Shot a career low 79 and I attribute it all to changing what I practice

[Aspiring-Coach]

I stood on the 18th tee not aware of my score - it is recorded automatically through Arccos. I knew I was playing well (to my standards) but it didn’t feel lights out. There were some mishits, but they were saved. Some short putts that were missed. I didn’t even card a single birdie - which I have done before and still finished in the high 80's.

 

I put a drive about 245 into the fairway - I am not a long hitter. I had 135 left to the front of the green, pin set 10 paces on. I stood over my bag and without thinking or making judgments, I let myself pull my 8i. On the range my 8 is my 150 club - but I took the ego out of the situation and trusted my feeling. I put a smooth swing on it and the ball just cleared the sand trap guarding the right of the green - pin high, 10 yards to the right of my target.

 

So, when stepped up the 18th green at Architects to take my 35ft birdie putt, I was surprised to see that I had shot a 75 through 17 holes and that if I carded a par here, I’d break 80 and my lowest round ever. I immediately got nervous and though there was no one to care about my score and no crowds watching me, I felt this perceived pressure mounting. Something I had avoided for 17 holes. I let my thoughts get the best of me and I left myself with a nerve-wracking 5ft left. I became acutely aware of my tense upper body, so I took a deep breath and allowed my shoulders to relax. “This truly doesn’t matter one way or the other”, I told myself. I stepped up the ball after getting my read and I imagined the feeling of picking the ball out of the cup and took my shot. It landed true and I finished the hole with a par. 79.

 

While I celebrate that accomplishment, I know that some days will be better or worse than others and that I should not feel defeated if the next time I go out I shoot an 89. Expectation is the enemy of enjoyment.

Up until that round I hadn’t played 18 in 3 or 4 weeks. I had been to the range a bunch because I am one of those nuts that loves to practice. But practice has been different lately. Instead of trying to “perfect” a certain swing, or come more from the inside, or hitting the ball first, I am working to practice what I preach - learning how to feel and getting my mind in the right space to play. I am learning to trust that my body can make the swing that it needs to make to get the ball where it needs to be.

 

I was going out with little expectation on myself. The only thing I told myself as I played was trust your “learning self” and accept the uncertainty - because uncertainty is part of the fun. If I could control every shot, I’d be great but at the cost of not enjoying the game. I was great at my job and could control most aspects of the work I did, but I still quit because it didn’t bring me joy in doing it anymore. I don’t want golf to be a job. I’m here to have fun, release stress, and enjoy nature.

 

Accepting the uncertainty in turn allowed me to unconsciously loosen up as a played. And being loose allowed me to have a smoother, more athletic swing than normally wanting to control how I swing and tightening up.

I don’t know how often I’ll shoot that low, but I’m inclined to continue accepting the uncertainty and enjoying the game a little more. I know working on my mental game will make a larger impact for me than trying to engineer a better swing.

[jholz]

Nice. Breaking 80 is a huge accomplishment. Good on ya!

 

Love the "accepting uncertainty" mantra. It's a huge part of my game. If you haven't come across him yet, I'd suggest checking out Dr. Joseph Parent's "Zen Golf" stuff. It's where I developed my similar attitude. Might offer a couple of useful things.

 

Also practice. Yes. I love practicing. I work on specific stuff, but I also just have fun being out at the golf course. I can easily spend an entire day out there between range, practice green, and short area. Grab a couple of beers (if you are partial) and just mess around. Much worse ways to spend an afternoon.

 

That practice, over time, should breed confidence. When you make that inevitable mistake, you have the confidence to get yourself out of it.

 

When you add "accepting uncertainty" with a bit of confidence - you should be able to push that score even lower.

 

Good luck to you!

[kmay__]

19 minutes ago, Aspiring-Coach said:

Expectation is the enemy of enjoyment.

 

I like that. Nice round!

[Kmagnuss]

Happy for you man... that's awesome.  I need to heed some of your advice.

[Chunkitgood]

Agree wholeheartedly the body can make the necessary swing without thinking about it…after you have practiced enough that it is in implicit memory.

[nitram]

Congrats to you coach, well done. 👏

[Aspiring-Coach]

19 hours ago, jholz said:

Nice. Breaking 80 is a huge accomplishment. Good on ya!

 

Love the "accepting uncertainty" mantra. It's a huge part of my game. If you haven't come across him yet, I'd suggest checking out Dr. Joseph Parent's "Zen Golf" stuff. It's where I developed my similar attitude. Might offer a couple of useful things.

 

Also practice. Yes. I love practicing. I work on specific stuff, but I also just have fun being out at the golf course. I can easily spend an entire day out there between range, practice green, and short area. Grab a couple of beers (if you are partial) and just mess around. Much worse ways to spend an afternoon.

 

That practice, over time, should breed confidence. When you make that inevitable mistake, you have the confidence to get yourself out of it.

 

When you add "accepting uncertainty" with a bit of confidence - you should be able to push that score even lower.

 

Good luck to you!

I have that book in my pile of "to read" next to my computer right now!

 

Right?! Practicing is so fun. I've never thought of bringing beers with me - I wonder if the club would get mad about that haha

[Aspiring-Coach]

19 hours ago, Kmagnuss said:

Happy for you man... that's awesome.  I need to heed some of your advice.

If you ever want to work on it, shoot me a message. Always happy to chat.

[Aspiring-Coach]

18 hours ago, Chunkitgood said:

Agree wholeheartedly the body can make the necessary swing without thinking about it…after you have practiced enough that it is in implicit memory.

Yup! It's just like learning to walk. If I stop analyzing every swing as good or bad and just accept that swing, things will feel more natural. We can't expect not to make mistakes out there but that doesn't mean our fundamental swing is wrong.

[Ferguson]

To a 12-18 HC, here is no energy, confidence boost, jolt, feeling equal to that of breaking 80 in golf.  

I remember that single round more than any other round in my life.

 

Midvale in Penfield, NY.

78 

8 pars (1,4,6,9,12,16,17,18)

8 bogeys (5,7,8,10,11,13,14,15)

2 birds (2,3)

 

 

 

Good for you, Congratulations! 

 

[jholz]

1 hour ago, Aspiring-Coach said:

I've never thought of bringing beers with me - I wonder if the club would get mad about that haha

 

The key is to place your golf bag between the clubhouse and your beer can.

Edited October 20, 2022 by jholz

[Greenie]

Congrats on a great round. I wish you the best to stay there..

 

I usually shoot around 85-89. I shot a 79 four weeks ago. It is only my third time in the 70's for me. I've been playing for 30+ yrs. 

 

I followed that up the next time out with a 104. My highest round in probably ten yrs. Golf is so humbling.

 

Enjoy your accomplishment. It's a feeling for some of us that we only get to experience once or a very few times. Once you do it you will always know that it is in your game and you can do it again. I was so nervous the first time I did it playing the last few holes. 

 

 

 

 

[Ferguson]

50 minutes ago, Greenie said:

Congrats on a great round. I wish you the best to stay there..

 

I usually shoot around 85-89. I shot a 79 four weeks ago. It is only my third time in the 70's for me. I've been playing for 30+ yrs. 

 

I followed that up the next time out with a 104. My highest round in probably ten yrs. Golf is so humbling.

 

Enjoy your accomplishment. It's a feeling for some of us that we only get to experience once or a very few times. Once you do it you will always know that it is in your game and you can do it again. I was so nervous the first time I did it playing the last few holes. 

 

 

 

 

 

That's quite a delta in score.   

 

I want to say something.  I'm going to put this out there.  If you like it, you can take it.  If you don't, send it right back.

 

 

The 104 clearly was an anomaly.   Did you experience high winds, rain, an extremely slow, angry-causing group in front of you, locusts or perhaps temporary paralysis? 

 

 

  

 

 

[Greenie]

13 minutes ago, Ferguson said:

 

That's quite a delta in score.   

 

I want to say something.  I'm going to put this out there.  If you like it, you can take it.  If you don't, send it right back.

 

 

The 104 clearly was an anomaly.   Did you experience high winds, rain, an extremely slow, angry-causing group in front of you, locusts or perhaps temporary paralysis? 

 

 

  

 

 

This is how I play...lol  I could tell you stories about how I score. You wouldn't believe me. 

 

When I shot my 79 on the fourth hole a par 5. I hit a worm burner drive, then a bunch of terrible shots. A 4w, 4w, 4w. Being out a 165 yds for my 5th shot I stuck a 6 iron to 12" for a tap in bogey to save my blow up hole that I always do somewhere in my round. If someone watched me on that hole there is no way they would have believed I shot a 79.

 

All my rounds before the 79 had been in the 80's this yr.. Since then 104, 101, and high 90's. I'm guessing I've played 10 rounds or so. It's not that I am pressing to hard. I feel more relaxed. It could be a loss of focus..I'll find my way back.

[Roejye]

Expectation is the enemy if enjoyment, well said. I feel like I've actually played better when I've just gone out and played, not keeping score. Of course, I don't have any scores to prove it. I guess the closest thing I have is my last round where I kept track of my score and I got 7 holes in before dark. I hadn't played in almost a month so I didn't have any expectations. I just went out and took relaxed swings. I had my best driving day ever, yes I still had some mis-hits and a couple bogeys, couple doubles, but also a couple pars. I even ended on a nice par where I hooked an approach shot and left myself short sided, over a bunker, with some overhanging tree branches. I actually executed a low spinner that checked up on the fringe and 2 putted for par.

 

Then the next time I played I had some expectations, driver was not good, and generally felt like I played worse.

[larrybud]

Great round!

 

I tried to play the "stop caring" type of golf and played terrible, because I honestly didn't care. Focus wandered, and I just went through the motions.

 

I'm much better when I know exactly where I stand during a round.

[North Butte]

I don't know the exact count but since my first round in the 70's about eight years ago I've probably done it about a dozen times, even though my average scores are around 90. After careful analysis and observation over those years I've come to an unassailable conclusion about what factors lead to me breaking 80 on a given day...

 

Pure, blind, random luck. I am not thinking any different, swinging any different or doing anything at all differently on the day I happen to shoot 78 than on the day a few weeks earlier or later when I happened to shoot 81.

 

Sometimes I'm playing a little better and my scores will be low 80's with a chance of upper 70's. Other times I'm playing really bad and my scores will be high 80's to mid 90's. But that threshold of 79-and-under versus 80-and-over just happens to fall at a spot in my scoring dispersion where it feels for all the world like there has to be some meaning it in. For me, there is not. 

Edited October 31, 2022 by North Butte

[jackmfarrow]

Congrats. Had to feel a little sweeter making that putt under the pressure of knowing this is for 79