I played 18 holes by myself Wednesday morning (8:00am). Shot abot a 92 (average as of late). Biggest problem was driver and mental (lifted up on a lot of shots to see where they were going). Hit some decent shots and some bad ones no big deal. Later the same day (7:00pm) I went to the range. Started out pretty good, then all of the sudden, I could not get comfortable over a shot. Some jerk pulled up in a truck directly behind me at the range and just sat there looking at me. Made me nervous. I could not make contact with the ball. My setup felt wrong, I couldnt seem to find the right posture or distance from the ball. Hit shanks, tops, fats, any combination of the three. Pulls, slices, hooks, pushes...etc. You name it. I couldnt hit the ball. What do you do when this happens? or does it just happen to me? I know that my score may not reflect this but I am a pretty good ballstriker but I couldnt do anything right. Then I went out Sunday afternoon and hit the ball better than I had in a long time, and to me it felt like I was doing everything the same as Wednesday but for some reason it felt good and worked on Sunday.
Last edited by dblain : November 7th, 2006 at 06:31 AM.
When this happens I check my grip, alignment, and posture. Like you said you were probably nervous because of that guy behind you, you just have to learn to overcome that fear.
No matter how good or bad you played yesterday...it will have no influence on the next time out. Trust me. You can follow a 68 with an 88 and vice versa ...lol.
i've been hititng awful on the range with my new irons off the mats and literally was hitting all the shots you describe. Seems to be a case of trying too hard and the mental side with the range in my case. Played well on the course the last couple of rounds so the two seem to be chalk and cheese for me. There are loads of threads with advice about shanks etc that i read up on, i'd recommend a good search as there's loads of good advice in them from far better players than me.
Throw my hat, curse, grind my teeth and make my caddy miserable...seriously I just slow it all down, take a deep breath and start with all the basics...I heard that Fred Couples slowly outlines a tree on the course with his eyes from top to bottom when he feels like he is shaken...a form of meditation I suppose but I have tried it and it works to a degree...if you develop checkpoints in your swing you can use those with a few practice swings to feel the groove again...
Breathe slowly and try to hit slow. I have a tendency to get quick, so I stand over the ball and pick a spot 200 yards away with my driver. I know I can hit further but only try to reach the 200 yards. It usually works, with the ball flying past the 250 yard marker.If I am hitting an iron I take one more, making me slow down.
What cues do you use for posture and distance from the ball? How do you know if it is correct when noone is there to help?
the only thing you can do is go back to basics, if it's not there, it's not there. you go home and forget about it because there will be days like that were nothing goes right. it's only a game.
ALMOST ALWAYS: if i remember ! tell myself to keep head still and loosen grip somewhat...i get out of the bad shot rut, and i bet it has to do w/ trust your mind muscle memory when nervous....
Take time off the full swing is usually the best course of action for me. During these times, I usually work a lot on putting concentrating on good posture, alignment, etc. I find it usually translates back into the full swing. If it happens during a round, I usually try and calm down and just forget about the score all together. Most of the time, I still keep track of the score, but have the scorecard turned around so I wont pay attention to it.
November 6th, 2006, 09:37 PM
and vice versa 
...lol.
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