Front Nine Bad Back nine good

Guys,

My last five rounds have had a noticabley unbalanced scorecard between front and back nines:

1: Front 9 +11 ... back 9 +2

2: Front 9 +11 ... back 9 +5

3: Front 9 +6 ... back 9 +5

4: Front 9 +7 ... back 9 +1

5: Front 9 +8 ... Back 9 +2

Total Front 9 +42 Total Back 9 +15

Its not specific holes either as I have played once of the courses back 9 first.

I definately start each round tense and it probably takes me some time to get the lanky libs and stick thin body synchronised.

How can I sort this out - I might break 80 if I can play the front 9 well at some point.

You are not alone, Mark, I too have been suffering from poor front nines, but I put this down to being lazy by not warming up and hitting a few shos before I start.

I too am looking to break this elusive 80, but perhaps it is not meant to be.

It is because I am fairly consistent in playing to my handicap that I find it difficult to come to terms with these very high handicappers breaking 80.

Mark, I get similar mental blocks.  When I was a member at a nine hole course I was averaging 4 shots better on the front nine than on the back which made no sense as they were the same nine holes.

Currently averaging  less than 100 is a barrier I am failing to get past.  I found it useful to score my card to a par of 104 when I was trying to get my scores down from around the 110 mark. However I carried on doing so when my average score went under 104.  Now my scores are stagnating in the low hundreds.  Having read your post I will start scoring to a par of 100 as I think I am being to defensive as soon as I get under par.  If I reduce the par it may bring out a more positive attitude. 

Perhaps you could do the same setting youself a realistic but challenging par to shoot to, say 1 shot below your handicap.

I would say that you need to be 'Warmed Up' before you play.

Now getting the amount of time and the number of balls to hit right is the tricky question! Some people can hit ten balls on the range, chip five balls, putt for five minutes and then walk out and play well.

Myself, well I find that I have to hit about thirty balls to warm up.

Each person is different, you will have to experiment with your warm up routine.

Good luck with this matter.

Russ