Sometimes, there’s nothing left to do but throw your hands up and call it a day.
Last Saturday was just “one of those days” on the golf course. It was one of those days when I couldn’t get off the tee box, wasn’t striking the ball well with my irons, and even had my wedges and putter betray me.
My round was one of those golf outings that if I were to repeat the experience, I’d deem it an official slump and consider taking up tennis.
I’m overdue for a session with my teaching pro, and it really showed over nine dreadful holes at the Gay Brewer Jr. Course at Picadome. The harder I pressed and tried to figure my swing out, the worse I played.
My play got bad enough that I tried to mentally scroll through my golf lessons in my head between shots, which only was a recipe for further disaster. I sort of found my swing on the last tee box of the day, but by that time, I had completely checked out mentally and was just looking forward to getting off of the golf course.
My immediate reaction after a day of terrible ball striking or inability to score well is to plan on getting back onto the golf course the very next day. Occasionally, my game will be bad enough that I actually want to get to the practice range.
This time, I knew that it was time to call my golf pro and schedule my next lesson. I’m not sure any of these plans provides an actual solution, but I generally feel better after the day after than I do immediately after a bad round.
Practice. Practice. Practice. Wishing and hoping just doesn’t cut it anymore.
I try to remember that everybody has bad days, it’s just a game, and shake off the by the time I leave the parking lot, but I have trouble believing myself even as I say the words out loud.
Which brings me to the August Poll Question of the Month: How do you deal with a bad round of golf?
Take a second and lodge your vote in the Poll below. I will definitely be interested in my Readers’ take on comeback strategies.
Dave
Great question! Love it. How a person deals with a bad round of golf says plenty about them!
Cheers
Jim
Dave, my strategy for handling bad rounds:
-One bad round: forget it. Just the market fluctuations of the game – will always happen
-Two bad rounds in a row: review the fundamentals for the area where you are struggling
-Three bad rounds in a row: see your pro for a lesson
Most importantly, remember to play golf, not golf swing while on the course. If it really gets ugly, I’ve had decent success just chucking every swing thought or key and thinking one thought, “hit the ball at the target.” Sorry to hear of your bad round; good luck! Brian
Dave-
I usually take a small break from playing and go work it out on the range. I really hate that feeling of low confidence that sits with me after a bad round so usually the only thing that can cure it is a decent round that inevitably will come back soon after.
That is what bars are for