Battle of Wills

UK Handicap; 3.3 USGA Handicap; 1.7

Another week of weekend-only golf, and as so many times last year, it was a mixed bag.

I had a match yesterday, a fourball match where myself and my partner play against two people, the best net score on each hole counting. Having coasted to a comfortable 3 over par round in my last game a couple of weeks ago, it was a bit of a surprise how badly I played, shooting 12 over par for the 16 holes of the match.
I left my partner with too much to do, and despite his best efforts, his back must have been sore from carrying me all the way around, and we slumped to a 3&2 defeat. Our opponents played well, but we made it fairly easy for them.
It's difficult to pinpoint where I went wrong, it was just awful all over. I struggled to get the ball off the tee (6 out of 13 fairways), struggled to hit greens (5 out of 16), and struggled with putting (2 x 3 putts and only 2 x 1 putts, both of which were tap-ins).

I hadn't intended on playing today, and didn't want to, but having played so badly yesterday, and been giving a kick up the backside by someone over my motivation, I forced myself to go out and practice for a couple of hours.
This will become a running theme over the next couple of months. When it's cold outside and gets dark early, my warm living room and watching football on television is a much more appealing prospect than going out and hitting golf balls. I have to force myself to do it. This is where I admire the top pros, they put in hour after hour, not seen by the cameras, doing mundane practicing in order to find an edge and give them the best chance in competition.

As it is, I was glad I made myself practice today, as I hit the ball beautifully, the best I've hit it in months. Being able to strategically place my phone on my golf bag and film myself hitting shots is also a great benefit, as it breaks up the monotony of hitting golf balls. It allows me to work on some things, view a few shots, keeping working on it, keep reviewing, and so on.
Whenever I practice I always like to play 2 holes at the end, and put the swing I've been working on into action, hitting real shots at a real target. Today I hit 3 balls down each of the last 2 holes, and flushed every driver and iron shot I hit.

Today really brought it all back how fragile this game is, the difference from one day to the next, and how confidence can influence perception of where my game is. Yesterday I was on a bit of a downer about my game, today I have seen that I can still hit a golf ball in a straight line and that has given me the confidence that will see me through the week, knowing that when I play next Saturday and Sunday I do have the ability to knock it around in a low number.