I personally view this as a mid/high handicap safe space. Lol, but yeah. At the end of the day, some rounds you’re just gonna be off and will have to be grinding for pars and bogeys all day. Sometimes it just clicks. Basically have to focus on minimizing the blow ups each round. I feel like course management is one of the biggest places I can improve on personally.
This is so big when it comes to keeping your head while playing. Don’t be a hero (I mean you can try every once in a while cause why the hell not, it’s fun). But don’t get mad when you inevitably don’t pull it off. Play smart and give yourself the best opportunity to avoid the big number round killers. Lower scores generally make the game and time more fun. And also remember, no but gives a fuck about what you shot as much as you do.
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Small story, I competed all through high school. I sort of turned my mental game around right at the end of my senior season (too little too late ha). My final year in regionals I took a 10 on a tough par 5. I then birdied the next 3 holes. Our observer/scorer was a coach for a local college and he apparently pulled my coach aside after and said he’d never seen a high school kid forget about a 10 so fast in his life. It’s something that’s always stuck with me to remind me that one bad hole doesn’t mean you have to have a bad round.
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I got a piece of advice recently that I’ve been trying to implement, in terms of changing your mindset on the course. It’s easier said than done, but I think it’s a useful concept:
When you hit a shank or otherwise bad shot, try to say to yourself “this next shot is going to be amazing, I can’t wait to hit it” or something along those lines – “watch me hit this next one” – trying to get yourself positive and focused on hitting the next one (and what your plan is to make the shot great) rather than dwelling on what you just did. Ideally it limits the times you make a bad situation worse, while training yourself to mentally bounce back faster.
As I said though, easier said than done 
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2 things that work for me (when I actually do them)
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This is hole specific, but when you get into a bad spot (in the trees, etc.) don’t compound the issue by trying something miraculous. Think “how do I make a bogey/double/whatever from here?” and then do that. Bad holes are going to happen, all you can control (to some degree) is how bad they will be. Your score can recover from a kinda bad hole a lot easier than from a horrible hole.
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More generally (and more difficult), you have to keep envisioning positive outcomes and focus on what you want the ball to do on each shot. After a bad hole or two, it’s easy to only see the water, bunkers, OB, etc., decide you stink, and completely lose it. You have to forget the bad shots and believe that your next shot is going to be good.
I can’t remember where I read it but there is evidence that, for evolutionary purposes, humans remember bad things that happen to them much easier than the good things. So it is important to really focus on “memory holing” your good shots and trying to forget the bad ones. When you hit a great shot, really take a second to watch it in flight, club twirl, pimp step, etc. Then, if you find yourself nervous over a shot, try to remember that good one you hit last week.
When you hit a bad one, take a step back, reset and then take another swing while imagining what a good shot would have looked like. I know this sounds silly but it has honestly helped me from feeling completely lost after a bad shot or two.
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Just @ me next time jeez
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It’s when I fuck that shot up that the fiery rage of the sun burns inside my core
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I run hot on the course for sure. I typically don’t let it boil over to pouting, or infringing on the group vibe, but there is internal anger. The thing that makes me maddest, is when I make the “right or safe” decision, and screw that up. Take an iron off a short par 4 to get to a right number and instead shank it into the woods anyway…RAGE.
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This is where I go off the rails too. I don’t get mad that I can’t make the heroic shot. It’s the feeling of general incompetency from screwing up “simple” situations. Missing greens from <100 yds, flubbing chips, making a mess out of the sand, etc.
I realize in the big picture that score doesn’t matter, but at some point the “laugh it off” just builds up too much for me. I still want to see improvement, and sometimes it just feels like things regress.
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Let’s be clear, no amount of course/mental management is going to overcome shanking it into the woods.
Couple things for me as I’ve been prone to the occasional tantrum and blow up…
- I don’t total up my score after 9. I always know roughly where I am, but it helps the nines flow together rather than 2 discreet rounds
- As several others have said, don’t double down on a mistake or press because of previously bad shots.
- I try to focus on non-scoring things like hitting greens.
- If I get pissed, I try to focus on my surroundings to get out of my head.
- If all that fails, remember: always helicopter, never tomahawk; wedges are cheapest and easiest to replace; always throw in the direction of where you’re walking; and never hit your bag unless you’re prepared to break multiple clubs
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Oh yeah…not that I expect it to. Just that for whatever reason it seems “taking it easy” “playing smart” or “this is a tight fairway, I need to hit an iron” always lead to bad things…when in reality I, really do need those things to work out and help make up for all the rally boneheaded things I do
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The regression part gets me too. I joined my club 2 years ago and dropped from a 16 to an 11 pretty quickly. Then made my way down to a 9. Now for the last 6-8 months it feels like I’m only getting worse. I have never broken 80, and I want that so much It is all I think about starting a round. Let’s get off to a good start so maybe I can hold on and break 80…never works.
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Go to your club and play the forward tees. Shatter that 80 barrier and then it won’t be such a big deal.
Driving par 4s and hitting little wedges into par 3s is really fun too.
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It is clear from this post that you haven’t seen me putt…
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While I’ve had my fair share of shutting down mentally (shout out my performance in the Cincy Shakedown last weekend) the biggest thing that’s helped me in the past is accepting there’s nothing you can do about previous holes… it’s not worth expending energy on something you can’t change.
NLU related, Scott delivered great #perspective in episode 2 of Strapped Peoria. It’s at 23:45
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Have a kid.
#perspective
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Reading this thread as I wait for the group on the next tee to clear out has totally erased the anger and the butthurt of the double bogey I just opened the back nine with. Bookmark this one! 
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I think something g that gets left out when we talk about playing conservative is that you still have to focus on the shot. I always try to plan my shot like I suck and then aim/execute it like I’m Tiger. If I’m aiming away from the water, I’m not just saying ok stay away from the water. I’m picking a very specific and small target away from the water and trying to hit a perfect shot right at that target
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