How to avoid a mid-round slump, according to a Top 100 teacher

We’ve all been there: cruising along through nine holes, all is well for a while through the turn, when, suddenly — boom. Deadsville. You step on the 13th tee and wonder, ‘How many more holes do we have to play?’

It’s the mid-round slump, when your limbs get heavy and things seem slow and your previously put-together golf game goes down in flames with a couple of error-filled doubles. What gives?

According to GOLF Top 100 teacher Krista Dunton, the mid-round slump is a common pitfall for players of all abilities — especially women. But there’s a way to avoid it: strategic snacking. Yes, seriously!

Food

“If you think about our day, you wake up early, have breakfast, whatever your morning routine is, then you go to the golf course and warm up. If you don’t have one of those first couple tee times, it might be a couple of hours before you even tee off,” Dunton told me at GOLF’s recent Top 100 Teacher Summit at Pinehurst. “I like my clients to eat every 3-4 holes, which is somewhere between every half-hour to an hour.”

Dunton recommends staving off the mid-round slump by choosing to eat small portions of high-energy snacks (like a handful of nuts or trail mix, beef jerky, or even a peanut butter and jelly sandwich) at strategic intervals throughout your round.

“I wouldn’t go more than four holes without having a little snack, and staying hydrated,” she said. “There’s a reason why holes 12, 13, 14, 15, we start to slide. And a lot of times we blame ourselves, like we’re not focused. But that can often be just lack of hydration and nutrition.”

Dunton said sports drinks with amino acid are a great choice to add an extra boost to your beverage. And while she normally eschews high-sugar products while on the course, she says a little dark chocolate pick-me-up on the back nine is sometimes just what the doctor ordered.

“Sometimes a little chocolate helps pump you up,” she said. “You need that good feeling!”

The biggest thing, through, is consistency.

“Always keep something in your bag,” she said. “Don’t try to go the whole round without eating anything.”