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2 under on the front, 11 over on the back

anonymous golfaholic

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Has anyone ever just forgot how to swing mid-round? My take away starting feeling foreign and I couldn't hit the ball solid to save my life. Talk about a confidence killer. If only I would have started with a bad front 9 and finished strong, I might still have my sanity. Hahaha, gotta love golf!
 

Augster

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Mar 9, 2005
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Nerves, whether you recognize them or not.

Monday, on a tough, tight country club course, I got it to 5 under through 12 holes. The only shot I missed was a 6-foot birdie putt on the 6th. I kept putting it in the fairway, but I stopped hitting greens. Finished double-double to shoot 5 over on the back and shoot 2 over overall. 7 over on my final 6 holes.

I didn't feel nervous at all. But its in there somewhere.

The only way to not get nervous in such situations is to either, A, absolutely not know what your score is. Even knowing your turn score you knew you were playing well, or B. get there again.

The next time you turn at 2-under, you won't be nearly as nervous because you've done it before and you'll do it again. The more times you do it, the less nervous it will make you. Soon it'll be a habit. Hopefully.

All I can recommend is to fall back on Rotella's teachings. Solid pre-shot routine, then a conservative strategy with a cocky swing.
 
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anonymous golfaholic

anonymous golfaholic

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Keeping a great round together has always been the hardest thing for me to do...especially during a competitive round. And you are 100% percent right, the more times you can put yourself in a pressure situation, the more easily you can deal with it.

Yesterday, it wasn't nerves though. It was just a casual round at an easy little course. I've shot under par there before, it's not like I was trying to keep record breaking round together. I just blew the hell up, hahaha. I really wasn't hitting the ball very well on the front, I just scored well. I was hitting shots where I wanted to, I just wasn't striking it solid. Then the more concerned I became over a bunch of clunky shots, the worse my swing started to feel. I couldn't find my slot at the top of my backswing, nothing felt right. I couldn't even catch the ball clean on chip shots. It just kept getting worse and worse. By then, I had already quit grinding and was half heartidly hitting putts. I was in a funk.

That is how golf is though. I've had many, many days like that before...and I expect I'll have many more.
 

shep3470

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Apr 5, 2009
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Golf sure is a funny game isn't it? Just think if you shot 11 over going out and 2 under coming in, that round would have felt different.

Gotta love those rounds when you start off terrible and finish strong. Last week I shot 6 over on the front but managed to play the back even. That 78 felt just as good as the 36-38=74 I shot the week before.
 

EddieC

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Feb 1, 2006
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I kill myself with the one shot WTF. Yesterday front 9 37, playing well, get to 10, 187 to pin par 3, huge green, over a pond. I care nothing about the pond, don't give it a second thought, easy shot right....I mean the ball's on a frickin tee, it's a 6 iron. I hit the thing fat and splash it.....this one shot infuriates me to the point that I duff the drop, and finally take a 6 on this hole. Shot a 48 on the back...... I really need to learn this "All I can recommend is to fall back on Rotella's teachings. Solid pre-shot routine, then a conservative strategy with a cocky swing". Thanks for the quote Augs!
 

VtDivot

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Apr 16, 2005
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35-45 for me yesterday.

I'm blaming it on fatigue and conditions leading to a lack of focus.

It's been raining for weeks, so the course was slop, nearly impossible to get crisp contact unless you strike it perfect. It hit great tee balls, but the grind wore me down. Add to that the humidity and lugging my bag around in that wet slop, it felt like I was playing in quicksand.
 

Wi-Golfer

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Has anyone ever just forgot how to swing mid-round? My take away starting feeling foreign and I couldn't hit the ball solid to save my life.

Had a rd last year where that happened, everything felt weird on the backswing, it was as if it was my 1st time ever swinging a club and the results showed it.
 
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anonymous golfaholic

anonymous golfaholic

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Well, was just having a bad day. Went back out played well...made my first eagle of the year on the 18th hole to get back to even for the day. So I have my sanity back just in time for a tournament next week. I don't expect to win by no means because I don't know the course very well and it's private (Victoria National in Newburg, IN)so I can't practice.
 

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