What do you do when your game falls apart?

I had a nasty game on Sunday. I felt battered by the golfing gods and nothing I was doing went right. What I instantly noticed was:

1. Loss of confidence in all shots, particularly the short game.
- This is dangerous since I ended up either duffing or skulling.

2. Inability to remain focused.
- The more upset I became, the less focused I was.

3. Rapidly becoming exhausted.
- This came from all the running around looking for golf balls in the jungle etc.

What do you do when this happens (hopefully, it doesn't happen too often)? What would you recommend to help overcome the issues above?

Tips, suggestions, comments appreciated.

i think it was all mental, you keep letting the bad stuff generate more and more negativity and it just fed on itself.

if i play very badly, i will take a break.
skip a hole or 2 to recover a bit mentally and physically.

i share your pain...... hope i can help u out

1) dun be gung-ho, just play bogey, goto your comfortable club, if u need 3x 8i to get on the green, so be it.... short game, just need more practise

2) play hole by hole, if u mess up 1 hole, forget about it, dun try to recover the loss strokes (u will never recover if u lack confidence) so tell yourself every hole is a new 18

3) becos no buggy mah, time to hit the gym if u want to walk the course again, btw tot the caddy will help u look for golf balls

i dunno, i tend to do very well on the index 1 or 2 holes. I keep thinking that bogey is all it is needed. I tend to play it short and go for 3 on. Most of the time end up with bogey and occasional pars.

But those higher index holes are like.... well..B2B or more chain disasters.

I would say disasters often happen if we try to pull off shots beyond our skills. Maybe you were trying to hit it further to outdrive the buayas in your flights or trying to hook around the tree like chocoman etc and end up in forest? Then it requires a lot of shots with good skills to get it back into the game. Instead of chipping out, you try to attack the green and end up hitting trees and more trouble. Thus executing only shots within your skill level helps.

BTW, i said these cos i am guilty of all the above....hahaha give me 5-5!

TS, r u asking abt durin the game or after the game?

Here's a few I will use during the game:
- Ur mental approach to the game must change. Even after I hit a horrendous shot, I will tell myself that the next one will be a good one(even if it isn't).

- Think positive. Instead of telling urself "Dun hit this OB, dun 3-putt this hole, dun put it into the bunker etc", you have to tell urself "I'm gonna stiff this close and drain that putt".

- Limit ur disasters. Take your medicine. Even when u hit a drive OB or into the water. Play ur P ball to ur percentages. It can mean teeing off again but with a more confident club like a 5wd or 5i even if its a long hole.

- Enjoy the scenery. Admiring nature helps calm the nerves and forget everything bad that has happened.

After a disaster game:

- I get away from it totally. Do something totally unrelated for a week or so. Can be listening to music, go practice a music instrument u had not touched for awhile etc.

- Start slow again. Hit some balls at the range. Dun overdo it. Slowly build up confidence in those clubs u r more proficient in.

- Play an easier course if u wanna golf. That helps ur confidence abit.

Great feedback folks.

I think the one thing which I find most important is confidence. The loss of confidence starts with the short game and if left unchecked, it permeates into the long game. There is an urgent need to cauterize the bleeding here.

What I did to help myself was to simply avoid chips/pitches from around the green (perhaps anywhere from 5-10 feet from the fringe of the green). I know this is crazy but I opted to use my putter. At least this gave me a chance of sending the ball onto the green (rather than over if I skulled it or before if I duffed it). Slowly, it helped me control the game a little.

But the shots which were crucial such as those within 120m to the green (9i-SW) were brutal. I couldn't control them at all. I lost all measurement of distance vs strength. Tough man. I had to revert to using clubs like 5i-9i to do chips/pitches and runs.

i blame it on the club and change to mizuno....haha !!

(that is for you, TS only)...haha !!

snowman[left]

Bro TS, for you (only).... when your game fall apart... stop using driver and uncover that Cleveland Hybrid and do your things... until you find your confidence back.

If needed, you can putt with your those hybrids as well

During the game, i will blame it on the weather, the birds, the squirrel, the noisy people on the other fairway etc.. it's everything, everyone's fault but mine. laugh it off and 'bluff' myself that that was just 'unfortunate', i can definitely play better than that!

After the game then it's time to reflect.. go range and practise.. go back to basics..

I think thats wad i do..

I think its important to have a good start. Better still if you have the time to hit some balls off the range before tee off.

But most of the time its straight off the car, into the changing rooms, and poof! 1st tee.

If you play off the white tee, some par4s are just over 300m to maybe 400m at most, and most of the time you don't really need the BIG driver.

Get in the groove of your swing before pulling out the big guns. Maybe start with a rescue or a 3wood?

I like to start my 1st shot with my trustee 4iron, and I use it for most par 4s off the white tee.

Find a comfortable club or a go-to shot that you know you can play when you most need it in times of funk.

I store swing self analysis and tips from range sessions in my phone. That could help too.

Good luck TS! You can do it!

Thanks, chaps!

I was actually referring to what you would do midway through the game. You know, after 4-5 holes when you suddenly realize that no matter how good a swing, your ball is going to end up either in the bushes or get eaten up a roving crocodile. Things just aren't working out.

I gave up cursing cause I realize that the more I do, the more frustrated I become and I feel bad for my flightmates who have to tolerate my behavior. I just chuckle and enjoy the whipping.

That said, I think golf is a game of control. It's about controlling shots but more importantly, controlling emotions. Once emotions run wild, it's difficult to get them in check. The wilder things are, the worse it becomes.

Best to take a breather and collect oneself.

You can't really help it if a crocodile eats your ball, or a monkey steals your putter from an unmanned buggy. I mean if its gonna happen, its GONNA happen.

What you can control, like you mentioned, is your attitude and mindset.

But should that fail, just pop open a few cans or bottles and

Usually it helps

Thanks TS for posting this - I definitely can relate to this as it happens too often with me Usually I take a 2-prong approach which seems to help somewhat:

1) Mental: Think positive. I usually tell myself to enjoy the time out on the course, and the company of my flightmates. I mean, hey playing golf is way better than being stuck in the office isn't it? I also remind myself that there's always the range and another game the following week.

And well, if I really need to post a decent score to feel better about my game, then:

2) Physical: I try to accept that you're having a bad day and stick to the safe options. Putt instead of chip when I can, lay up instead of chiong, etc... hopefully by doing that at some point I regain confidence and start hitting well again.

And TS and a few other replies have already got it absolutely right - I think its pointless losing temper or getting upset. Chances for a recovery would be even less. Golf is a strange game

Continue to be a good flight mate.....

and most importantly....since you had so many good shots, that can only mean, there is almost none left...so your next game, the only shots are good shots....

poundpuppy wrote:

Thanks TS for posting this - I definitely can relate to this as it happens too often with me Usually I take a 2-prong approach which seems to help somewhat:

1) Mental: Think positive. I usually tell myself to enjoy the time out on the course, and the company of my flightmates. I mean, hey playing golf is way better than being stuck in the office isn't it? I also remind myself that there's always the range and another game the following week.

And well, if I really need to post a decent score to feel better about my game, then:

2) Physical: I try to accept that you're having a bad day and stick to the safe options. Putt instead of chip when I can, lay up instead of chiong, etc... hopefully by doing that at some point I regain confidence and start hitting well again.

And TS and a few other replies have already got it absolutely right - I think its pointless losing temper or getting upset. Chances for a recovery would be even less. Golf is a strange game

Good advice! Thanks!

For me, when my swing fell apart mid way through the round. If the iron are having problems, I will try to choke down my clubs a bit, and shorten my swing. sort of 3/4 swing. It helps me to have more control on the the club head. I limit my irons selection from 7 irons onwards.

easy, i have the same thought process.
1) try to recall the feeling of a good shot, even if it was on the driving range
2) tempo, tempo and tempo
3) all I get to lose is the ball

rpt 1,2 3

p/s it's futile to start analyse one's swing on the course, it distracts you. leave the tweaking on the range.

Technospaz wrote:

Tips, suggestions, comments appreciated.

Give up playing become a coach....

touchdown!

if i do i just do easy swing to try to make game more simple for 3 hole .... like 3 wood , 5 iron , maybe normal chip , put. for 2 or 3 holes just to calm dowm my temper n my mental . then i try to go normaly. i can told u thinking too much thing for u swing is maybe worst than not thinking !!!!!

my game broke down recently, and i seem to have lost my iron swing lately, have trouble 'closing' my club face so i either slice it or shank it (gasp). so i'm now back at the range trying to correct it, coz this problem seems to have stuck fairly permanently sobz

but dunno what the bros and sistas here think of this:

2 months back, i had a game with a client, and it was his putting that broke down. push, pull, overshoot, not enough power, he seemed to do everything possible to miss the hole. his best was a 4-putt. All this at MBGC on a saturday morning, so the marshall's constant rushing didn't help his nerves. he skipped putting on 1 hole, and skipped 1 hole entirely to calm his nerves, but didn't really help.
we all laughed it off initially, and despite putting poorly we got along. I've always sucked so i was no problem, but my senior colleague who was very experienced even purposely "bang zui", give chance and play badly and still be joker to lighten the mood.
But after consistently missing even easy putts for 4-5 holes, and some marshalls on our back, his form never came. Now THAT was a disaster day for him...

Any ideas for that?

bro TS,

what the bro's here advised are good... and tht's what i normally do.....

but today, i have a similar game as you...... normally i can savage something from the game... but not today....sigh...

worse part, i cant stop or skip a few holes or shots and gota continue till the end. (some betting involved...)


i decided to stop golf for a while....... (yes, is tht bad)


good luck to you.

hey guys , dont worries for that we call it a black out muscle memories. play 2morow n everything will be gd