Talk about a blowup

[ezra76]

No blowup today... at the end anyway, lol. Twofast and I drove up well north of Boston to play a course called Meadows at Peabody. Should have been called fing Mountains at Peabody. It was ridiculously hilly. I'm talking 150yd. marker being a GW on 1 hole and a 5iron on another.

A few holes I hit it inside 150 and still couldn't see the green. Had to walk up 30-40yds. and find something to aim at. I made some good swings and some bad ones. Driver was decent and 3W was better. Still made a bunch of doubles and shot 95. Played the par 3's at +6, that's a stat that hurt. I've been having some trouble hitting off downhill lies as well. Not even long shots, like PW and 9i. A $hanked a 9iron from point blank range after a great drive and made a 7 on a par 4. That one will stay with me unfortunately.

That's part of my problem I think, mental game wise. I feel like I'm trying to guard against my worst miss more than making my best shot. Not that I need to play more agressive, just have to trust I can hit the shot and execute. That's part of the reason I'm pretty decent at pitching and chipping I think as well. I know I'm good at it and don't really have any reservations. The only thing I'm thinking of is hitting my spot.

[Eracer]

You know, this game is all about how we deal with 95% poor results, and 5% good results - at best. I don't care what level you play at, you are going to have many, many more poor shots than good ones. Ben Hogan himself said that he only hits 2 or 3 good shots per round.

I think it's very important to train ourselves to visualize the result we want, then focus on the shot we want to hit. It's hard to forget about the poor shots, but I'm convinced that that's one of the keys to what they call "mental toughness."

Try to have a mental database of good shots to call on. Talk to yourself out there. Tell yourself what kind of a shot you're going to play, each and every time you step up to the ball. I've recently started doing just that - openly talking myself through the shot - and I'll be damned if I'm not starting to see positive results.

Just a thought...

[ezra76]

Nothing to blow up today, played like crap the whole time. Met up with RickinMA for a round at ExeterCC. I shot a horrific 49 on the front and a 45 on the back, off the GD white tees. Just fullfilling my theory, I really do play worse off the whites than the blues. Every course I play up closer, I score worse. I checked, my worst round there this year was a 91 off the tips.

Rick is a great guy to play with, had a good time despite being very worn out and my elbow about to fall apart.

If I can take anything from this round... "stop trying to draw the GD driver already!!". I hit it great when I setup open for a cut, plenty long. I can draw the 3W no problem. I really need to just hit driver when I trouble is left and 3W when it's on the right... or both. I hit 3 deep drives on 3 of the par 5's and only played them bogey, bogey, birdie. The last one pissed me off as I had a 6i in and totally hit an OTT fat as hell shot that killed my elbow. Then I hit an 8i next and yanked it, over the green by 30yds.

[twofast2s]

i wish i played w/ you guys.

i've been golf craze for past month or so lately, but i need to get back to studying and applying again this year.

i'll probably spend time at the range little more as i don't want to lose anything that i've worked so hard for, but i'm gonna cut down playing golf this month (one round a week at least though )until at least i'm done w/ the application.

[RickinMA]

this was one of my ugliest rounds in recent memory - highlights included:
1) hitting the first fairway and first green, only to 4 putt for a double
2) recording a 9 on a par 5 after going OB then shanking #3 off the tee
3) pretty sure there was a snowman on the front side of the card
4) leaving a few in the "sand"
5) putting 3 tee shots in the water before finally getting the 4th to land 3 feet from the edge (on a tree root) - got a 12 on that hole
6) didn't hit a single fairway on the back
7) putting was horrible - because I missed so many greens and had to chip up, I would have liked to make a couple of 8-10 footers (the 4 putt on the first hole set the tone for the day)

so, I played horrible, but still enjoyed myself - I'll need to get back to that course soon and try again

[warbirdlover]

I've fallen into a giant slump but it's from a lack of concentration. I know that's all it is. I can't keep my thoughts on the shot and my brain just wanders off into la..la.. land and I screw up the shot.

How in the world do you address that? Do they make pills for it? Is it senility setting in? And it's greatly influenced by the people I play with or the reason I'm playing.

Mention "league" and you can add 5-6 strokes to my score. I try too hard, overswing, tense up etc etc.

Windy conditions does the same thing.

I have my swing down and the swing thoughts needed to hit good shots with everything in my bag. I have the clubs that have proven to work best for me. And yet....

[gwlee7]

Just to let you guys know that the blowups still happen down South, I went 36 - 42 on this past Saturday's tournament to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

This wonderful 42 had three double bogeys, two bogeys, 2 birdies, and 2 pars. I even managed to shank a lob wedge waaaay right into a hazard from 85 yards in the middle of the fairway for my third into a long par 5. I have not shanked a ball in an actual round of golf in years.

[Eracer]

Originally Posted by warbirdlover

I've fallen into a giant slump but it's from a lack of concentration. I know that's all it is. I can't keep my thoughts on the shot and my brain just wanders off into la..la.. land and I screw up the shot.

How in the world do you address that? Do they make pills for it? Is it senility setting in? And it's greatly influenced by the people I play with or the reason I'm playing.

Isn't that the truth. I've been getting kind of rude with people lately. If they talk negatively I ask them to keep it to themselves. If they try to rush things along, I tell them I don't want to hear it. And if they talk,talk, talk, talk talk? I keep stepping away from the shot until they shut the hell up.

I know I should learn to deal with (and simply ignore) this kind of thing, but I find it very hard, and it definitely affects my game.

[Stooonne]

Originally Posted by twofast2s

i think you're thinking too much. trap draw, high cut fade, etc... why don't you just hit straight shots?

Probably best for an 11 handicapper to have one consist shot anyways. Easier to hit a draw on every shot than to play a different ball flight for every hole. Rarely you'll face a hole where you must play a cut off the tee or something, but it shouldn't be too common.

I've always played my best golf when it 'feels' boring because it's draw, draw, draw, draw, etc. But that's when my scores become lower, thus, more fun