tell me how to swing a golf club. Never again will I allow some teaching moron to destroy my confidence by pointing out all the things he thinks I’m doing wrong. Never again will someone else’s mechanics take precedence over my own. For me, the target is all that exists, and I let my subconscious take care of the rest.

 

Before anyone tries to take my comments too far, I need to make it clear that not all swing types are consistent with tight target focus. Indeed, many instructors will tell you not to focus on the target, because doing so restricts a free motion. If you try to focus on the target, they will accuse you of "steering" the ball.

 

My swing is unique in that I have developed it specifically to accommodate target focus. I literally feel as though every molecule in my body is aligned with that purpose. My problems arise when I lose focus at some point during the swing, and I can't figure out what has gone out of alignment. That sends me looking for mechanical solutions which are almost always wrong. Teachers are no help in this regard. It's a personal search.

 

When you adopt target focus, many of the hard and fast rules of the traditional golf swing fade away, but others emerge...particularly regarding setup. But, when everything is aligned, the swing flows like the wind.

[sheldonjhacker]

Break out the beers !!! :derisive:

[thug the bunny]

After an extended absence, my swing has returned. I can’t begin to tell you what a relief this is.

 

You know what did it? Target focus. I’m not talking about alignment; I’m talking about the target, the exact spot where I want the ball to land. I stopped listening to instructors telling me what to do, I put away the training gizmos, and I stopped studying video. Instead, I spent a month on the range just focusing on where I wanted the ball to go and letting the swing find itself. Eventually, everything clicked back into place.

 

This has been a three-year nightmare. Never again will I allow anyone to tell me how to swing a golf club. Never again will I allow some teaching moron to destroy my confidence by pointing out all the things he thinks I’m doing wrong. Never again will someone else’s mechanics take precedence over my own. For me, the target is all that exists, and I let my subconscious take care of the rest.

Spot on. The brain plays golf, the subconscious understands the swing better than we do, and the body just goes along for the ride.

Well that's my excuse when I hit the ground a foot in front of the ball.

 

We have been talking about this in the 'no swing thoughts' thread, and one of my more cynical thoughts was, ok, now you have somehow handed your swing off to your subconscious, but what if your subconscious also sucks?

Then you're probably stuffed and you subconsciously hate the game - take up tabletennis.. I cured a bad hook by aiming to the left - ball refused to go that way - scary. Is it possible to harness the mind as MountainGoat says? possibly. There have been a few shots in my game that would be classed impossible for someone of my skill level but they happened and I'm not a great believer in luck.

 

I have lately been returning more to tennis; I played in HS, and started playing a lot about 10 yrs ago, got pretty good again (5.0 level), but then golf wiped that off the map as my GF's kids started getting involved in HS golf with hopes of scholarships. But now I'm getting back to T, where as we have discussed the time factor forces the SC to engage full time. There is still a 'head game' in tennis, but totally different from the golf head game..

 

Oh, and yeah, I'm a pretty good ping pong player too..

[ckay]

Just try to find a way to find the green. I'll club up, take a 3/4 and just focus on square contact.

[TheYipS]

Have fun, go for every shot take on difficult shots you normally wouldn't, not the best way to turn the score around but you can at least hit some different shots you normally wouldn't attempt pressure free and maybe pull some of them off and have the confidence to try them on the course in future.

[tatertot]

Enjoy the weather and stay out of everybody's way ...

[Nomad Golfer]

After an extended absence, my swing has returned. I can’t begin to tell you what a relief this is.

 

You know what did it? Target focus. I’m not talking about alignment; I’m talking about the target, the exact spot where I want the ball to land. I stopped listening to instructors telling me what to do, I put away the training gizmos, and I stopped studying video. Instead, I spent a month on the range just focusing on where I wanted the ball to go and letting the swing find itself. Eventually, everything clicked back into place.

 

This has been a three-year nightmare. Never again will I allow anyone to tell me how to swing a golf club. Never again will I allow some teaching moron to destroy my confidence by pointing out all the things he thinks I’m doing wrong. Never again will someone else’s mechanics take precedence over my own. For me, the target is all that exists, and I let my subconscious take care of the rest.

Spot on. The brain plays golf, the subconscious understands the swing better than we do, and the body just goes along for the ride.

Well that's my excuse when I hit the ground a foot in front of the ball.

 

We have been talking about this in the 'no swing thoughts' thread, and one of my more cynical thoughts was, ok, now you have somehow handed your swing off to your subconscious, but what if your subconscious also sucks?

Then you're probably stuffed and you subconsciously hate the game - take up tabletennis.. I cured a bad hook by aiming to the left - ball refused to go that way - scary. Is it possible to harness the mind as MountainGoat says? possibly. There have been a few shots in my game that would be classed impossible for someone of my skill level but they happened and I'm not a great believer in luck.

 

I have lately been returning more to tennis; I played in HS, and started playing a lot about 10 yrs ago, got pretty good again (5.0 level), but then golf wiped that off the map as my GF's kids started getting involved in HS golf with hopes of scholarships. But now I'm getting back to T, where as we have discussed the time factor forces the SC to engage full time. There is still a 'head game' in tennis, but totally different from the golf head game..

 

Oh, and yeah, I'm a pretty good ping pong player too..

Me too, I played TT at club competition level and badminton too. I found a couple of hard games of TT before getting on the badminton court sped up reaction time in the other game, gave me an edge.

[Nomad Golfer]

After an extended absence, my swing has returned. I can’t begin to tell you what a relief this is.

 

You know what did it? Target focus. I’m not talking about alignment; I’m talking about the target, the exact spot where I want the ball to land. I stopped listening to instructors telling me what to do, I put away the training gizmos, and I stopped studying video. Instead, I spent a month on the range just focusing on where I wanted the ball to go and letting the swing find itself. Eventually, everything clicked back into place.

 

This has been a three-year nightmare. Never again will I allow anyone to tell me how to swing a golf club. Never again will I allow some teaching moron to destroy my confidence by pointing out all the things he thinks I’m doing wrong. Never again will someone else’s mechanics take precedence over my own. For me, the target is all that exists, and I let my subconscious take care of the rest.

 

Before anyone tries to take my comments too far, I need to make it clear that not all swing types are consistent with tight target focus. Indeed, many instructors will tell you not to focus on the target, because doing so restricts a free motion. If you try to focus on the target, they will accuse you of "steering" the ball.

 

My swing is unique in that I have developed it specifically to accommodate target focus. I literally feel as though every molecule in my body is aligned with that purpose. My problems arise when I lose focus at some point during the swing, and I can't figure out what has gone out of alignment. That sends me looking for mechanical solutions which are almost always wrong. Teachers are no help in this regard. It's a personal search.

 

When you adopt target focus, many of the hard and fast rules of the traditional golf swing fade away, but others emerge...particularly regarding setup. But, when everything is aligned, the swing flows like the wind.

Steering the ball works for Jordan Spieth, apparently when putting he looks at the hole and not the ball.

If one could keep both eyes on the target when driving, would we still be able to hit the ball? wondering

about that one.