Think about the next shot, not any of the previous ones. And always remember, there are no pictures on the scorecard.  So if you hit a couple bad shots, there's always the potential to scramble and get up and down for par (at your level, possibly bogey or double for a higher handicap), without a blemish on the card.  Pretty soon you'll see those boring 4's all want to hang out together on the card.    

I would be lying if I said I haven't played a full round with a post-it note in my pocket written by my coach that said one word "TEMPO" to help me focus on the task at hand.

Sometimes the sound of Mike Breed's "LET'S DO THIS" helps as well.  Go to your happy place and hit the next shot. Close.

Best of luck,

CH

You're not yourself when you're hungry. Grab a Snickers.

Seriously though, I tend to lose it when I am dehydrated and or low on calories. Snacking during the round may help.

Beer? 

There are so many variables to golf, and the game itself. As golfers we have to forget about expectations. That is my problem right now. Playing tension free, and focusing on always accelerating the club through the ball. Go easy on yourself and try to be patient. Keep your routine consistent, even on the range practicing. 

Ahh the 6 inches between the ears...  Tough to deal with.  I just had my first round of the club championship and had posted a 77 on day 1.  I was in the final group and had a really REALLY bad start.  I caught a bad break off the opening tee shot and compounded it with a 3 putt.  I then topped my next two tee shots with my hybrid- they were straight worm burners.  I started pressing and ended up in more tough places.  I started the day 10 over through 6.  After that 6th hole I "gave up" on the score.  I just wanted to try and salvage the round somehow.   I ended up playing decently the rest of the way in, shot an 87, and made the cut.  

I really wish I had stopped thinking such poor thoughts after the first hole and stuck with the game plan.  When you're feeling frustrated, don't do what I did.  Trying to make up for poor play just makes things worse.  Just focus on the upcoming shot and play for par.  My Grandpa always said, once you hit the ball, there's nothing you can do except hit it again.  I wish it didn't take me 1/4 of the round to remember that.

Rejoice in that I'm not at work and start telling jokes.... It could always be worse, saw guys on the course in Palm Springs building new bridges on course  and it was 95 degrees and I'm swinging a club..

I know all about frustration, I went from hitting in the upper 80's to Mid 90's...(Im a weekend warrior about 2-3 times a month) and I was progressively getting better, then all of a sudden now I cant break 100, but I feel so dang frustrated as well.  I know when I "think golf" when I am out there it definitely hinders me a lot.  If I just get up, hit the ball I do much better than thinking through every little detail of the shot.  Like a few others have said, that 6" between your ears plays havoc with us sometimes!!

i just tell my self how lucky i am to be able to play this game and enjoy the company of good friends.  i am there to have fun and enjoy the sun and fresh air. 

If at all possible, I try to walk to my next shot after a bad one. I walk as much as I can, and even when I am riding in a cart, I'll take a deep breath and walk to my next shot to "reset" myself. All too often, I found myself hit a bad shot, rush over in the cart to the next shot to try and "make up" for the previous poor shot. This almost always resulted in another poor shot.

Walking to the ball gave me a bit of time to be upset at the shot, and then move on. I think it's unrealistic to not be frustrated, but that extra minute or two of walking really helped me to get ready for the upcoming shot.

I just finished reading the perfect book then.  It's called, " Fearless Golf " written by Dr. Gio Valiante.  In it it talks about a lot of things, frustration is part of it along with other ideas and beliefs that will help your mental game.  The book is entirely about the mental and psychological approach and dealing with all the results that golf provides, good and bad.  Read it, you will change how you deal with issues on the golf course and take them with you into the real world also.  Good luck.

Frustration is all in the head.  Stop thinking.  Just grab a club and hit the shot.  After all a golf balls only about an inch and a half, all ya' gotta do is send it into a wide gaping four inch hole in the ground.  They give you runways to that little hole, even stick a flag in the hole to make it easy.  Why would you hit a perfectly good ball into the woods, a gob of sand, a pond.  You can turn on the tv and watch hundreds of golfers show you just how easy the game is and they even get paid to do what's so obvious.

I think of things like that when I get frustrated.  If I've had one of my train wrecks sometimes I'll find a bench and light up a cigar and take a break and try to laugh off a bad hole.  Two bad holes in a row, I tear up the scorecard and just play for fun.  Honestly, nothing seems to work consistently.

I've often wondered if a hypnotist planted in your mind, keep your head down, keep the head steady thru impact, focus on the back of the ball, everything would fall in place.  I guess that if that would work we'd all be on tv.  So if you find the cure for frustration let us all know how its done.

When I play with my friends or for team matches we had like dumb code word so we could let each other know to just calm down, without actually saying "calm down" (because that never helps). Or if your by yourself just think of something funny or a saying that you can remember that will take your mind off the bad playing or golf for a little bit so you can just have fun instead of get more frustrated.

One shot at a time, it's not over until its in the hole. For example, birdied a par 5 after hitting tee shot into the water.

This is an ongoing problem for virtually every golfer.  I changed my approach years ago and its helped my game.  I just start humming a favorite tune under my breath as I walk to my next shot (don't choose AC/DC's "Highway to Hell"). I also look at the scenery, check out the wildlife and "zone out for a bit".  As I approach my next shot, I remember to go through my pre-shot routine, pick my target and let it fly.

BH Expected to hit 6-8 bad shots per round, so how many do you think you should hit? Really? Remain calm and move on and you will lower your scores , because your frustration interferes with your next shot. Good luck and hit em straight

Hi Ronnie, Currently,I'm a 7 handicap, I don't practice and I golf one day a week, Saturday. I played sports, football up through my third year in college. I was introduced to the game of golf by an ex-pro in 1996. Being as competitive as I am, I would easily get frustrated when my body could not execute what my mind had envisioned! This guy posed a couple of questions to me: "Do you think you will ever compete in the PGA or Senior PGA?" My reply: "I don't think so." His second question, which he answered: "What would you do, if anyone treated you like you treat yourself? You would you probably kick their butt..." That was Very Sound Council! :) Recently, I have read most of BR's Books. I would HIGHLY recommend these. Point 1: Imagine if your golf instructor followed you around and when you hit a bad shot, said: OH MY GOD RONNIE! C'MON. WHATS THE MATTER WITH YOU? THAT'S HORRIBLE!" If we TRULY wish to shoot lower scores, we need to practice, 150 yards and in and putt... Go easy on your self! Even the PRO'S, who hit 300 to 600 shots every day, make mistakes. Par isn't 'average', Par is PERFECT! Enjoy the Process! Focus on the GOOD shots you hit; the putts that drop! THROW away the bad shots, immediately. Pick a SMALL target, Hit the shot, hit the putt and let it go, regardless of the outcome...