What do you do when it's going bad in a round

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Leek

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One thing I've never seen discussed on here is:

How different people try to recover on a bad day. You know- you have no idea where the ball is going, your short game decides to go on vacation and you might even end up letting it effect your putting.

I think it's an interesting subject- What do YOU do?
 
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dmurfet

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I go for more control - I hit 3/4 shots, I don't try to murder a shot with any club, I play much more percentages rather than attack, I accept the results are going to be a bit worse and try to not let that bother me.

<whisper mode> assuming I can think straight and I'm not wound up like a jack in the box

:D
 
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Leek

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dmurfet said:
<whisper mode> assuming I can think straight and I'm not wound up like a jack in the box

:D
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I certainly understand that part!

In my original post, I forgot to add what I do.

I usually tell myself I'm a better player than this, and just to be patient and it will come.

Sometimes, I go back to whatever I've been working on (lately being on plane). If that doesn't work, I usually go through my mental catalog of swing thoughts that have worked before: make sure I have good axis tilt or make a crisp divot or something like that. If I feel a sense of urgency to grind out a score..(money game, or club tournament), I'll hit puch shots until I can get to the practice range afterwards.

If it's chipping control, I often switch to an "arched wrist" chip (sort of presetting my hands in the downcock).
If it's putting, I concentrate on rolling the ball over a spot a few feet in front of me.

If none of things work...well, I'm kinda sunk.
 
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puttmad

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Leek said:
One thing I've never seen discussed on here is:

How different people try to recover on a bad day. You know- you have no idea where the ball is going, your short game decides to go on vacation and you might even end up letting it effect your putting.

I think it's an interesting subject- What do YOU do?
Click to expand...

Head for the 19th ASAP....:)
 
KnighT

KnighT

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Finding out what I want the club to do, and how it feels on my practice swings....maybe take a look at the top of my backswing to make sure my left wrist is flat.

But my latest thought/feel comes down to 1 thing: Wedding ring up.
 
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flapro

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I go back to fundamentals, especially, light grip pressure and making sure I am hinging and releasing. Even on short game, this will work wonders.
Tension is usually the cause of a bad round; lose the tension and you gain your swing.
 
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magic43

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Leek,

Seldom does everything go off together, most of the time it's the longer swings that go astray. In this case, you have answered your own question, start hitting punch shots just keeping the ball in the short grass. This may mean hitting irons off the tee and turning par 4's into par 5's. Just accept the the fact that you're going to suffer more bogeys than usual. The idea is to avoid making a big number on any given hole. Not an easy thing, but the course is not the place to work on a swing problem.

In the case of where everything about your game is screwed up, do as suggested by puttmad and head for the 19th asap for a cold brew, or two, or twenty! :)
 
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Leek

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magic43 said:
Leek,

Seldom does everything go off together, most of the time it's the longer swings that go astray. In this case, you have answered your own question, start hitting punch shots just keeping the ball in the short grass. This may mean hitting irons off the tee and turning par 4's into par 5's. Just accept the the fact that you're going to suffer more bogeys than usual. The idea is to avoid making a big number on any given hole. Not an easy thing, but the course is not the place to work on a swing problem.

In the case of where everything about your game is screwed up, do as suggested by puttmad and head for the 19th asap for a cold brew, or two, or twenty! :)
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I wasn't asking what I should do. I'm curious what others do.

My friends mainly get angry, make crappy remarks to everyone in their foursome and keep playing poorly.

Usually I get it back in a little bit, but not always. I also find really bad ballstriking effects my short game as well.
 
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kshoren05

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When things go south for me I just try to stay in the moment and play one shot at a time. I know it is a total cliche but there is definitely something to it. Also I try to visualize my shots as much as I can, the shape and where I want it to end up. Nicklaus called it 'going to the movies' and it has definitely helped me when I get off track.
 
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magic43

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Sorry Leek for my previous post and suggesting that my recommendations were what your should do. I am not any sort of instructor or golfing expert, so you are correct in calling me on that. Won't happen again.

That said, what I recommended to you is exactly what I do in the event that the swing goes south during a round. I have played this game long enough to realize that it doesn't do any good to get angry, frustrated, or have any other emotions. The ball just doesn't care and most of the time neither do my playing companions. As I said, all I try to do is damage control and attempt to prevent a big number on the score card.
 
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Ryan Smither

Super Moderator
Well...I had it going bad today and sadly I didn't do much to change things...I was losing tee shots to the right...I made a single attempt to bring things back left and it resulted in a duck hook...so needless to say, I had to stick with playing the "rights"...

I would agree that bad ball striking affects the short game...

Also, I find that momentum is huge for me in that I will be much more apt to focus on scoring well if I'm puring shots slightly offline as compared to 'klacking' it into good positions...

I would be interested to hear how some high caliber players on this site change their ways when "things go bad" in a tournament ???
 
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Spike

New
I use the...."Don't get Up Set....get Set-up" concept. Going through the pre-planning helps me tremendously. This you could call "management".

One day at the range before a tournament I was working on the mechanics of the swing....my mentor and great friend Kyle Burton looked over with a little smurk on his face and said, "If you didn't bring it with you, you won't find it here."

Managing is a way of taking the skills you have developed and move into automatic. This is a learned effort and very well laid out by Dr. Carey Mumford with his Clear Key ideas. Definately something to look into.
 
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Leftyplayer

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Curse, swear, kick things, throw clubs around, throw golf balls into water hazards are just a few things when a round is going bad.
 
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puttmad

New
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Ryan Smither said:
Well...I had it going bad today and sadly I didn't do much to change things...I was losing tee shots to the right...I made a single attempt to bring things back left and it resulted in a duck hook...so needless to say, I had to stick with playing the "rights"...

I would agree that bad ball striking affects the short game...

Also, I find that momentum is huge for me in that I will be much more apt to focus on scoring well if I'm puring shots slightly offline as compared to 'klacking' it into good positions...

I would be interested to hear how some high caliber players on this site change their ways when "things go bad" in a tournament ???
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Ryan,
years ago I remember Seve saying that he used different ball positions on any given day.. His explanation was that your body changes slightly on a daily basis and you need to adjust when it is "slow" or "fast."
He established his day's "speed" during his practice session and made his daily ball position adjustments accordingly...
So maybe he was saying you have different tensions that need to be catered for on an ongoing basis.
Taking it to a logical projection regarding Touney play, maybe it is simply tensions changing during the round, and what you need to do to recover your best swing that day is adjust/adjust to, your tensions.
In your case (losing it to the right, push?) he may have said he was "slow" that day, and adjust by teeing-up/addressing with the ball slightly more forward, to allow the club to square before impact..

Either that or keep a check on your tensions as an additional checkpoint, before swinging..

Just a thought...
 
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tbyeaton0627

New
A very wise instructor told me to do three things which I keep in my golf bag at all times: 1. While waiting, practice tracing a straight plane line
2. Find the #3 pressure point
3. Slow the swing down deliberately and make it as heavy as possible to find #3
 
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