I have had it. It has become so bad that the Fgolf thread isn't even worth it to me anymore.

Last December, as in December 18, I played in our annual team tournament at our club. FIrst day is match play second day was team best ball(I know it was backwards but we did it that way because some guys couldnt play Saturday).

Anyway I had been playing pretty well going into it. I think my handicap was hovering around a 1. I have always tended to shoot very consistent scores. I am not the guy to shoot 68 80. I shoot 74-74. I go out on the first day and play the former club championship and close him out on 16. I had 4 birdies and 4 bogeys. Played well.

Then Sunday I played bad and lost but didnt think anything of it. Went out the next Wednesday and shot 80 something and I have more or less shot 80 something ever since. I lost it. I mean completely ****ing lost it. I probably went 10 years without shooting over 85 more than once or twice. I have done it 10 times this year at least. My stroke average last year was 77 and change. This year it is 81.3.

And the misses are everything. I am not missing just to the left or right. I am hitting pull hooks followed by fat shots followed by blades followed by 40 yards right, whatever you call that. The amount of doubles and triples on my card are scary. I now celebrate when I limit it to one or two in a round.

I thought I had it back early this month. I had nines of 40-37-38-37-37 in a row. But in that last round I shot 45 on the back and followed it up with an 82 the next weekend.

I have had enough of this ***** I quit for 6 months in 2014 after I got laid off and didnt play 10 rounds from 2006-08 when I lived in Alaska. I am taking 6 months off. I will see yall next summer.

Rant over.

I feel your pain. We have a foursome that is so close in skill that we don't bother with strokes. In 17 and 18 I had it down to a 6 and won more than I lost. Then this year my back finally decided it was done. Had surgery and I'm back playing. I'm pain free but I just can't make a move like I used to. I'm back playing with the boys but it's just no fun when you know that unless the putter gets hot the wallet is coming out.

I hope the break serves you well. Maybe we should go do 7 days in Utopia.

I have no idea how people do that. I just cannot enjoy it when I am playing bad. Don't get me wrong, I can have a bad round and still have fun. I cannot have bad rounds 40 out of 50 times and enjoy it. I will never except the fact that I am just not as good as I used to be. I will quit before I do that.

I am pretty sure it has somethign to do with age. I turn 43 in February. So I was 41 when it started. And for whatever reason I cannot replicate the same swing anymore. That's why I cannot control my misses. I used to only miss left. Some days everything was straight. Some days a few were left, and some days they were all left. But I could manage that and still shoot a good score. But when you cant replicate your swing and have no idea where the ball is going you are dead.

You sound like my dad. He was a very good amateur player in his younger days..played at UH for Dave Williams. When I was taking up the game, it was like pulling teeth trying to get him to play. When he did play (once a year) he'd shoot 75-78 and couldn't stand it. He'd hit maybe two or three bad shots and that's how he would remember the round.

Sucks man. You might trying changing up who you play with and where. When I'm in a rut, playing with the regular crew can be miserable. I've played some of my best golf when walking as a single.

I hang up the clubs for 5-6 months a year but for differnt reasons. But also explains hardly breaking 80 anymore. Once hunting starts in November and the weather gets cold through March, I don't even think about clubs. It's ducks, deer and waiting on warm weather.

stick93 said:

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Maybe we should go do 7 days in Utopia.

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a lot of good medicine in that ^ post; punch-out, go paint your Picasso, and then...SFT

Sounds like a something slowly changed in your swing and it has effected your mental side of the game.

Not to pry, OP, but do you ever get a trusted 2nd set of eyes on it? Just helps to fine tune the set-up... I feel like that's what derails good players the quickest.

Even just video helps. Sometimes I compare what it looked like when playing well vs current and that provides some clues.

My last 6 rounds have been 82, 70, 75, 84, 71, 84. And all with minimal OB shots or hazards. Two-way miss has crept in which makes for a long day. Good when it's good and bad when it goes south!

Just rename this thread to "F Golf II" already.

May have torn the right rotator cuff this week. Looks like a lay-off may not be optional.

Here

I'll just copy your post and tweet a few minor details, same ****ing thing tho. The only thing I can think of is I started to get back in shape and work out over the last year and maybe that has screwed me up.

Quote:

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Sucks man. You might trying changing up who you play with and where. When I'm in a rut, playing with the regular crew can be miserable. I've played some of my best golf when walking as a single.

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This worked for me last Summer. Played like crap for over a month with my league buddies. Finally just went and did my own thing (also got a new driver) and it really helped reset my game.

Was an 8.7 three months ago, now a 13.2,

Haven't broke 90 in 12 rounds. Last 2 rounds over 100.

Today, 47-41.

There's always hope.

Went from being 76-82 in high school, to 84-88 in college, to only plying twice a year for 6-7 years, to now being lucky to break 90. My problem is purely practice. But it still sucks to know that I HAVE, CAN, and SHOULD be better than I am, I just don't have the time to dedicate to get back where I know my potential is. I still drive fairly far, can shape shots, can scramble with the best of them, and putt well. What I can't do is keep my swing consistent, contact cleanly every time, and manage through subpar weather or course conditions.

It seems like I go through a spell like you are in about once every other year. The only way I have found to fix it is by hitting the range. I will get a huge bucket of balls and hit one club until I hit it straight every time. My problem is usually alignment so I use an alignment stick pointing at the target about 4 inches away from the ball. I also put a long iron down to show me where my feet are in relation to the ball. Usually by the end of that bucket I am back to normal. Some of those first swings feel really weird though. I look down and think I can't possibly be aimed at the target.

So two things,
1. went to the range tonight, not exactly sure what I was expecting but it was one of my best sessions in years.
Wasn't really thinking of anything in particular other than swinging aggressively but under control and in balance.
2. I've been wanting to cut down my driver shaft to 44 inches for a long time. I normally choke down and finally took the plunge last week, finally got to hit the shortened shaft at the range. Everything was on the ****ing screws, didn't have a monitor but could tell spin rate was way down from the last few months of hitting long but ballooning shots with zero roll. Need to get on a monitor to compare exact numbers but I'd be really surprised if I lost any measurable distance with the lower spin rate and hitting it center club face more often.

Excited to try and go play Thursday weather permitting.