Golf Physc :-(

technodub

Really starting to get frustrated with my golf game. Im playing off 9 been up to 10 and back down to 9 now but I know I can play better then that. It may sound big headed or cocky but I feel like im a 5/6 handicapper trapped in a 9! p :rolleyes:

Basically like every golfer I have good days and bad, more bad then good mind you but I can live with that my attitude when making mistakes is getting better with time albeit still frustrating when 3 putting from a good birdie chance but still I find the physcology getting the better of me. Today for example I played Palmerstown house and went around the front nine in +1 (22 pts). I then 3 putted ten and 3 putted 11 and lost my head and unded up shooting +11 on the back nine which is really annoying! One thing im really struggling with is my chipping which was never an issue before but know I have no confidence with the sand wedge in my hand from 30 yards in. This has only come on the last couple of months and was always a strong part of my game but at this stage its completely in my head as I stand over the ball. I regulary play 14/15 holes very well but have 3 or 4 stinkers in there too.

Anybody got any tips or any experience in problems like this? Also can anybody recommend any good golf physcology books? Really willing to try put in the work to save my soul!

Macker1

I have listened to the audio books of Dr Bob Rotella and found them to be a great help in dealing with the mental aspect of the game. I used to listen to them when bringing the dog for a walk. Very easy to listen too and some great simple tips.

Not getting in the way of your own swing and such like. It has definitely helped me improve my game this year. I've reduced the handicap down and enjoyed some wins but most importantly of all I don't let my mind get away with itself after good or bad shots/holes.

Best of luck

Danny dyers double

As I said earlier I'm starting to think iv a mental issue when it comes to a stretch of 4 holes on my home course , I mean iv often been 3or 4 shots up on my HC and playing very well and then take 2 or 3 points from these 4 holes . It's crazy stuff because it happens every round and lately I find myself dreading these holes before I even get to them

technodub

Macker1 wrote: »

I have listened to the audio books of Dr Bob Rotella and found them to be a great help in dealing with the mental aspect of the game. I used to listen to them when bringing the dog for a walk. Very easy to listen too and some great simple tips.

Not getting in the way of your own swing and such like. It has definitely helped me improve my game this year. I've reduced the handicap down and enjoyed some wins but most importantly of all I don't let my mind get away with itself after good or bad shots/holes.

Best of luck

Cheers mate I used to have the rotella books but never got a chance to listen and then my harddrive broke.. Were did you get them?

I hear ya on the four holes mate mine aint any in particular but no matter how well i play i always have 3/4 bad holes

Montgolfier

I downloaded the iPhone app "the mind factor" from Karl Morris, it's very good.
There's a free section but I paid €11 for the additional files well worth it.
I knocked off 2 shots since buying it a month ago.

technodub

Montgolfier wrote: »

I downloaded the iPhone app "the mind factor" from Karl Morris, it's very good.
There's a free section but I paid €11 for the additional files well worth it.
I knocked off 2 shots since buying it a month ago.

I have android mate and it aint there!:mad:

charlieIRL

Don't be giving that lad any tips, he'll be on the opposite team in the Ryder jug!!!!!ðŸ˜ðŸ˜

technodub

charlieIRL wrote: »

Don't be giving that lad any tips, he'll be on the opposite team in the Ryder jug!!!!!ðŸ˜ðŸ˜

Haha is that the same ryder jug you guys have won 2 years in a row? I need the help dont be a hater

Ciaranra

9 or 10 is were your game is at.
Most of us think were better than we are.
To be playing of 6 or 7 is serious golf its a big gap from 10,
It might seem only 2 or 3 shots but a good round for 10 handicap is 6 or 7 over.
Good round for 6 handicap prob level or 1 or 2 over

FixdePitchmark

Funny I have the opposite problem. Don't think I'm up to single figure golf.

The books are excellent. Rottella.

I didn't . But listening to them on cd/mp3 would be a good way to do it.

Golfgraffix

I find that when a round is starting to get way from me that setting small targets help. You will often hear me during around say out loud "ok, level par for the next three holes"

Seems to focus my mind and if nothing else helps me concentrate on what is in the now rather than dwelling on what happened before.

J

FixdePitchmark

Golfgraffix wrote: »

I find that when a round is starting to get way from me that setting small targets help. You will often hear me during around say out loud "ok, level par for the next three holes"

Seems to focus my mind and if nothing else helps me concentrate on what is in the now rather than dwelling on what happened before.

J

More like.
"1 under for last 7".

No J . You are good at this.

DiegoWorst

technodub wrote: »

Anybody got any tips or any experience in problems like this?:D

I think most people have experienced what you're going through, its part of the game
Rotella's books are very simple and very good.

Whenever I start counting stableford points in the middle of a round I know I'm toast. I always try to play one hole at a time.

On your wedge play, try not to focus so much on the ball, but keep a landing spot in your mind's eye, you'd be amazed at how easy it is to land the ball pretty close to a mark you've picked out on the green.

DiegoWorst

Ciaranra wrote: »

9 or 10 is were your game is at.
Most of us think were better than we are.
To be playing of 6 or 7 is serious golf its a big gap from 10,
It might seem only 2 or 3 shots but a good round for 10 handicap is 6 or 7 over.
Good round for 6 handicap prob level or 1 or 2 over

I'd have to disagree with this, but maybe the term "good round" is relative?
I would say breaking 80 is a good round for a 6 handicapper - shooting low 70's would be a terrific round.

Rikand

Ciaranra wrote: »

9 or 10 is were your game is at.
Most of us think were better than we are.
To be playing of 6 or 7 is serious golf its a big gap from 10,
It might seem only 2 or 3 shots but a good round for 10 handicap is 6 or 7 over.
Good round for 6 handicap prob level or 1 or 2 over

having played against technodub 2 years ago, i can safely say he should be much lower than 9 or 10

phenomenal ball striker, excellent short game!

also as a 5 handicapper anywhere around my handicap is a good round. Level par would be exceptional!

razorblunt

I posted something similar in the "How was your last round". The first 4 holes of my home course, to me, are just a "get them out of the way" approach, in fact the front 9 is like that. Went around them +1 over 5s yesterday (best by far in a long while) and was then -6 for 5s on the back 9 (4 par threes).

The first hole is a shocker, worst par three I've ever seen, 2nd is a mental battle as to how I will approach it, 3rd is a killer if my slice plays up, 4th is my nemesis, the out of bounds rough on the right has a magnet for my ball.

Next round I've decided to start on the 10th and keep those holes as 10,11,12,13 of my round, completely different tack when it comes to shots, hybrids on the 1st, 3rd and 4th, layup on the second, will see what happens.

geeksauce

I generally struggle on a couple of holes in my local course, my nemesis holes if you will but recently when getting to them I now just attack them, whereas before I always played them defensively so as to avoid making mistakes.

Don't get me wrong if there is OB on the left I aim well right but don't just try stroke the ball up the right with an anywhere will do attitude I take the driver and give it a good rip same as I do on the other holes without danger. It has worked to a certain extent and now I no longer fear these holes instead I look forward to the challenge.

technodub

Ciaranra wrote: »

9 or 10 is were your game is at.
Most of us think were better than we are.
To be playing of 6 or 7 is serious golf its a big gap from 10,
It might seem only 2 or 3 shots but a good round for 10 handicap is 6 or 7 over.
Good round for 6 handicap prob level or 1 or 2 over

Thats quite a ridiculous post mate. You dont know my game I do! If a 6 handicapper is shooting level or +1 he wont be six for long! Shooting level to your handicap while playing well is were your handicap should be as thats the whole point. Im consistently playing rounds were I will have 32-38 points without actually playing that well!

DiegoWorst wrote: »

I'd have to disagree with this, but maybe the term "good round" is relative?
I would say breaking 80 is a good round for a 6 handicapper - shooting low 70's would be a terrific round.

Exactly my thoughts

Rikand wrote: »

having played against technodub 2 years ago, i can safely say he should be much lower than 9 or 10

phenomenal ball striker, excellent short game!

also as a 5 handicapper anywhere around my handicap is a good round. Level par would be exceptional!

Cheers pal hows your game at the moment?

Has anybody got the rotella audio books they could share with me??

Boskowski

Have a look around, they're 'out there' (cough). I'd probably be infracted if I'd go any further than this.

Edit: In my defence I have most of his books in actual book form legally purchased and all.

technodub

Thanks for thd help folks

technodub

Well Iv been listening to Mr Rotella and without feeling any different it has obviously done something. I went and practised for 90 mins on fri and chipped quite well, best I have done in months. Took it to the course today, played open singles on the O Meara course in Carton house. Shot +6 which included 2 birdies, 10 pars, 5 bogeys and 1 triple bogey @ a par 3! Played the par 3s in +4 which was shocking as they aint that tough. Genuinely chipped like a demon though as my short irons were not nailed in didnt leave myself with too many birdie oppportunitys but got up and down 8/9 times in the round which left me feeling very satisfied. Also finished with four 3 pointers (-1) after a bad run of 3 bogeys, a par and a triple between holes 10 & 14. Allin all very happy with the days work and I could have easily improved the score but its a step in the right direction. 40 Points which will bring me comfortably back down to 9 and Im going to play the junior scratch in the heritage on sat in good form :eek::D:rolleyes:

Thanks for the help folks!

Ciaranra

Good scoring technodub maybe it is a ridiculous post mate.
Thats my opionion prove me wrong lets see you get to 6 or 7

FixdePitchmark

Great to hear Techno - well unless you bring that form to the jug

I have the cds ordered and am going to listen to them in the car.

My major problem is actually accepting I'm a single figure golfer. Strange as that sounds. I'm sort of intimidated by my handicap. Bizarre . I guess when your handicap drops (particularly if it drops fast) - it can be a strange thing to actually get use to going out and saying - If I do as I should do here - I'll have a 78 / 77.

It is a totally mental game - yesterday I decided , that I should just do what I can do, on back 9 and was 1 over. I'm absolutely sure this was a mental process and during the round I was aware of it. Then your confidence builds and builds.

So - will take time for me to adjust to lower scoring - hoping the cd helps.

Ciaranra

Maybe i should of said a great round insted of a good round my bad

technodub

Ciaranra wrote: »

Maybe i should of said a great round insted of a good round my bad

Well it wasnt a great round as i lost my way in the middle a little and a triple is never welcome. When im on song I give myself alot of birdie opportunitys and today I didnt but chipped like a dream. I will prove you wrong.... I hope :rolleyes:

Ye its all in the head fixde best thing we can do is stay out of our own ways. Alot of the time I get ahead of myself when playing well and start thinking about my end score or 9 hole score today I did a good job staying focused on each shot and was delighted to regain composure after the bad strech from 10-14. 1-9 I was (+1) 10-14 (+6) and 15-18 (-1)! Looking forward to finally taking that jug home :rolleyes:

Ciaranra

I had 68 in captains weekend shot.8 over.
Happy with score but if i look back i could have been at least 4 shots better.
All im saying is we look at the shots we left out there never the twenty foot put we sank or the lucky bounces

technodub

Ciaranra wrote: »

I had 68 in captains weekend shot.8 over.
Happy with score but if i look back i could have been at least 4 shots better.
All im saying is we look at the shots we left out there never the twenty foot put we sank or the lucky bounces

Maybe but I know my game and I didnt hole anything outside 6 foot today and to play the par 3's in +4 was shocking as they aint that hard. I believe im a solid 6/7 handicapper so lets see how the rest of the year goes!

Axel Lamp

What are the Rotella books/CDs called?

Ciaranra

Not easy par 3s in the o meara you would have shots on 3 of them and 1 is an index 18
So dont beat yourself up.
Now i was 1 over for the par 3s

technodub

Axel Lamp wrote: »

What are the Rotella books/CDs called?

Golf is a game of confidence
Golf is not a game of perfect
Putting out of your mind
Golf of your dreams

Ciaranra wrote: »

Not easy par 3s in the o meara you would have shots on 3 of them and 1 is an index 18
So dont beat yourself up.
Now i was 1 over for the par 3s

I had shots on 2 of them but just because I have shots doesnt mean they are tough holes none were that long I think I hit an 8 iron a 9 iron and 2 wedges so to play them +4 was blasphemy!

Ciaranra

2 were playing 140+ and 2 playing 180+ dont know what tee you were playing off.
But if you can reach 180 with a 8 iron you should be playing off 6 or lower

technodub

Ciaranra wrote: »

2 were playing 140+ and 2 playing 180+ dont know what tee you were playing off.
But if you can reach 180 with a 8 iron you should be playing off 6 or lower

the 2 140+ were wedges . The 14th is froman elevated tee and thats a 9 but the other was down wind and it was an 8! I would usually hit an 8 about 165yards

Tones69

technodub wrote: »

Golf is a game of confidence
Golf is not a game of perfect
Putting out of your mind
Golf of your dreams



I had shots on 2 of them but just because I have shots doesnt mean they are tough holes none were that long I think I hit an 8 iron a 9 iron and 2 wedges so to play them +4 was blasphemy!

Golf is not a game of perfect is a great book

technodub

Tones69 wrote: »

Golf is not a game of perfect is a great book

Ye I got the ebooks and they are very good i must admit!

Jazzzman

Get confident, stupid!

GreeBo

Lads lets try to keep this to Golf Psychology only, we have threads for how you are playing already...

G1032

technodub wrote: »

Maybe but I know my game and I didnt hole anything outside 6 foot today and to play the par 3's in +4 was shocking as they aint that hard. I believe im a solid 6/7 handicapper so lets see how the rest of the year goes!

Firstly, good luck with the rest of the year...

Golfers can believe they should be this handicap or that handicap and as someone posted earlier most think they are better then they actually are.
IMO you're only a 6/7 handdicapper if you can get there and stay there for an extended period of time. Doesn't matter what one thinks they should be.....

Taking myself as an example......... for 10 years or so I played off 4 or 5. Got a few lessons and was told I could/should be off a lower handicap. I, like you, thought I should be playing off 2 or 3. I played with people off 2 or 3 and thought I was better. But at the end of the day I wasn't. If I was good enough I'd have gotten down to 2 but the fact is I never was. 5 was my handicap. Simple as!!

Anyway, hope you go one better than me and get down to 6/7 or lower and realise your believed potential. It's nice to see good golf and nice to see a good swing and good mental game come together.

technodub

G1032 wrote: »

Firstly, good luck with the rest of the year...

Golfers can believe they should be this handicap or that handicap and as someone posted earlier most think they are better then they actually are.
IMO you're only a 6/7 handdicapper if you can get there and stay there for an extended period of time. Doesn't matter what one thinks they should be.....

Taking myself as an example......... for 10 years or so I played off 4 or 5. Got a few lessons and was told I could/should be off a lower handicap. I, like you, thought I should be playing off 2 or 3. I played with people off 2 or 3 and thought I was better. But at the end of the day I wasn't. If I was good enough I'd have gotten down to 2 but the fact is I never was. 5 was my handicap. Simple as!!

Anyway, hope you go one better than me and get down to 6/7 or lower and realise your believed potential. It's nice to see good golf and nice to see a good swing and good mental game come together.

I hear what your saying but my belief is that when im swinging well im better then my handicap so iv set myself a target of 7 this year as im playing once a week for the most part
Only time will tell! Anyway thanks for all the help and comments folks!

TheDoc

I'd the same problem as yourself, a streak of two bad holes and I've lose interest and the wheels would come off. While there is a certain aspect of accepting at our level that bad holes will happen, it is frustrating.

I was REALLY having beef with our last 4 holes. I consistently come into the 15th teebox with a good score and it would go belly up. Lost count of the events I've lost on the last four holes.

Someone here mentioned try taking, in your head, the course in sections of three. So I've been doing that a while. Can't say if it works exactly, but I've been scoring better for sure, and don't feel issues with the back four holes anymore. I guess partially because I always changed my strategy in playing them, I find I have a different mindset when I take it in chunks of three.

I'm only thinking ahead about the next set of three, or thinking back at the last set of three. And I'm only thinking about the current set of three. Makes a different in that I don't take bad scores reflecting on a whole round, but just on that segement of three. I don't know, might be a load of bollox, but it's helped me a little.

spacecoyote

TheDoc wrote: »

I'd the same problem as yourself, a streak of two bad holes and I've lose interest and the wheels would come off. While there is a certain aspect of accepting at our level that bad holes will happen, it is frustrating.

I was REALLY having beef with our last 4 holes. I consistently come into the 15th teebox with a good score and it would go belly up. Lost count of the events I've lost on the last four holes.

Someone here mentioned try taking, in your head, the course in sections of three. So I've been doing that a while. Can't say if it works exactly, but I've been scoring better for sure, and don't feel issues with the back four holes anymore. I guess partially because I always changed my strategy in playing them, I find I have a different mindset when I take it in chunks of three.

I'm only thinking ahead about the next set of three, or thinking back at the last set of three. And I'm only thinking about the current set of three. Makes a different in that I don't take bad scores reflecting on a whole round, but just on that segement of three. I don't know, might be a load of bollox, but it's helped me a little.

yep I look at the round similarly. Think I've heard it referred to as super 6 before, ie break the round into 6 sets of 3, instead of 2 9s as of you have a couple of bad holes you don't just write off the current 9.

I use it for tracking my stats too to see where I'm losing shots during a round