Meltdown Rounds

[Jabumbo]

Anybody else have issues with these? Or even know what I mean by that?

Generally I am very consistent but rarely really excellent. The difference between what I think of as a good round vs a bad one is usually no more than 3 or 4 strokes.

So yesterday I was playing at Moraine (my favorite course, best score from blues +2) and the first 9 holes was just crushing it. Made 2 birdies and only had to scramble on one putt more than 15 feet for par.

Then its like a switch went off and I couldn't do anything right. I went +9 over the next 6 holes and lost 2 discs. Even shots that looked good were finding trees. One hole my approach bounced up and rolled backwards 30 feet. A simple 8 foot putt got spit out by the chains. I just couldn't do anything that I wanted.

Thankfully I managed to par out the final 3 holes because after losing the 2nd disc on hole 15 I was half tempted to go jump in the lake.


I don't think I've had a round like this in many years and I'm glad it's not often because boy was it frustrating. Anyone else seems to catch the hex at strange times?

 

[DiscFifty]

That's what separates us from the pros. The mental game plus physical preparation. Even though these types of rounds are getting fewer and farther between, they're still there. (Just had one at sat.) I think it has to do with being calm, thinking clearly, drinking + eating the right things before and during a round, etc, etc. I also think during hot weather I get a little low on sugar which affects my mental game as well.

 

[Jukeshoe]

Oh yeah...melt-down rounds are a little bit of my specialty.

Just try to keep a good attitude and keep throwing and eventually things turn back around for the good.

 

[mavsfan0434]

If your rounds are always bad, then how do you meltdown?....asking for a friend...

 

[corin_brown]

Play more tournaments. Doing that will put more perspective on your non-tournament rounds at your favorite courses. Since I started playing tournaments, I stopped looking at rounds as the crucial unit of scoring and focused more on individual shots themselves and on the total score of the tournament more. I learned that an 18 hole round is more or less an arbitrary unit of measurement, in the context of a tournament.

If you're just playing a random round at your favorite course and you feel like you're melting down, just walk off the course and do something else.

 

[runningDoc]

This first serious tourney season I've been doing well in tourneys because I bear down on my shots/shot selection to avoid the sheer embarrassment factor of the meltdown round. Sure I'll have the meltdown hole during the tourney but realize that as AM2 as long as your near par for course you're never really out of the money.

Casual, tag,l and league rounds? Meltdowns galore. My local course is an enigma I can't solve ( in fairness SSC IS A 53 on a par 55) so if you start bogeying then you might chase birdies to buffer (gambling time baby!) and it's a vicious cycle that ends in sores in the high 60's or even 70's

 

[ThrowBot]

IMHO, a meltdown has more to do with attitude than score. Everyone has better and worse rounds; I don't think that just throwing poorly constitutes a meltdown. Bad luck, lack of focus, misjudging something on the course...those things just happen sometimes (not necessarily the characteristics of a meltdown).

When bad things [inevitably] happen, how you deal with it is what can lead to a meltdown. If you get pissed and start to play overly aggressive to make up ground, it's probably going to cost you even more strokes. As runningDoc pointed out above, it's a vicious cycle.

If you can keep a cool head and still have fun, every bad round doesn't have to turn into a meltdown. Not sure if that makes sense.

 

[Tjamesd]

You just have to play to what you are feeling. If you want to really go for a drive, but the last few holes are still in your head, play conservatively, the shot you know you can execute. And keep doing that until you've got your conficence back!

 

[Dr.Smooth]

You are in good company.

As always your perspective determines what is good and what is bad.

Did you have any fun?

Taking this sport too seriously can hurt. But it is understandable; we all want to play well, improve, make our shots, etc.

A bad day of throwing frisbee is always better than a good day of work!

 

[@iDiscGolf]

In some peoples head they are much much better than they truly are in real life. I've noticed this can lead to a bad time and not having fun...

 

[2002P51]

I don't know about whole meltdown rounds, but I occasionally will have a meltdown hole. And it doesn't even have to be difficult hole either. It can happen anywhere.

I can be playing well, nailing my drives, making good putts when, suddenly, and for no reason, my drive will be bad, followed by a worse up shot, a layup that leaves me with a chance for a bogey, which I of course miss. Next hole, back to normal and everything goes well again.

 

[Alobar]

In some peoples head they are much much better than they truly are in real life. I've noticed this can lead to a bad time and not having fun...

^True dis(c). I know my game, and she ain't pretty...I went out and got my Butt Kicked in the heat yesterday, but still had a blast and enjoyed being the woods. Except for spiders. They can all die.
Lost 2 discs as well. Disappeared.

My excuse for the round: heat + humidity = sweat + slip city

 

[ChrisWoj]

My "meltdown" rounds are usually more like meltdown-sixes. I typically only have a meltdown once it becomes apparent I'm sitting outside of the cash and the time has come to take drastic measures to get myself back there. I've got a pretty good sense for the field thanks to a decade of tournament experience, and usually I'm spot-on with my judgment calls on the course regarding whether or not I'm in line for a cash. With about six holes to go I'll usually do a quick count up and see how I'm sitting, and if it looks like I'm probably missing money unless I get red hot.... well that's the point at which I start going for crazy stuff. More often than not it results in a meltdown looking final score. But I've learned to stop caring about rating. Whether I melted down or not, had I just continued as I was - I wasn't going to make money anyway. So I'd better try to get that four of six or five of six deuces, any other result is not relevant.

So yeah, more like six meltdown holes than a meltdown round, but in the end the total number looks just as ugly.

 

[goeyj]

If I have a meltdown it is almost ALWAYS on the front 9. It doesn't matter if the back 9 is impossibly difficult - I'll still score lower on average. It's either a mental thing or lack of warm-up and establishing my release point.

 

[adlacro]

Ah yes, the meltdown round. This is usually when you find every tree after releasing perfectly, the missing ten footers and it rolls 30 feet away... sounds like every round I have.

In all fairness and joking aside, usually your next round is several shots better. I usually try not to have meltdown rounds. I instead sometimes have meltdown holes. Ob on the drive, upshot hits a tree, have no look for bogey, miss a putt or two, then after that you collect your thoughts and rebound with a bird or two, or at least string together several pars.

We've all been there. The trick is to NOT let it snowball. If it does, then try to do better the next round. Maybe play a little less aggressive, especially on holes you don't score well on. Hope it helps.

 

[Star Shark]

Last time I played, I had 2.9 solid rounds. The last round had 2 meltdown holes. Sylmar, Hole 1, I took a 10 <septuple bogey>. I went OB on drive and kept having to sidearm over the OB to come back in at the pin, but I kept hitting tree branches I couldn't see and falling OB again. Hole 16, I hit both trees in the double mando. I had to lay up back to the gap so as to make it. Then I griplocked over the fence OB. Shot 5 early released into the big bush in the middle of the hole. Shot 6 was a sidearm out of the bush and about 18' left of the basket. Made the putt for a 7. Without those 2 holes, I'd be even par.

 

[JNichols]

As others have said, I think it has to do with the ability to think of each shot as it's own entity AND have the mental ability to jump back from a bad one.

I have been working on my mental game, more than any other part, lately. Today I went to my local pitch and put for a quick 9 holes. My putting was on. Dead on. But, every putt was wind kicked high or low. Belt or cage. I two putted 7 of the 9 holes. 2 months ago, I would have thrown a tissy and let my brain slip completely out of the game. My score would have been way worse off. But, not allowing the off shots to get to you, as best as possible, will keep the Meltdown Rounds to a minimum, IMO.

 

[joecoin]

If your rounds are always bad, then how do you meltdown?....asking for a friend...

Yes, I also have a friend who would like the answer to this question.

 

[texhop58]

The course that I helped design does this to me. I have never understood how I can play such a short course so badly and turn around and play like I should. I know a lot of it deals with ob and all but it seems like if i let hole 7 or 8 beat me. Next thing I know. The next 5 holes destroy me. Was playing a tag round with some of the guys and went into the pond on 7 and then missed an island on 8. And boom before I know it. My even +1ish score is now +9 on hole 13. What the hell happened. I went back and played 7-12 again. Let myself cool off and played 8 strokes Better 6 holes. It's really quite frustrating.

 

[Atvizory2000]

We all remember the meltdown rounds or holes, but we seem to forget the awesome rounds that included 10 tree kicks towards the basket!