Recovering from a really bad pdga rated round

[Discgolfer420]

I was looking for any advice or tips on how to mentally recover from a horrible round I had yesterday. I'm rated slightly above 900 but yesterday after shooting a weak 870 level first round I shot an 830 in the second round nothing went right at all. I feel like I've regressed significantly since last year and don't even know where to begin to fix things. Everything was off my putting was really bad(although I've never been a good putter), approaches were worse but my strength is in driving and even that was horrid. Any tips would help I know it's entirely mental and would love any advice that would help me shake it off.

 

[sisyphus]

I think I've decided it IS mental. Had a round like that in the mud Saturday, and was extremely grateful it was in an unsanctioned event. Realizing that the true difference from Rec to Intermediate play may be in developing the maturity to play mentally wherever your physical ability is, and never trying to 'make up for' a bad hole- or even a bad shot.

Bad tree hit? Deep in jail? Take the pitch out, even if it sucks. Not feeling it today on that long, narrow uphill? Mid up the middle twice & putt for your three, rather than grip-locking an attempted deuce tee shot at it. Learn when your body is saying, ugh!

Most importantly, don't let that double bogey become a 5 followed by a 4, and another 5. Shake it off and play within yourself for a few holes. Get your groove back and when you feel it, the deuces will come.

Now if only I can listen to my own advice!

 

[Stardoggy]

I did the same thing this year. First tourney rated out at 928, then the next tourney was 860/830 ish. Had no clue where the disc was going. Came back and shot in the 900 range my last tourney.

That's why we're not pro...consistency is a bitch.

 

[ru4por]

One shot at a time, every shot counts. Practice putting and take the good with the bad. Remember, you are out there for a good time.

 

[zj1002]

Be more positive in your thinking. The most important thing to learn from past struggles is to not focus on them. Don't focus on what might go wrong if you screw up the shot, because then you will throw the bad shot. Train your mind to focus on what it takes to execute the shot. Don't worry about what your rating for round is until the end of the tourney. I meet a lot of people that tell me before a round "I really need to be top card", "I need to shoot 1020 to win?", or "I can't take a 5 on this hole or that hole". Don't set unreachable goals. Set small ones in the round(each individual shot), win those battles. That is how you build confidence and consistency

 

[bradharris]

There are a couple things I've found that really help.

1. Focus on the good shots. In every round you play, there's at least one throw that went really well. It could be a long putt, a nice drive, or even a sweet recovery shot. No matter how bad my round is, I always reflect on it by picking out my favorite shot from the round.

Of course, it's important to make a mental note of where you struggle the most. But don't let one round get you down about a particular area of your game. When you focus on improving your game, focus on the skills that you struggle with consistently rather than the ones that tripped you up in a single tournament round.

2. Have fun. Especially after a frustrating, bad round, I like to go back to my home course where I know all the shots I need and can essentially shut off my brain. Instead I can just focus on throwing my shots and having fun on the course. Don't worry about your score, don't focus on trying to practice anything, just go throw and enjoy your time out there. It's important to remember that we all play this game because it's fun.

 

[sisyphus]

Have fun. Especially after a frustrating, bad round, I like to go back to my home course where I know all the shots I need and can essentially shut off my brain. Instead I can just focus on throwing my shots and having fun on the course. Don't worry about your score, don't focus on trying to practice anything, just go throw and enjoy your time out there. It's important to remember that we all play this game because it's fun.

:thmbup: THIS
I sometimes get ribbed for playing them, but there's a reason I have 450 rounds recorded at my closest dinker courses. It's like an ego balm when you can throw half the holes for deuces and totally wow the casuals!

 

[HyzerUniBomber]

There's 2 easy ways to recover from a rough round... at least for me.

First, you can just focus on the mechanics of what went wrong and try to fix it in the field. If I can go throw accurately at various distances straight, hyzer and anhyzer - then I know I need to work on the second way. Sometimes I realize that something was indeed off - I'm not throwing well flat, perhaps because I've gotten my tee shots dialed in for my home course. It turns out that I'll notice that an area of my game has suffered most when they move the pins and all the sudden I realize that a certain shot is really questionable and I'm doing something wrong.

Second, having a better mental caddie. Most people would much nicer to somebody else than they are to themselves. I like to think of it as "what would the best caddie in the world say to me if he was with me right now?"... would he say, WHAT THE HELL?! ARE YOU KIDDING?!

no.

If he did, you'd fire him. Gimme my bag back you rude bastard!

So try speaking to yourself like you were giving advice to somebody else. It seems kind of corny, but it really does work.

 

[Jax11]

There's 2 easy ways to recover from a rough round... at least for me.

First, you can just focus on the mechanics of what went wrong and try to fix it in the field. If I can go throw accurately at various distances straight, hyzer and anhyzer - then I know I need to work on the second way. Sometimes I realize that something was indeed off - I'm not throwing well flat, perhaps because I've gotten my tee shots dialed in for my home course. It turns out that I'll notice that an area of my game has suffered most when they move the pins and all the sudden I realize that a certain shot is really questionable and I'm doing something wrong.

Second, having a better mental caddie. Most people would much nicer to somebody else than they are to themselves. I like to think of it as "what would the best caddie in the world say to me if he was with me right now?"... would he say, WHAT THE HELL?! ARE YOU KIDDING?!

no.

If he did, you'd fire him. Gimme my bag back you rude bastard!

So try speaking to yourself like you were giving advice to somebody else. It seems kind of corny, but it really does work.

I like this advice. I think I may do it a bit subconsciously. Things like telling myself that a tournament is not won or lost on one hole, stay calm and execute, have fun! etc.

Personally, I like to recount the rounds and figure out statistically what went wrong. I write down the score for the hole, what disc I threw off the tee, throwing style if applicable, and maybe a note about how I played the hole or what I messed up. Note what caused each bogey. Was it a bad tee shot? 3 putt? Note what disc and throwing style is netting you birdies. You will start to see trends. You may discover you are inaccurate with a certain disc or shot type off the tee, and you can focus your practice on improving that weakness. You can also use these patterns to help your decision making in the future to set yourself up for the best shot choices on a given hole.

I will also say that chances are, if you played your worst round EVER you probably had some bad luck. In one of my worst tournaments in recent memory, even a great shot I threw turned out bad when I hit the base of the pin off the tee and my disc proceeded to roll OB. Realize that somethings are out of your control and everyone has a bad day. Chalk it up to a bad day and move on throwing with confidence.

 

[Tuckerman]

Saturday, I shot +2 over par, which is my personal best. Sunday, I threw +8 and was face-palming through the entire back 9. I was really down on myself for not making the same lines I'd thrown the previous day.

I went back out and replayed a few holes. There's one in particular where I want to throw a long, high hyzer. I botched it and the disc landed about 60 ft shy of where I wanted and on the wrong side of the fairway. So, rather than throw my Mako (unpredictable when I crank on it), I pulled my Leopard from the bag. Wouldn't you know, that dang Leopard struck the post just below the tray.

I played a few more holes. Each time a throw went wonky, I told myself not to get excited until I planted my marker and took a good look at the next shot. Most of the time, the shot was better than I thought. When it wasn't, the moment for panic had already passed. I only played five holes this way, but my state of mind was much better and so was my score.

Tl;dr... Take a "wait and see" approach to bad throws.

 

[chrishysell]

I have my own philosophy about disc golf. I have high expectations but I really know that no matter how good or bad I play I still have to go to work on Monday. I may as well enjoy my time on the course. And ratings are a record of your past and cannot predict how you will play today or tomorrow.

 

[bogeyfreetilinfinity]

buy more discs!