Mindset - staying in the zone.

I make no excuses for this topic, having analysed yesterday's performance in a 36 hole open it is clear that my head went at some point in the afternoon round. I think I understand why, just not sure that I have the tools to stop it happening again.
Morning round I shot 78, net 71 (par 72, CSS 71). I hit 15 greens in reg so sunk only 3 out of 15 birdie putts) I actually had 38 putts (my ave is 32/33). The only "bad" tee to green shot the whole round was pulling my teeshot slightly on 13 oob, causing a reload and a 3putt triple bogey.

In the afternoon I got to the 8th in much the same style and same score as the morning. In the morning I'd canned a 20 footer for a birdie 2. In the afternoon I stiffed it to 5 foot and missed the birdie putt. That seemed to be the trigger. Lashed my drive wild right on the 9th and doubled it. I came back in a shocking 51. Just about everything that could go wrong did, the putting remained as results free as the morning, chipping went south, I started missing fairways (into trees), greenside bunkers etc. Having felt great but a little frustrated in the morning, holding my own with my playing partners (off 3 & 5), I finished the afternoon round feeling like a 28 handicap hacker.

Why does that happen??

Commiserations JAS. I'm familiar with this sort of thing unfortunately. If I knew how to stop it I'd be a) wealthier and b) happier!

I was nursing a wee bit of a hangover and whilst playing well and keeping a score going I was fine, the minute the wheels came off there was just no way of getting them back on. It was like I'd 27 holes of concentration in me and once it was spent...it was truly spent.
I did manage to stick to minor Tourettes rather than club abuse so I'll take that as a movement in the right direction. But I do think it's down to temprament, frustration boiling over affects rhythm, tempo, decision making etc etc.

JAS wrote:Having felt great but a little frustrated in the morning, holding my own with my playing partners (off 3 & 5)

might be due to this pressure. being aware of keeping up with better players is something which has backfired for me in the past.

generally my brain lapses happen on days when i'm:
[a] feeling totally in control of my game and on auto-pilot [usually the lapse will kick in somewhere between holes 7 and 12 - the later it happens the more irritating it is and difficult to recover from], or
[b] feeling that every aspect of my game is just slightly out, i'm pre-occupied with a wee bit of worry over the majority of my shots and never quite comfortable [beware: the lapse can kick in at any point].

i played in a 36 holer on saturday and experienced [b]. respective nines were: +3, +10[+7 for last 4...], +6, +1.

I don't think it was that Ban_bam, I relish the chance to play with slightly better players, it does make me focus more.
I felt that driving and approach play were as good as they've been this year. I mean...without wishing to blow my own trumpet 15 girs is good golf in anybodys book.

Another thing was, I've not had a great years but there are signs now of the swing changes settling in....so straight away I'm back to raising my expectations beyond what I should.
I think the feeling of my putting not being on started to play on my mind (ffs I'm hitting green after green in regulation and messing birdie putts up) that's what I think boiled over on the 8th green. Stupidly let anger in and completely lost composure on the 9th....que meltdown!!

It sounds to me like you simply got tired, JAS. Even without a hangover 36 holes in a day is a lot - I'm not über fit but I always carry over 18 holes, and if I'm doing 36 I'll use an electric trolley but can often still struggle towards the end. Add the hangover and a bit of dehydration and it's quite easy to understand the wheels coming off. Next time take plenty of fruit and liquid onto the course with you and maybe have a power nap between the two rounds!

fair enough jas, thought it might be worth asking. i also tend to play better when playing with better players, however i have on occasion hit scenario [a] described above.

similar story with the putter for me, really struggling to get the pace of the greens, popping them 2-3 feet past and missing them back a few times.

sj, good point. 36 holers can be a wee bit draining, mentally and physically.

as a student i worked a couple of summers as a labourer on the greenstaff. each year i raked the bunkers [4am start, 2hrs raking] before the 36 hole club champs qualies and the 36 hole open. i was always a complete wreck by the time i got to the 6th tee of R2.

I think you're right SJ. I have played 18 well with a hangover but 36 is a bridge too far, I did play the 72 holer back in June and the 3rd round was my best but I most certainly never had a hangover. When the tiredness did catch me on the 4th round it felt similar to yesterday. I typically carry both water and lucozade sport or Powerade. I understand the need for hydration and that a hangover will be starting you off in a dehydrated state. I guess I just didn't inboard enough yesterday.

I have the 36 hole club champs at my 2nd club this weekend, needless to say I'll be having an early night the night before that one. Bit of light aerobic work and some core muscle toning during the week to bring me back to tip top.

Also JAS - have you considered the fact that your hangover might have caused a greater degree of sub-concious concentration? Once you were re-hydrated, maybe the mind relaxed or even over relaxed - ergo the pendulum theory.

I played the same course and comp as JAS yesterday, went out with a couple of 'young guns' off 6 and 12 respectively. Weather was hot and sticky, morning round took in excess of 4 1/2 hours (JAS was in group about 3 behind me, we were held up by group in front) so I reckon tiredness, coupled with lack of concentration due to gradual dehydration definitely took it's toll. I hit some good shots, but a lot of bad ones including a trade-mark sh**k into some bushes which just about killed my round. The two young bucks played well in short bursts, but I was the only one out of our 3-ball not to a) kick my headcover and/or bag or b) throw my club or slam it into the deck in frustration. What didn't help was the 20 minute turnaround between rounds, a bit extreme imho but probably the norm. Personally I prefer to play these over two days rather than the 'mission' of trying to fit it all in to one day, especially with diminishing light as the nights draw in

When I'm in the zone I'm not thinking of the consequence of a bad (or good) shot, I don't care if I miss a putt, I don't fret about a bad score on a hole and I'm not chasing a score either. I'm simply calm and trying to enjoy it.

When I'm not in the zone I may worry about all of those things the added pressure of having significance on individual shots gets in the way of playing well.

So...what determines whether you're in or out of it Super??...I know both feelings (although the former is less familiar this year) and I know when I've switched from in to out. I can scratch a score together sometimes when I know I'm not in it. What I cant seem to do is switch back in some days. Yesterday when I popped out of it I just knew I was going to struggle.

I know what you mean Jas, i've gone from playing out of my skin in my last dozen rounds whilst being serenely calm (which is what the zone is to me) to being slightly out of the zone, resulting in not being so much in control of the ball.
Although I can't always return to it, I try and get things in perspective, after all it's only a game of golf and if the biggest thing I have to worry about is whether or not i'm playing well, then life must be pretty good, trying to laugh and bring a bit of lightness to it usually helps, being serious for me just makes me more anxious and more likely to hit a poor shot. Sometimes playing badly though is something that just cannot be recovered and I just have to accept it's one of those days.

I try to remember that I play for fun, and not to stress myself worrying about scores or the consequence of a bad shot.

"I try to remember that I play for fun, and not to stress myself worrying about scores or the consequence of a bad shot"

That is thee big mental reset button Super....and when you press that one and it doesn't work...yes you just have to accept it's a bad day.

I keep trying to tell myself...."The beam is on the floor"

(If you have "Golf is not a game of perfect" Page 39 will reveal what I'm trying to do)

I've got all the books from Rotella Jas, in fact it's time I revisited them. I aim to read the better ones once a season, but haven't got round to it this year, probably should take one for the commute to work or put beside the toilet for ablutions.

I would echo supers comments. On the whole I've struggled with my game over the last few years, but other things going on in my life recently have made me realise it's just a hobby, a bit of fun, no-one really cares if I go up or down 0.1 apart from me, so why get so obsessed about it?

I now just enjoy every shot, and every round, if it's a bad'un, there's always next week. Since I took that attitude my game has improved no end. The chap who doubled the last to let me in at the weekend said I looked so calm all day, it must have been worth a couple of shots.

On the 36 hole in a day front, we have an inter club matchplay comp running through the Autumn. Three rounds and best 4 teams of 8 go through to semi's and final.
I'm 52 so no spring chicken but on two of the rounds scored better in the afternoon and the third one was only 2 shots worst, won 5 of my matches.

I know it's not stroke play so maybe not so much pressure, but I was out first and expected to put points on the board. I found it really got the adrenaline running and loved it.

Last year in our 36 hole open, which is basically a County trial I was 2 over my handicap after 7 and had long birdie chance on the 8th, Muppet holding the flag failed to get flag out in time and stopped ball dropping so two shot penalty. Fought hard for rest of the day and ended up third in my Grade, one shot behind winner !!

So I'm afraid no great pearls of wisdom to impart except to say just play one shot at a time, after the flag incident I was determined to not let it get to me

That is why golf is such a good sport. Eight hours on the golf course and you are always one shot away from disaster.

Jas, sounds like tired and de-hydrated to me.

Good advice I was given years ago was to drink some water before you feel thirsty.

"The Zone" a dodgy night club in gillingham...

Right back on topic before I get told off. Being in the Zone on the course for me is when, the shot requires very little thought. I just see it, and play it. Thats it in the most basic terms, however this is only achieved when I am putting no pressure on myself at all, not thinking about the swing or putting stroke just totally focused on that shot at that moment. It's exactly where I was at the start of this year prior to lay off. In my mind this came from months of off season practice having everything grooved to where it should be.

When I'm not in that Zone I'm thinking about everything that is wrong with my swing or stroke or with the last shot I played badly, rather than focusing on anything good. How do i combat this, I remember a quote from when I was a junior when I was fortunate enough to play in the Faldo series and Sir Nick told a bunch of us "You simply cannot have your best swing on every shot every game, some days when it's not going right, just play with what you have and do your best to minimize the mistakes, as there's always another day and after all what is golf but a game".

It's when I remember that, that i'm able to get it round no matter how bad things feel with a respectable score and think it is just a game...

Looking back at this year I've noticed that I tend to play better on a Sunday rather than a Saturday. I'm not going to be drawn into a religious discussion thank you Mr Simpson.

I think this is due to the Saturday roll up being some kind of stupid team scoring game that is a blatant attempt to have the game creater win. Most of the time the game doesn't encourage good golf and I find that at some point I can't be bothered. I don't so much shoot a score but more accumulate one.

On a Sunday, I tell the same guy I'm not interested in playing any games and just want to play my own game. I then typically play within a few shots of my handicap. There will be still be the odd stinker but one round that sticks out was when I shot 80 that included a snowman on a par 3.

Maybe I need to take the same it's my game, screw you attitude to the Saturday play but there's always someone who wants to know how we are doing and then planning what we need to do and I find it hard not to be drawn into that.