How do YOU fall apart?

[sisyphus]

I once took a TEN on a hole after getting in the thick bushes and trying four times to advance through the thick, thinking "I can make that little window and make an awesome 'out' shot, and...oh, crap, not again!" :wall:
Since the hole (Idlewild #10) is nearly impossible for me to shoot better than 4-5 strokes already, the unforced errors taught me a lesson.
Ever since then, when I can't see a clean line, I take the dumpy out to the fairway, and try to set up the next shot decently.

Most of the meltdowns I have had, or have seen, involve the inability to put the crap behind you, and clear your thoughts for one shot at a time.

It never helps to keep playing that terrible shot for the rest of the round.

 

[paramaniac]

i can always tell when my game is about to swirl down the drain when i grip lock a drive. either off the tee or an approach. once that happens im lucky to get a double bogey and should just pack it in

 

[kyledstauffer]

The only time I fall apart is when trees are involved. I throw a beautiful, near perfect drive only to have it clipped by a twig I didn't see...after that I'm pinballing off every tree in the forest

 

[412Disc]

stupid missed putts

 

[bpierce08]

putting. One second I feel like I can't miss anything and than next thing you know I can't make a 10ft putt to save my life...

 

[Bonks]

I picked mids. My driving is consistently average and pretty much stays that way all the time. My putting is average or a little above when I'm on and stays there most of the time. However, my mids are a crap shoot most days. Some days I can hit any line I want and other days I couldn't throw it into a lake from a boat in the middle.

 

[thugjitsu]

I said everything, when I let my head get in the way it all suffers. Putting is the first to fail me though

 

[craftsman]

Putting.
Its the cause and effect.

 

[Baughmanron86]

probably putting i lose all putting when im mad

 

[LucasP]

Tee shot. A bad tee shot means I usually can't make par. Then I have to make a great up shot. Or I'm out to far to make a putt. But it all come from having a bad drive.

 

[yangs1]

Last year if I had a string of good holes and then one bad hole.... Over. Nothing would come together.

This year I've gotten better about this. I haven't let the bad shots get to me and force me to make another bad shot. I've been playing more "golf." Not trying to sidearm or tomahawk a miracle shot out of the trees but just laying it out on the fairway and settling for the bogey instead of the double or triple bogey. It's has helped that my putting has improved immensely. I'm not losing 1-2 strokes with missed putts.

 

[Tiny]

I fall apart after searching for an errant disc. It's always my approach that goes first.

Here's the general scenario.

I tee off. Lands in fairway.
My brother tees off. Lands in fairway.
Friend A tees off. Lands in light brush next to fairway.
Friend B tees off. Lands.... well idk if it even landed.

10 minutes searching through the brush, and not finding it. Start to worry about my fire cooling. Then we find it. Start to overthink my shot after the 2 go before me.
Friend B goes, Friend A goes, Friend B goes again.

It's my turn, I'm already worried about my throw, 100ft from basket, I get a disc I normally wouldn't use over thinking the shot. Overshot the basket by 30-40ft. It's in the brush, my brother laughs maniacally. He throws it, it plants under basket. I am now infuriated at my throw. I miss my putt, and then drain the next. Pushing my easy par to a bogey. Pushing my brother into the lead. He has a way of getting under my skin when he's doing better than me. x_x finish the game, after going -3 on first 6 holes, at a +5 x_x

 

[Smigles]

I usualy start falling apart after missing the first "must have" putt.

I'd say the part that falls apart is the mental game. I can still putt and drive, but as soon as I lose focus and determination, the percentages just drop. Sometimes I can pick myself back up and go get birdies again, but usualy I fall into some kind of slump which leads to par-rounds. I hate par rounds.

 

[Crazy Runner Guy]

Putting usually falls apart first. I start getting nervous on easy putts and blow it.

Missing putts, especially ones similar to those you just made in practice, is really a confidence shaker. That's how I fall apart.

 

[VictorB]

You forgot the option for 'mental game fail'

I typically have this problem well before any of the others - mainly when I try to get greedy in a 4 round tournament and get back a bunch of strokes. Only I end up giving up a bunch of extra strokes.

Keeping a steady mind and playing the course, not the other players score, is really something I need to work on in 4 rounds+ tournaments.

 

[jtreadwell]

You forgot the option for 'mental game fail'

I typically have this problem well before any of the others - mainly when I try to get greedy in a 4 round tournament and get back a bunch of strokes. Only I end up giving up a bunch of extra strokes.

Keeping a steady mind and playing the course, not the other players score, is really something I need to work on in 4 rounds+ tournaments.

Technically all fails are mental unless your muscles literally give out.

 

[VictorB]

Technically all fails are mental unless your muscles literally give out.

I guess I was more implying a mental game fail as in not sticking to your plan or your regular game.

 

[Thomas437]

Putting usually is what gets me in trouble, last tournament was the worst display so far. Ive been tooling around with several different putters this season and thought I had found what I liked, however something clicked in my head before the round and I could hit chains to save my life.

 

[Stevo]

My approaches are the first thing to go. I lose all sense of distance and either overthrow or put it 40 short.

 

[foo_g]

Recently, I've been really good at avoiding the meltdown phase.
I've noticed that it REALLY helps to have a lead, preferably 3 shots or more!

Basically, I get in trouble most of the time from poor intermediate shots that don't leave me with an easy approach to the basket or putt that I can make or take a solid run at.
So then I have to take an extra approach.
Those are the extra strokes that I'm accumulating throughout most rounds.

One big corner that I've turned this year has been in regard to shot selection.
I've been playing safer shots and settling for par more often.
If there's OB or a mando on a hole, my first concern is to stay in bounds, even if I have to sacrifice 100-200 feet.
I can usually make that up on the next shot.
(If I go OB or miss a mando, I'm sacrificing the distance AND a penalty.)

I've also been paying a little more attention to what some of the other players on my card are doing, especially when they make a bad shot.
That makes me concentrate more on making a safe shot that will equate to an easy par or even bogey, while they have to really press to overcome the poor shot to salvage par or bogey.
That can sometimes lead to another stroke or two on a hole.
"Taking your medicine" is way better than compounding things.
Never turn a 3 or a 4 into a 5, 6, or 7.
Birdies disappear a lot faster than 5's and 6's.