golfrewind.com

So i am playing and im thinking "ok im not doing to bad if i finish out the last three holes with pars or bogeys im good" so what do i go and do??

I shoot a triple bogey then 2 doubles to end up with a 48 on 9...



I guess i mentally collapsed.

it was especially bad since i was putting great all day but i just couldnt get enough good shots.
I've been doing this alot lately, any tips?

Quit counting and hit one shot at a time, as if it's the last shot of the day.

Shade

You played 66.66666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666 66666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666 66666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666... .......% of the course quite well. Would you have felt as bad if the FIRST 3 holes were triple, double, double and then strung 6 good holes together to end the day? You already know you can play good golf, it will just happen- just forget it and keep plugging away.

what if he 's got a scorecard ? I do the same stuff when I am flirting around with even or under par. Club championship I was setting on # 8 of the front 9 with a running 37 (par 36) after taking a double bogey on the first hole and my playing partner says your doing real good you should be near the top of the list. I relaxed and then put 2 in the trees on a par 5 ...... ended up with 8 and got a 41 for the front +5 on the par 5's is crazy I birdie or par those suckers everytime well amost evertime

Write the score down and move on...that scorecard is just a series of numbers - it's not making you keep a running tally, you choose to do that. Forget about how you stand to par and play the hole. As if it's the last hole you'll ever get to play.

Shade

I try to ignore my score until the round is over. I'm not good enough to say, "Well, if I birdie this last hole I can shoot ##." I just do my best on each hole and hope that it's good enough. Anytime I start watching the score, I start thinking too much and it changes my focus. Just focus on playing your game like normal and the score will take care of itself.

I sometimes finish better when I know what my tally is. If I'm having a good round and only have 2 or 3 holes left I'll add up my score to see how I'm doing. Then I'll give myself a goal for those last holes. I think it helps me manage the course better and focus more. I make better decisions and safer decisions when I know I can't miss a shot.

Here's my story - hope this helps you out:
I normally shoot in the low 90s. Last Saturday, I played alone and was in an unbelievable "Zone". I was three under at the turn and ended up shooting 81 (8 over). My previous best was 88.

When I reflect on this amazing round, the immediate conclusion I reach is that I was mentally focused on each shot.
I kept this focus throughout the round. NO score thoughts ("If I get a birdie then...") NO dwelling on bad shots (I had only 3!!), NO cellphone answering...NOTHING. Just focused on each shot and cleared my mind after I executed it. It wasn't easy....but it believe me - it works

Hope this helps,

Some people just cannot do that. Some minds may well be able to 'turn off' like that but mine for sure cant. Not only do i have my score in my head (i dont try to score, it just happens), I will automatically know my stableford score, number putts, number of fairways....

You are right though that it is preferable if you can forget. That is one reason why you find quite alot of 'stupid' people who manage to play fantastic golf!

I don't think tips will help! Willie, 11 year Master Teaching Golf Professional. Michigan's 1st Certified GolfPsych Instructor, Trainned by Dr. Debbie Graham, the head Dr. for Jansen, a 2-Time U.S. Open Champion. Tiger Wood Foundation, Youth Clinic Instructor, Detroit,1998, Author: The Feel Sensations of Golf(c) The Holy Grail of Golf(c)

It goes much further than that. From the Holy Grail of Golf(c), the mind can only focus on one thing at a time. One can think of many things at any one moment, but you, I, Adam, Tiger, everyone, can onlly truly focus on one thing durring the swing. As one can find out from reading the book, also it is just life, the way we are made up. The golf swing takes somewhere between 1 1/2 to 2 seconds to happen. At that time when you fall apart, it is because you are focusing on the wrong thing/s. Fact and feel in golf are different. When you feel your hands at the top of your backswing, you think your hands are where you feel them. They are not! They have already started down, moving back to the ball. Why? Because the swing is happening faster than the feel of the swing reaches the brain. Therefore, when you feel the hit of the ball, you believe you are feeling how you are hitting the ball when in fact it is not? What you and I are feeling is the feel of how we have hit the ball! The ball is gone, at least 12" away from your hands when we feel the hit. Understand that. When hitting the ball, if I am thinking about, how to swing, how to move something or not move something, how to do something with the ball, body, club, thinking , thinking not to hit it in the water, or not out of bounds, etc, there is no way you have time to focus on what a golfer should be focusing on, durring the swing. It's like driving down a street and going right past the street you knew you were to turn on, but you were to busy thinking about something else. Same thing in golf, because you are focusing on the wrong thing, you drive right past the ball! In a nutshell trying to keep this brief, since the mind can only focus on one thing at time, durring the swing and just before the swing, (The Holy Grail of Golf) you must, from a putt to sandtrap shot to the driver, see an image of the clubhead hitting the ball. I said an image, not watching the ball!. The Zone resides on the Right Side of our brains, there is our auto-matic self that does just that, takes care of those things that the body does without your help, automatic. Where a golfer goes wrong is when they use the hands or arms or body to try to make the ball do something, like go far, or up, or out there, or even worst, trying to make the ball go straight. None of those actions should be a golfer's goal or goals! One has no time to do any of the things that are needed to bring about the great shot that is expected. When trying to do something mechanic durring the swing, you are back at the driving range going from one thing to another, instead of focusing on using your hands and arms to deliver the clubhead to the ball, you are using them to try to hit the ball straight, up and out there. This action always, and I mean always, slows the hands down as they appoach the ball, (The fatal error) for any shot, from a putt, to a driver. The hands/handel of the club must always be gainning in speed, not the other way. Where intstructors made a big mistake in not telling a student, that it's your shoulderline, where it is pointing durring the downswing that determines where the ball goes. Why? Because the club always follows the shoulderline on the downswing. Once and after a golfer sets their shoulders and then set their lower body to be on the SAME LINE as the shoulders, they are then free to focus on nothing but seeing the image of the club hitting the ball, and the second thing that is needed before and durring the swing is, thinking, "Hit the ball solid, solid, hit it solid, and fire. The ball goes where it goes and go and play it. If the ball KEEPS going right, set your shoulders/lower body further left. If the ball Keeps going left, set your shoulders/lower body further right and go play golf. Never turn to a body part or a phyiscal action for the cause of the missed shot, (not on the golf course). Instead, ask these questions in this order: 1. Was I comforable and did I finish my swing in balance? If the answer is no, that's the reason you missed the shot. Correct the No and then hit the next shot. 2. IF
number #1. was a yes, then ask yourself, "Did I hit it solid? If not, get the club to make the essssss, or whoooooooo sound just behind the ball, not out in front of the ball, or if you have no sound, would mean the club is not swinging at all, you are just using force. Swing the club so it makes the esss or whooo sound and hit the next shot. Or 3. the final question, Did I really see the club or it's image hitting the ball? 85 - 95% of the time, I will bet you your answer will be NO! Fix it! Learn to trust your swing and make your own swing, the one that you can hit the ball solid each time and stay in balance and finishing with no tension in your body. As long as it produces the esss or whooo sound of the club's shaft and clubhead, that will be your natural swing. Stop trying to swing like someone else. Hitting the ball flush/solid is the best way to learn or find your golf swing. Breaking the swing down into many parts, means thinking on the left side of your brain, that means, you can't be in the Zone of the right sided brain, where peak proformances happens. Where we get our sense of feel, where we create thoughts into deeds, our auto-matic self. Without learning to give up the fear of hitting a bad shot, there is no tip that will help you. Find your own swing by hitting the ball solid, and not caring where it will go! If you are caring where the ball goes instead of thinking of hitting it solid and watching for the club to hit the ball, your mind will be somewhere else because you have yet to learn to trust your shoulderline setup to take the ball to the traget. Stop using your hands and arms to try to make the ball go straight, instead use them to take the club to the ball. Just keep the head, not some much as down, but back and think hit the ball solid. The ball in time will have to keep going within the same direction/area. As long as the shot was solid and the body feel at the finish is correct, that is your swing. Then and only then can you make the adjustments to get the ball on line, i.e., grip, clubface position at address, ball position, etc. the small things that takes a good golfer to the next level. Good luck with controlling your thoughts durring the swing!

Willie

The truth is almost every round includes 15 or 16 adequate to good holes and 2 to 3 bad holes. The key is to minimized the damage on the bad holes and not blow up. If you'll notice, this even happens to the pros. But when it happens, you'll see them working hard to stop the leaks and keep the damage to a minimum. The mistake I see too many weekend golfers make is that they'll get into a little trouble and then try to make the superman (or superwoman) shot instead of taking their medicine and doing something sensible like chipping out to the fairway instead of trying the big right to left draw around the tree and onto the green. Play the percentages and you'll recover and be up and down more often than not.

Brex1010, you pretty much changed my entire focus on the golf course. All of the time i'm always thinking of where to hit it, but i should be just thinking of hitting it solid and it will take care of the rest....

Thanks for all of the feedback so far.

You've got to be able to break out of those comfort zones.

I'm reminded of the old adage, "The Kiss of Death." For those that don't know, the notorious kiss of death is making birdie on the very first hole. Even though golfers attempt to make it a truism, it's nothing but hogwash.

Last Sunday, I birdied the first three holes, back-to-back-to-back. Think I didn't know that I had just birdied the first three holes as I stood on the 4th tee at -3 for the round? Sure I did. How could you not know that! I went on to play some of the most consistent golf this season.

You've got to be willing to remove yourself from your current comfort zone and move forward, making new comfort zones. EXPECT to play well, not worse, when good things happen. It would've been very easy for me to concede the remainder of that round last Sunday, given that I started out playing great. But I didn't. I realized that I was moving into a new comfort zone, and I gained experience by accepting it as opposed of fighting it, and stuck to my routine of playing it one shot at a time, not looking ahead.

Just like when you were a kid and growing... you had to get new shoes when you grew -- the old ones became to small. Your golf game is very much the same! You've got to be willing to move on to bigger and better things, and sometimes those new shoes don't feel as comfortable as the old ones did, but they will with time. Nothing more than "growing pains."

Relish the opportunity, don't run from it. :)

i used to count my card to the 5,s,ie my average was from 87 to 92 so a 90 = 18 5,s,i am averaging 82 and stopping counting the score has heped me,i am obviously aware if i am doing good but my best at local is 81 and if i know that if 4 at 18th would get me a 79 then i think i would put myself under pressure.My total concentration is too drive the ball onto fairway with no swing thoughts[keep them for the range]then total concentration next shot to green,then total concentration on holing the first putt,all these actions take care of the score,i also try to be positive,if i have a bad hole then believe i can pull it back,my mates call me steady eddie as i very rarely fluff shots,my friend informed me 2 weeks ago that at the 7th i was one under the fours,this meant if i got 2 par 4,s for 8th and 9th then i would be sitting 35,i took 6 and 5 = first 9 38,knowing good score tends to make people either bottle it and sabotage,or get too cocky and take on silly shots

Thanks for letting me know I helped! You are on your way to a lifetime of solid golf. By getting it, that tells me you are a Feel Golfer, therefore you should never turn to a body part or a phyiscal action for the cause of a missed shot. Keep turning to those mental questions of, "Did I finish in balance and was I comfortable?, to the making the whooo or esss sound in the swing happen behind the ball? to the last one of, "Did I really see the club hitting the ball? Continued good luck with Playing Golf by feel in the Now, THE ZONE!