NGL I’ll smoke a little something something when the round goes south and it works like a charm. I laugh and smile like Hovland when I hit bad shots…
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When I get on one of “those” runs I try to take score out of the equation and focus on hitting the current shot solid. Typically that also means taking my medicine and not hitting the shot that brings double or triple or quad or other into play. I’ve gone so far as just to hit 2-3 “punch” type shots in a row just to concentrate on solid contact. Usually once I can feel a little grooved with some solid shots I can get myself to the house for some cold beers without too much (more) embarassment
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I choose to look at every 95 as the offsetting round for all the 65s I’ll be shooting that regresses me back to scratch over my career.
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We on to emojis now? Word… 
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What’s the point in discussing it further? We’re talking about different things. Sometimes you flip heads a few times in a row.
And seeing as how the average word count in a Refuge post is nearly in the single digits, I was just trying to revert to the mean. 
As others have mentioned, there are some good books out there to shore up the mental side of your game.
If fading down the stretch is a thing that seems to happen a lot in your rounds, think about what you’re doing / not doing.
- Do you come into the round with expectations of shooting a certain score?
- Are you staying hydrated and eating an appropriate snack or just pushing through? Are you drinking alcohol?
- Do you try to fix swing things on the course or dance with the partner who brung ya?
I know I’m a bit of a slow starter, so I give myself a little leeway to stumble a bit out of the blocks (It also doesn’t help that my course starts off with the #3 and #1 handicap holes). My best round ever was a 9 shot difference between the front and back nines, so I always tap into that memory to tell myself that anything is possible. In yesterday’s round, I was +5 on the front nine and -2 on the back, so a 7 shot swing.
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When I coached lacrosse, the mantra we reinforced with the kids was “the next play is the best play.” Taking the advice we would give to kids or say a friend, instead of negative self talk, is really helpful.
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I just started my normal Friday game double double. Both fairways hit, both greens in regulation. Two four putts!!! The fact that I still have an intact putter is crazy. 
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I’m too lazy to read this whole thread to see if this has been mentioned, but playing with someone who is positive (and better than me) helps immensely. I was in my head bad yesterday but @pushdraw kept a steady stream of positive reinforcement and it kept me from going fully off the rails. I still shot 90, but I enjoyed the experience MUCH more than if I had gone full @MerchCzar
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Pretty simple really…
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Quite correct. This thread was about one thing, and you decided you wanted it to be something else.
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Nah, bro. But thanks for the drop-in.
Thursday: best ever round of 9 over 81, 10 greens, felt a high I’ve never felt before. Previously had not shot better than 16 over at my club.
Friday (same course): shot 29 over (shout out equitable stroke control so it comes out to a 99), felt like I was on a bad trip that wouldn’t end. Mega negative self talk and my normal tricks weren’t helping.
I was playing my first match of the season today, as well as hosting 3 lovely guests, but needless to say my attention wasn’t 100% on my golf. If I was by myself, I probably would’ve walked off the course. I know the night is darkest before the dawn, so trying to stay positive. But shook nonetheless.
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I can confidently say that posting this right as it happened was helpful. I was about as mad as I’ve ever been on a golf course, this made light of it, helped it be more a joke and I cared less. Cracked some putting jokes at my expense with my group and really turned around to put together nice round. Finished with an 83, my lifetime low is 81, also on this course (my home club). Had 4 birdies, which I think also might be a “career” best. So it was worth getting my shit together and calming down. All in all, felt positive when I finished, but I couldn’t help quietly stewing about how I would have broken 80 for the first time ever if those first two holes I had just two putted…
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Was an exercise yesterday at Pasatiempo. Made back to back doubles on 2 and 3 and was fuming. Not how you want to start the day at a course like that. Had to have some internal dialogue about how beautiful the day was, the great group and that I was lucky to be playing. Took one hole but I turned it around. Front was terrible shot 7 over but kept a good attitude and grinded on the back. Aaaaand then got to 18 needing par to shoot 79. Just toed the shit out of a 9 iron into the death bunker in front hacked it out into shin high grass and 3 hacks later wasn’t out and I was in my pocket for an X. I don’t know how not to self immolate ON the course, but it’s rare to have to stifle complete rage after the 18th hole. I wanted to break every club in the bag but had to be a big boy and smile and shake hands haha. The 2 IPAs and laughs after the round were the medicine.
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Playing Harding this weekend, how’s the course these days?
Was really nice last week, rough is tough but very gettable with a tee shot in the fairway.
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I’ll also add that Bob Rotella’s books are great for this.
I think that what happens to me is if things start off great, I start getting excited about the round and the number that I could possibly post. If things start going sideways, I get anxious about the number I’m going to have to post. Neither are helpful.
I’ll take a bit of a detour and give a nod to mindfulness meditation as a daily practice. It would take forever to explain why I think it’s helpful, but I’ll steal an analogy that I really like. Before I started meditating, anxiety was like standing on a six lane freeway…the cars I was dodging were thoughts/feelings that just pop up and control your actions and behaviors. So on the golf course, a thought pops up about not hitting it left or what kind of score you’re shooting, and those can influence your actions/decisions.
Practicing meditation makes it more like sitting on a hill watching the freeway…you see the thoughts come, you acknowledge them, and you let them go. When a score thought pops up (positive or negative), it’s easier to notice why it’s happening and let it go.
Zen Golf is a great place to start if you’re interested.
Crack on!
-Ben
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