Totally agree, especially about forgetting the bad shots. I do find it more difficult to forget about bad putts though. I'm usually pretty good about recovering from a bad tee shot.
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dg burnout
- Thread starter schrot42
- Start date
Totally agree, especially about forgetting the bad shots. I do find it more difficult to forget about bad putts though. I'm usually pretty good about recovering from a bad tee shot.
Great read! I read it online, and still want to have a physical copy. Off to ebay...
sumo21
Eagle Member
I go to the local pitch/putt and play a round or 2 with a putter. Follow that up with a round or 2 with a mid. Then back to the putter.
Then I'll hit the local regular course and do the same. For me, I get to know my money discs better. This way, I can just go out and drive.
I will also tend to drop back to Fairway Drivers instead of Distance Drivers, so I'm more accurate and can rely on my mids and putters.
Then I'll hit the local regular course and do the same. For me, I get to know my money discs better. This way, I can just go out and drive.
I will also tend to drop back to Fairway Drivers instead of Distance Drivers, so I'm more accurate and can rely on my mids and putters.
I quit playing tourneys and league events because I ended up playing with people that I would never choose to hang out with and the time commitment was way too high. I still loved to play and played lots of solo rounds, but that got boring quick. I finally found a group of good people to play with. we have tons of fun mixing up formats, dubs, greensomes, bloodsomes, battle golf, skins, etc.
For the first time in 3 years I also suffered a bit of burnout, haven't played in over a month. But now I'm so looking forward to getting back into it and I hope the break has helped me appreciate the fun factor more so I can mellow out more during a round.
dorseymatt
Eagle Member
I still love playing, but I can't seem to get away from the injury bug. If my left knee's not hurting, my right knee is. If my right shoulder's not hurting, my elbow is. The more time I take to recover, the more interested I get in doing other things, sometimes. And if I'm not playing all the time, my game deteriorates. I'm signed up for 2 tournaments in the next two months, and I'm already thinking about bailing. Kind of in a funk, as you can see.
sumo21
Eagle Member
If I don't stop playing a while, then I change up the way that I play. Instead of a full bag, I pare it down to 8-10 discs maximum. Sometimes I'll play an only sidearm round. Use shots that you normally don't throw. By changing it up and taking a break from playing, I never get burned out. And it's something that you should consider because getting burned out might just sneak up on you.
Ted Bratton
Double Eagle Member
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2012
- Messages
- 1,499
For me it was purely mental.
I've always loved disc golf, but my attitude held me back. When my mentality and motivation was about competing/winning/(substitute similar words) I got seriously burnt out exactly as you did. I made a thread about it too. Not to mention all of the other nasty side effects. A similar mentality/motivation(whatever you wanna call) it in my life also brought countless problems. I've always been what I consider "overly competitive" with a "bad attitude" for pretty much my whole life. I decided it felt wrong and I wanted to change and had to get my ego in check. I had to accept that I was a bad disc golfer (by my standards). I had to embrace my flawed nature (big picture) and (small picture) my flawed ability to throw with high precision. Once I accepted that I was going to make tonnns of errors every round I will ever play and not always be "on" and shooting hot all the time my averages and my success improved. People told me they noticed improvement and a better attitude.
My best mentality is to play only for the love of the game. I've found that my love of the game is more than enough to motivate myself to throw great rounds. I now seemingly never feel frustration, anger, disappointment, anxiety, or grow bored of disc golf or even just a disc golf round. I never give up during a round or half-ass a shot because I love throwing every shot. I love playing disc golf. I always have but my self got in the way. The score and others things I used to value feel insignificant. I have more fun and far less mental errors and struggles than most disc golfers I play with, even players that usually shoot better than me. I have far lesser swings hole to hole, round to round, and month to month than many players.
If you relate try playing one round with your club or whatever where before every single shot you remind yourself that you play only because you love playing disc golf regardless of the course or if it's raining or how tired you are or how good you are or whether you lose. Because you want to play and you don't care about who beats you. It may work for you too.
I've always loved disc golf, but my attitude held me back. When my mentality and motivation was about competing/winning/(substitute similar words) I got seriously burnt out exactly as you did. I made a thread about it too. Not to mention all of the other nasty side effects. A similar mentality/motivation(whatever you wanna call) it in my life also brought countless problems. I've always been what I consider "overly competitive" with a "bad attitude" for pretty much my whole life. I decided it felt wrong and I wanted to change and had to get my ego in check. I had to accept that I was a bad disc golfer (by my standards). I had to embrace my flawed nature (big picture) and (small picture) my flawed ability to throw with high precision. Once I accepted that I was going to make tonnns of errors every round I will ever play and not always be "on" and shooting hot all the time my averages and my success improved. People told me they noticed improvement and a better attitude.
My best mentality is to play only for the love of the game. I've found that my love of the game is more than enough to motivate myself to throw great rounds. I now seemingly never feel frustration, anger, disappointment, anxiety, or grow bored of disc golf or even just a disc golf round. I never give up during a round or half-ass a shot because I love throwing every shot. I love playing disc golf. I always have but my self got in the way. The score and others things I used to value feel insignificant. I have more fun and far less mental errors and struggles than most disc golfers I play with, even players that usually shoot better than me. I have far lesser swings hole to hole, round to round, and month to month than many players.
If you relate try playing one round with your club or whatever where before every single shot you remind yourself that you play only because you love playing disc golf regardless of the course or if it's raining or how tired you are or how good you are or whether you lose. Because you want to play and you don't care about who beats you. It may work for you too.
corin_brown
Eagle Member
^This me.
Starting last fall, I've been battling all kinds of injuries. Nothing so serious it keeps me in the hospital, but painful enough to keep me from playing disc golf with the intensity I want to. I've played a few casual rounds here or there but I've had to stop competing in tournaments and I really miss it.
I felt like I was really growing as a tournament player and I really enjoyed playing most of the tournaments in our the local PDGA series and the other weeklies, monthlies and leagues when I could. I loved the action/competition/challenge of a tournament round and I enjoyed working on my rating.
I can see the burnout thing happening if playing disc golf, in some way, wrecks the balance in your life, but I'm ready to get back out there, myself.
corin_brown
Eagle Member
That's beautiful, man. Very articulate expression of a personal journey to disc golf mental game enlightenment.
It resonated with me because it's quite similar to what I've gone through.In your excellent post, I also caught a whiff of the principles that Bob Rotella laid out in his book "Golf is Not A Game of Perfect" (not to say that Rotella has the monopoly on logical approaches to playing golf or disc golf.)
As soon as I calmed down and introduced some perspective, logic and positive thinking into my own tournament game, my overall game improved, my results improved, I enjoyed competing more, I was able to compete harder, I was more pleasant to be around at tournaments and I enjoyed the entire tournament experience more than I even thought was possible.
Great post. :clap:
sumo21
Eagle Member
Another idea is to take a road trip/vacation and play different courses or not. Playing a course that you may not play again or very sparsely, may get you out of your rut/funk. It's always a welcome change when I can take these trips. Breaks the monotony.
Play some "fun" rounds. Like:
Innova Starter Pack Challenge- but a starter pack and go straight to the course and use just these 3 discs. It's actually a lot of fun and forces you to throw lines that you wouldn't have previously considered(mostly rollers)
90's Style-
Use discs promonatly used in the 90's. I bag a classic grid aviar, a cobra, a stingray, a shark, a viper, and a gazelle.
All DX Bag-
Self explanatory, but try and not use molds that you already throw. Mine is a aviar P&A, a roc, a stingray, an eagle, a leopard, a valk and a firebird
One Disc Round-
Pick one disc, any one...and that's all u get. I bring my Champion Mako3
Bag Swap-
Invite one of your DG friends to play a round with you. I give ur bag to him and vice versa. Don't tell each other what to throw or what each one might do. Figuring out what each one does is part of the fun
Condor vs Zepher round
These are 2 old Innova discs that are a little funky. Give one to a friend and see how the round goes
Safari Round-
Go to Tee #1, but actually play to #2's basket. This one can be a lot of fun.
An remember, you aren't trying to get better by doing this and you are NOT KEEPING SCORE. This is for the purpose of fun and FUN ONLY. If it ever isn't fun, walk back to your car and leave/try a different game. Try and enjoy the game again. If all of these don't work, take some time off. "Time apart makes the heart grow fonder". I hope some of these suggestions helped
Innova Starter Pack Challenge- but a starter pack and go straight to the course and use just these 3 discs. It's actually a lot of fun and forces you to throw lines that you wouldn't have previously considered(mostly rollers)
90's Style-
Use discs promonatly used in the 90's. I bag a classic grid aviar, a cobra, a stingray, a shark, a viper, and a gazelle.
All DX Bag-
Self explanatory, but try and not use molds that you already throw. Mine is a aviar P&A, a roc, a stingray, an eagle, a leopard, a valk and a firebird
One Disc Round-
Pick one disc, any one...and that's all u get. I bring my Champion Mako3
Bag Swap-
Invite one of your DG friends to play a round with you. I give ur bag to him and vice versa. Don't tell each other what to throw or what each one might do. Figuring out what each one does is part of the fun
Condor vs Zepher round
These are 2 old Innova discs that are a little funky. Give one to a friend and see how the round goes
Safari Round-
Go to Tee #1, but actually play to #2's basket. This one can be a lot of fun.
An remember, you aren't trying to get better by doing this and you are NOT KEEPING SCORE. This is for the purpose of fun and FUN ONLY. If it ever isn't fun, walk back to your car and leave/try a different game. Try and enjoy the game again. If all of these don't work, take some time off. "Time apart makes the heart grow fonder". I hope some of these suggestions helped
