Mental improvement desired

I've come to the conclusion that I now have a swing that I can live with, it is not the most technical perfect swing, but I pretty much know which shots I can hit and what I need to do to hit them. I can step up and hit a 30 yrd extra on the driver if I need it, but I will only do that on a par 5 if it gives me the advantage to reach with my second shot. I can flop, and have about 55% on bunker shots. What kills me is my mental approach.

As a kid (long, long time ago) I was always going for the guts and glory, often I could pull it off and when I couldn't I'd go ballistic. Not these days, I go for the safer choice, hit punch short when the wind is up, dont' get mad when a birdie putt grazes the cup and come to rest right behind the hole on a perfect line. I began to think that I had finally begun to master my emotions on the course. Yet, my scoring isn't really improving. Because I still tend to make irritating little mental mistakes, selecting the wrong kind of shot, using a putter from teh fringe when I need to go back and get my SW in order to chip the ball. Going down in a bunker with my SW, discovering that the sans is packed hard and I should use my LW (less bounce) but figuring I can just slow down my swing. But I end up 8 ft away instead of 4 ft. Stupid, annoying little mental errors in my decisionmaking. This isn't something my pro can help me with (his advice is that I should just stop doing it). Well, I want to, I just can't figure out how to do it. Has anyone here been able to handle mental errors like these? How did you go about it? Do you still lapse back into making dumb decisions, and catch yourself as soon as it's done?

Let me give you an example from today's round. I'm an 8 hcp, so shooting 80 is right on my handicap. Having played 12 holes I'm on par, including a double bogey on the 8th hole, got a bad bounce and ended up in some thorny rough next to the green with the hole being cut close. Decided right there that the only important thing was that I should not stay in that rough, chopped a LW into a bunker, got out but didn't make the put. I was OK with that, I knew I got a bad break and I was willing to take my medicine. On the 10th, a fairly long par four into a very strong wind I was able to punch a 4 iron to 4 ft, splendid birdie opportunity that I blew. Still didn't get upset. On 13the however, I hit a nice 3W from tee, a 50* GW to the green, with a 20ft putt left for birdie. But I'm not thinking birdie, all I'm thinking is not to hit it to hard because after the hole it slopes away. "Don't hit hit too hard, don't hit it too hard", is running through my mind. So obviously I hit it to hard and the return is just a little soft so it ends up next to the hole.
Walking onwards to the 14th I began to realize that I made the cardinal fault od thinking in negatives. Now I'm getting down on myself. Decisions is the only thing you as a player have full control over on the course. So don't go an waste shots on stupid thinking. Before I no it I have blown 8 shots on the last six holes. Ohh, a nice 72 net, I won all the bets and should be happy, right? Nope, I'm mad as hell for making that stupid mental error on 13th. What can I do to avoid something like this in the future?

hi
i think getting improvement in the mental game is so inportant and its so hard to keep it going all through a round. i played in the monthly medal 3 weeks ago and i sat the night before and downloaded my shot saver onto the computer and blew up the hole's and worked out where to hit the ball on each hole, and i sat with my eyes closed trying to see the shot, i then worked out what to do if i got in trouble with my drive on each hole. my plane was to aim for the middle of each green. when i started playing the next day everything started out fine till the 14th, its a par 5 and i was playing so well i thought i'd go for it in 2, and hit my drive into the deep stuff, ended up with a 7, the next hole is a par 3 and i thought go for the flag and try and make the shot back, again i missed the green and took two to get out the bunker and ended up with a 5, after that i went back to my plan and the last 3 holes i played well, i shot 11 over par and i'm playing off 14, if i had stuck to my plan i would off shot a even better score but i let my greed for a even better score take over.
not played other than by myself since but next time i play a foresome i will try and stick to my plan.
bill

I'm bipolar when it comes to game plans. I can certainly see the point in structuring a strategy before you start a round. At the same time, golf contains so many unpredictable variables that you need to adapt to the situation. I've played with a game plan and as long as it worked I was fine, but when something unexpected occurred I was at a loss on how to handle the situation. Sometimes I'd stick to the plan - playing cautiously - and that would cost me strokes. Sometimes I'd abandon the plan and go for the glory shots, pull of some nice ones, but then mangle the putts.

Try therapy.
Just kidding.

Try the book titled "The power of positive thinking".

I do this all the time - perfectly executed wrongly-chosen shots and then realise it immediately, don't know what the answer is though

hi
in a round of golf you play 4 hours + and only swing at the ball for about 4 minuets in the total off that 4 hours. the rest of the time your minds thinking and thats where you get the "WHAT IFF'S" what if it went left, what if i dont carry the water or that deep bunker when you should be thinking i want a high fade that will turn about 15 feet, and you have to see that shot in your mind before you hit it, that what the mental games is all about. blanking all the negatives and thinking only the positive, it take a lot of will power to do it for 4 hours or more but really you only have to think for about 25 minuets in a whole round and that is broken down into 30 seconds segments.
its not so hard once you start doing it right.
bill

Kind of like the excerpt from 'Every Shot Must Have A Purpose".

You only have to 'golf' for 30 minutes. Focus on the golf when you're playing your stroke. Otherwise, you may as well dissociate and daydream!

Hey guys,
I think everyone would pretty much agree that no one plays good golf when they're angry... I find the best medicine in to make your aim for the day to have fun, what will be will be... How many times have you gone out with your mates and played the round of your life without batting an eyelid, just because your only concern was socializing and enjoying it. I've just come off a very bad month of golf because i started playing for score... no more of that, fun comes first.... if you achieve that and have a bad golf day, you've still had a good day

Al

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Addict of Golf,
Alistair