[Peter Hill]

I've had two personal best rounds this year, both coming since June.

On June 5, I shot an 82 and on July 17 I shot a 79. After both rounds, I have had some letdown rounds after (an 85 and an 89 after the 82; and 94, 84, 91 and 83 after the 79). Now the 84 and 83 weren't that disappointing, but shooting two 90s after breaking 80 sucked! Even though not that long ago, a score in the low 90s wasn't that bad!

I know what the problem is, and that is that now that I know I can go low, I am pressing and getting mad at myself if I start off with a couple of bad holes. I got over it after the two rounds after the 82 with a couple of 84s, and those were also the two rounds before I shot the 79. Since I do have an 84 and an 83 spaced between the 94 and 91, it's not so bad, but since I know I can go low, I want to do it every time!

The good thing is, the handicap is coming down in leaps instead of fluctuating up a lot, down a little. A drop of 3.1 since June 1 leaves me very optimistic about the future. Now the thing is, do I take a few weeks off after The Morgan Cup and try to heal my elbow completely, or wait until after the Des Moines outing in September so I can keep in form? It's not really a question for anyone, it's just something I gotta decide!


What do others experience after reaching a new low score?

[janeloveslifenow]

It's very natural Smalls, to have a let down after doing what you did. Ever notice when a pro on tour goes really low and the next day they have a sub-par round. Happens a lot.

Keep grinding Smalls!! You now know you can do it!

[Galsteinbok]

Agreed with my Texan friend. You have to just keep pushing but when my elbow starts hurting, I have to take it easy or it just makes bad scores worse.

[RarensussyRen]

Hey Smalls I've had 16 rounds this year and 8 have been sub 90. 13 have been sub 100. My low was 81 on 7/14 and shot an 84 today, my pb was 7/10/11 with an 80. Remember when I 1st joined the forum 3 years ago and was having trouble breaking 100 ?? LOL I do feel exactly like you and when I have a 90 to 95 round I feel like I shot like crap my task now is having these sub 90 rounds when I am not golfing by MYSELF LOL, hope the elbow gets better, be careful with that. As an aside the last 3 years 23 rounds have been under 90, my course is par 66 about 5100 yards to put things in perspective.

[Peter Hill]

I sure do jc! Hope you are able to start posting more like you were for a long time there! It's been fun seeing your scores going down.

[Jifyicyfuhpop]

Don't worry about it Smalls. It's just natural. You're probably putting too much pressure on yourself. I do that all the time. Those PBs rule btw!

[Gremlinn]

That's how it went with me as well Smally. I broke 80 for the first time with 77, then went over a month all in the 80's (some high side), but a month later shot 78. That was towards the end of the season 3 years ago. The last two years I've done it quite a few times each year, including the 74 that was just a crazy day, but still in the mid low 80's most of the time. The big difference in my mind is that you are working at the game and will likely get it there and stay at some point. I just go play with very little work or practice, its no wonder the game is still up and down for me.

[Phlkxkbh]

Personally I think when we shoot that low PB, we expect to do that everytime and maybe make some bad decisions on our way to trying to hit that score on the next few rounds.

One thing I will say is that the first time breaking a certain score is one of the biggest accomplishments there is. Once you do it, you can trust yourself to do it again, just have to let yourself do it.

[RarensussyRen]

Hi Duey I can relate to what your'e saying getting out 1 to 2x a week isn't enough for me, it is what it is, I'd like the occasional blow up round to be mid 80's instead of 90-95 like it is now.

[RarensussyRen]

Amen to that Mullie 9111 Amen.

[Gremlinn]

Hi Duey I can relate to what your'e saying getting out 1 to 2x a week isn't enough for me, it is what it is, I'd like the occasional blow up round to be mid 80's instead of 90-95 like it is now.

IT's good hearing from you buddy, hope all's well. I was actually playing a bunch all summer, but just play and not really working at the game any. Now I just get out on the weekends and like one day here and there during the week.

[euylvaygdq]

Smallie, I feel your pain brother....it wasn't that long ago that either one of us would have been happy shooting 91 or 89...but with better scores come higher expectations!

I am the same way, if I start off with a couple of bad holes, I start pressing because I have to make up for the bad holes instead of just letting those go and moving on to the next one.

A week or so ago I played the front nine in 43 and was pi$$ed as hell, mainly because I missed a couple of makeable putts....one of my friends said, dude 6 months ago you would have been doing cartwheels to shoot 43...it's funny how our expectations change.

[BoarmomorurrY]

Small's when you get back from the MC, take some time of to let your elbow heal. I know it will be hard but better than making it worse.

[citicroego]

I think about all of us are in the same boat here. I was shooting low 90's high 80's all spring and beginning of the summer, but something clicked and my worst score in the last month is an 85. I played 36 yesterday and shot 85/84 and was not happy with myself at all. I think when you have the high expectations you get down on yourself more when you hit a bad shot. The thing to do is just stay positive and try to avoid the big mistakes and compounding any errors that you are going to make. Good luck at the MC!

[ashleyjoseph]

I followed my PB (73) on Saturday at my club championship with a (100 ) during the Sunday round. I'm not sure what happen but the wheels definitely came off. Maybe the hung over, drizzly rainy weathy, combined with a very tired body did me in or maybe it was I tried to to force another good round and choked. It's a crazy game but the high/low stuff happens to us all.

[erelvenewmeva]

Happens all the time because we raise our expectations and often do even worse when we go back out. We KNOW we can do it! Can't force golf although we try over and over again. It's funny how relaxed we are feeling when we shoot our best scores. Everything just flows, not trying so hard, and the tempo is just good. If we could just feel relaxed like that each time we go out.

[nerohedfrs]

don't worry Smalls. being consistent in golf is the hardest thing to do in the game, and at times, you even seem to max out at a certain score, not being able to shoot anything but that number.
i think that in golf, as in anything you do, once you've hit a PB, it's just human nature to expect that or better every time after that.

keep grinding it out brother!

[enasseneiff]

The good thing is, the handicap is coming down in leaps instead of fluctuating up a lot, down a little. A drop of 3.1 since June 1 leaves me very optimistic about the future. Now the thing is, do I take a few weeks off after The Morgan Cup and try to heal my elbow completely, or wait until after the Des Moines outing in September so I can keep in form? It's not really a question for anyone, it's just something I gotta decide!
What do others experience after reaching a new low score?

I think we all feel the same disappointment man, you shoot a smoking round only to be followed up by a round that feels unfamiliar and strange. You have made a lot of progress since June and that should really make you proud of yourself, it take a lot of hard work to get where you have gotten. Focus on your success and realize how long it took to get there and you'll have a lot more of it. I think it's awesome!

You should heal your elbow after the cup, your elbow is vital to the swing and you need it in top form as you pursue even par

[texprofi]

So true KB. When I shot my PB it was as if I wasn't even trying. In fact I was only planning to play the front nine that day but after shooting even I just had to keep it going. But knowing what I was trying to do put that little bit of pressure on me and the back wasn't as good but I go 43. for me I was playing a lot of golf then so my game could handle that little bit of added pressure I was putting on myself and of course the stars just lined up that day for me as well.

Another analogy is that when I was fortunate to get an Ace I played the same course the following day. As a golfer when I came to that same Par 3 guess what my thought was? I actually thought maybe I can Ace it again. Of course my normal game was back and I hit the ball in the woods. Handling the added pressure I put on myself certainly showed. I guess that's the mental part of the game and being able to handle pressure.

This is the most humbling sport I have ever encountered and nowadays i just accept what I bring to the course and enjoy each PB or PV (Personal Victory) or whatever the best accomplishment of the round is and keep practicing and plugging away having fun. I always find a PV in each round I play. It might be my short game was on that day or perhaps I hit my targets in the FW or putting was good. Most rounds I have something going right and reflect on that. The will stars line up again. Maybe that day will be today.

TapAhoy!

[reachmanxx]

It's very normal - a PB means it's a very good score. You'll need a good day to come close again, but those good days will likely come more often and more consistently if you keep working.

One thing to consider when you get off to a tough start is, rather than getting (or, at least, staying) angry, look at it as a challenge. Tiger started +2 after 3 yesterday and had to grind to turn in an even par day. Even the pros do it.

If 79 is 7 over at your course, and you're +4 after 3, rather than pressing, take a grinding approach. Fairways and greens. Playing smart. Eliminate risks rather than take them. If you find a way to shoot 79 again by playing the last 15 in +3, that will be an even more impressive round.

I know I have a tendency to do things like hit driver on a short par 4 or attack a pin stuck behind a bunker to "go get" some strokes back when I have a bad hole or two. It rarely works. But if I stick to my plan and let good holes come, grinding out some pars, it often turns my round around.

One more thought on PBs in general. My experience is that they come in tiers rather than gradually getting better (at least until a point). My example is from growing up on a little 9 holer in Western KS. Par was 35. I was starting to play "seriously" and remember my dad saying, "If you can play consistent bogey golf, you can be happy with that." Right, dad. I worked and finally shot my first "under bogey" round with a 43. What happened was that became the norm in my mind. A few weeks later, I put a 41 on the card, and after that rarely shot over 44. Of course, then I knew 40 was attainable.

One day I shot 38. Wow! I thought that was crazy, but it didn't happen again the next day. I shot a lot of 40-44s in the weeks after. But I was shooting them consistently.

Finally I broke through with a 37, and after that I shot a lot of 38-40s. It was like the PB was freeing me up to make the last PB "normal". Of course, I then wanted to get to that magic 35. It took a while, and while I was consistently shooting sub-40, I posted a few 42-45s still.

One day it happened, though, and I was -3 through 4 and held on for a 34. The wall was down. And I shot 41 the next time out. Yuck. But after that, shooting 36-38 became normal. Eventually, my PB was 30 on that little course, and my "normal" was shooting 33-36.

Sorry for the long story, but it was how I experienced getting better. I didn't immediately shoot my personal best consistently when they happened, but my previous PB often became the norm. I'd expect you to find low 80s to become your norm until you have another round where it "clicks" and you put up a 76 or 77. Good luck!

This is a mental game. Keep grinding.

Shanked with my Galaxy S2 using Tapatalk