To Save My Sanity, I Am Walking Away From Playing Golf For Two Weeks
 

I finally got to my snapping point yesterday and I am going to take a break, to try to restore what little sanity I have left for this game. The swing demons and everything that comes with them, finally won and I am frustrated to no end. I was a consistent low 80's shooter just a few years ago, and I cared NOTHING for the game then, like I do now. I played more often, but I didn't LIVE the game like I do now. I didn't spend the money then, that I do now. I didn't do the research then, that I do now. I just played the game. I am a perfectionist, and I grind myself pretty hard, and when I know I am capable of doing something much better, and have before, I get down on myself and don't enjoy myself when I should be. I came to the conclusion yesterday, after a 27 holes of bad golf, that I needed to take a break for a couple weeks. I know I am so much better than the 104 I shot yesterday. I have been there.

The roller coaster has worn me out. One good week of golf (what I consider to be good golf) followed by two or three bad rounds, filled with all kinds of new and old swing gremlins. I am tired of it. Early in the year, I was battling shanks with everything from the 8i to the SW. I have cured the shanks, and now I am dealing with dead pulls with the high irons and wedges. Most of last year, I dealt with a off the map push fade with the driver. Now, this year, half of my tee shots are pull hooks, with the other half keeping me happy enough to keep coming back. I pissed away so many shots yesterday with my short game, just by missing my chipping or pitching target by a yard, or having the speed just a hair wrong on my putts. I honestly felt like the Golf God's were there to punish me for whatever reason and they were making their presences know. I guess I just came to the realization, I am not that good, I am never going to be that good, and those low 80's I used to shoot consistently, were a thing of the past and that I needed to settle in as a duffer with no skill.

It got me down and I did not enjoy myself. And I can't imagine it would be that much fun playing with a person that is grinding themselves so hard, that they can't even enjoy the company of others and the camaraderie of enjoying a round of golf with buddies.

I told Kelly last night, I am at your disposal on your next few days off (meaning on her days off, I was usually playing golf), I am walking away from golf for a couple weeks and if there is something you want to do, we will do it. I do have to give her some kudos, because of simply letting me give up and pout for two weeks, she promised we would go to the range a few times and she would video tape my swing for me, maybe try to spot what it is I am doing through the bag. She knows how much golf means to me, and knows I don't want to give up, but she also hates seeing me play bad golf, because she knows I am capable of playing SO much better.

I am actually looking forward to not playing golf for a couple of weeks and instead, just getting back to the basics, a time when I enjoyed golf and looked at it as a luxury in life, instead of a given.

mental mental mental ....

im trying some alpha brain soon, going to see if it will help with the mental side of the game for me . i will let you know!

I've been off for 2 weeks and taking this week off as well.....but that's cause we packed and moved so it wasn't a self-imposed 2 week ban like you are doing. Memorial weekend is my return date and I'm sooooo looking forward to getting back. Guy at work has taken the last 4-5 weeks off due to kiddo activities and went out last weekend and shot a 77. He's a 10 handicapper. It just might help you out............let us know how it goes!

Yeah, I just don't have the focus right now. I know its mental. It's just a juggling act, going from one extreme to the next. My mind is wore out trying to figure out what I am doing wrong on the golf course. I am going to keep a journal with notes from the range, and try to go back and think about what has changed in my game over the years, equipment, grips, this, that. I just want to be consistent. I don't want to break 80, that is not my goal right now. I just don't want to shoot an 84 one week, and 110 the next. I don't know how anyone could keep their sanity riding that roller coaster. And I have done that, quite often.

What if insane people are sane, and we are the insane?
Do insane people think we are insane?

Sometimes a very short break can do wonders to clear the head. Good luck with it.

~Rock

Dude I totally know what you're going through. Sometimes taking a break is a good thing. Take a little time, then think about maybe getting a lesson or two when you get back at it. Sorry to hear you're in a slump, I'm sure it will come back to you in no time.

I always told mysd I will not play golf to enjoy the game. When I don't it's time to hang it up. I commend you on this and thanks for the friendly reminder that there is more to life than being the best golfer.

Save your sanity and get a lesson. It won't only get you back to where you were, but put you further ahead.

I can completely relate. My rollercoaster of years past was a gradual climb, getting better and better followed by a very rapid descent. I made the mistake of letting my brief hiatus turn into one that was much much too long.

Don't forget that there's also the potential that general stress around the events with your houseguest are having an impact. Take a couple weeks, enjoy time away, get clear ... come back strong.

Start playing golf on the course, and stop playing golf swing. You're pressing way too much. Stop worrying about your swing and what kind of clubs you're swinging. When you next play, swing away. Stop thinking. From your posts we know you've had some other stuff going on, too. Golf is fun, dammit. Get out there and have some.

Kevin

I know exactly what you mean. I reached that point at least a month ago, if not longer. I decided that it wasn't fun sucking anymore, and I've sucked at this game for all 16 years I've played it. But, anytime I take a break, I usually come back and play well, as well as I can anyway, for a bit before the demons come right back in. I've decided that I'm taking off until father's day, when I'm supposed to play with both of my brothers for the first time in 6 years, but I may extend it through the summer. My problem is that even though I know I'm not gonna play any, I'm still constantly thinking about what I might have been doing wrong and how I might be able to fix it. But, since I've never had a lesson, and am not one to really take lessons, I just continue to guess. But, this time I'm gonna try to put the game out of my head entirely. Already had the wife block golf channel and the only tournament I'm going to watch is going to be the US Open. Then, we'll see how I feel come that weekend. If I'm still not feeling it, I will let them go on without me and I will continue the hiatus. Lucky for me, I now have a bike that I will be riding more and more and have a few other things to do with the family for the next month or so. Hopefully, that will fill up enough time that I can stop worrying about it and come back totally refreshed.

Jeff: Sorry to hear you are struggling my friend. Take your "break time" and do some other things that you enjoy and help you relax. The golf course will still be there in 2-3 weeks. Whenever I get frustrated I fall back on an old Bill Murray quote, "I'm not a good enough golfer to get upset with the way I play golf." At the time of the quote Murray was nearly a scratch golfer I believe. Take care. KCM

You're so focused on what you think youdid wrong, or might do wrong on the next swing, that you forgot you know how to do more things right than wrong. Like when you shoot in the low 80s.

Kevin

Best way to cure golf blahs is to go back to what is most fun about it, forget the score and just grip it and rip it and see how far or hard you can hit it or try hitting some trick shots, whatever, putt with a driver, chip with a putter, hit 5 irons off every tee no matter how far, play some games where you get to tell your friends what club they can hit off the next tee if you win the hole, stuff like that makes it a lot more interesting and you can always grind it back down to where you are trying to improve again when the time is right. People have to re-learn to walk again after not walking for just a week or so, the same applies to golf, every time you stop for more than a few weeks you are starting all over again so why lose all progress? Make it fun but keep going - it's worth it, getting better is a mental process as much as a physical process, a key is to try hard without caring about the result, hard to do but worth it. Besides almost everyone that plays this game sucks except for the ones who play on TV on the weekend.

Yeah, I think the chaos that has been going on in my personal life hasn't helped things much and hopefully, with things clearing up tad, maybe I can regain my focus and my game. I was stressed before I even hit the first tee. I can't afford lessons, the cost of the lessons themselves and the commute to get to them add up to be too much in the grand scheme of things. I just look forward to kind of hitting the reset button, spending more time on the range with the video camera and dissecting what I am doing, instead of standing over a chip I must be perfect on or a drive I must be perfect on, so I can stop a bogey train or save a big par.

good call on taking a break,

this is a hobby, it's supposed to be enjoyable and relaxing

if your hobby is stressing you out, time to find a new hobby for awhile

I went through something very similar lately. I was tinkering with my swing almost weekly. Trying to perfect the take away, flat right wrist at the top, downswing coming from the inside, flat left wrist at impact, divot after the ball facing slightly left, etc... I was on a rollercoaster. One week my driver is awesome, the next I am teeing off with a 5-iron on par 5's because it's the only thing that'll keep me in bounds. Next week I cannot hit ball first and my fat shots are not 10 yard short fatties. They are 30 yard duffers.

I told myself to start having fun and I completely went back to basics. Back to my trusty 10-finger grip after a couple years of overlap (years of overlap yet 10-finger seems natural from the very first swing lol). Stopped worrying about everything...just hit. Magically played great! My biggest enemy is my own overthinking!

Good luck buddy

A break can be a good thing. Dr Vinnie figures you are suffering from "paralyses by analyses". Most of us have been there at one time or another I bet.

When in doubt, as others have said, go back to the basics!

http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ies/drinks.gif

I know how it feels man. Last July I was a 21 HC. It got down to 10 right before school started. it was 16 when I joined THP. It remains 16 now. And last weekend I managed one of the worst 9s on my life on the front, then proceeded to shoot the best of my life on the back. It's a roller coaster. Ride it too many times and you're bound to get sick, unless it's this:

https://encrypted-tbn1.google.com/im...m4YSby4C5M02rw

I posted something very similar in the Morgan Cup prep thread a few days ago...I was not having fun and every bad shot made it worse and were part of the cause for the next 10 bad shots. I told myself I need to remember that I play this game for fun not work and frustration.

Went out yesterday and started crappy again....backed off on the 5th tee box after starting 8 over for the first 4 holes and said...just swing smooth and lets' not worry about the score...just play golf and have a good time....I started hitting shots and putts started falling and next thing I know I went the last 14 holes in 4 over..including a 39 on the back 9..that could have easily been a 37.

I wasn't thinking about "flattening my wrist or releasing the club" or anything...I just swung the club at about 85% speed and good things started happening.

Give it a try.