Game Deteriorates During Round

I'm looking for some suggestions. I've been playing golf since I was 11 years old.... so 18 years. I don't have a problem slicing or hooking or with ball contact. I generally begin a round about even after 5 or 6 holes, then something happens. I usually start pulling and pushing shots left or right. Badly too. To the point where I'm putting my drives out of bounds to the left or right, with no particular consistency. I've developed the reputation as a choker. It almost feels like, as I losen up my game deteriorates. In fact, I've played some of the best rounds of my life when my muscles were soar from lifting weights the day before. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Hi Tradegator.
Welcome to the club! I know exactly where you are coming from, as I am going through the same experience at present. In fact if there were prizes for playing at the range i would be a winner all the time. I have discussed this here with many members. I have discussed it with my pro, and the same answer keeps coming back: Lack of self belief, lack of self confidence, and without these we dont have a chance. In actual fact my teacher refuses to give me anymore lessons because he knows as well as me that my problem is not in the mechanics, its in the head. I am now adopting a new strategy on positive thinking and forget about scoring for the time being. Believe me, if we can work on the mental issue the rest wil come. I hope this helps.
Robert

What do you start thinking about as the round goes on??

Usually things like "wow, it's really hot today" or "where the heck is the beverage cart girl". J/K. I'm super competitive, so I probably dwelling on my score way too much or what my friends are shooting

What I was trying to get at was, if you have a bad shot don't start thinking about score or mechanics. Try and think target, and focus on as small a target as possible. If you have to have a swing thought, pick one and stick to it. If somebody else can keep score for you, let them. Also, find a preshot routine you like and stick to it. This in itself will help with consistency. Also, hit the shot you know you can make, not the shot you think you should be hitting. Hope this helps.

Oh boy, been there. First, don't worry about what the others are shooting. I realize that this is next to impossible, but that's what will beat you in the end. My boss and I are ultra competative and he always gets out to a great start. If I am trying to play catch up, I start taking chances that I wouldn't normally take, usually getting me even further behind. I found that treating each hole as a seperate game I started scoring much better. Double bogey? Oh well, I'll par the next. I'm not thinking I need to birdie the next two to make it up, just stick to making par on each hole.
As I plod along making pars, my boss will fall into the trap I used to get in and get a bit aggressive to build up a lead. Tghis is where i usually pass him. Of course, he always tells me on the last hole that we a re tied or I am one ahead, which resluts in a bogey or a double.

__________________
Gord

Quote of the month:
"It's easy to see golf not as a game at all but as some whey-faced, nineteenth-century Presbyterian minister's fever dream of exorcism achieved through ritual and self-mortification." ~Bruce McCall

I completely understand. It is tough when one of your buddies is spanking you all over the course time and time again. But what usually happens is you press too hard and the problems get worse. Do you have a common playing partner that consistently beats you on the course?

As someone else posted here, you probably need to slow down a bit and play hole by hole, as opposed to thinking about what your score will be later in the afternoon...

You do really need a solid pre-shot routine. I bet you tend to just step up and hit the ball. Am I right? That's when my game starts to fall apart.

I remember having the same problems you are describing after I had lost a good deal of weight. My mechanics changed enough after I lost about 50 pounds that I had to retrain my body a little bit. I was swinging faster but my timing was all screwed up. It would get worse because a really bad shot would make me very angry at myself, and i would forget that i am out playing golf vs. doing something that i hate.

Actually, yes DuffDuff. There is this one jacka$$ who never counts all of his strokes & miraculously finds his ball tucked up on a nice piece of sod, after he shanked into the rough which is 2 feet deep. It's amazing. Then, if you can believe it, this guy always finds a way to bring up the size of his wife's chest into the conversations. Unfortunately, my brain is no match for that when I'm trying to keep my mind on the game. Congrats on the weight loss by the way. Remember this, it's better to have an inconsistent golf swing than an angioplasty before youre 40. -MBS

Have you shared you feelings of resentment with this guy? It appears that you have some hostility towards him. When your own golf-game is falling apart, it will appear that your playing partner may not be counting all of his strokes. This is known as the "i suck at golf" illusion. Once you admit that, your swing will feel more relaxed, you won't have to keep buying the next best club off the shelf, and you will realize what a cry-baby you are being.

One more thing, you might be more comfortable if he was discussing male anatomy.

Spare me the lecture PicklePuffDuff. You sound just like this moron. In fact, you probably even drive an 80's muscle car with T-Tops so you can reminisce about the good ole days, when your mullet was flowing gloriously in the wind.

In case anyone hasn't figured it out, DuffDuff is my friend and evil golf nemisis..... The root of my mid-round flops.....

Please keep the comments tasteful guys....

Good one MBSTatorTot....It's a 90's muscle car with a Targa top you idiot.

Hey, now that you can see your feet, you may want to cut those toe nails....

And I DO count all of my strokes....i just don't have to count as high as you do......