What is wrong with me?

Status
Not open for further replies.
M

Marcus0418

New
Here is a question for all you instructors and aspiring pop psychologists,

I am a low single digit handicap, there are even times (granted, few and fair between) where I get on a roll and shoot rounds under par.

I have played off and on since I was 14, played all four years for my high school, was good enough to play on a DII college team but then I joined the military and basically gave up the game for close to six years, mostly because I was constantly deployed so I would play for 6 months and then be gone for 6 or 7 months.

For the last three years I have had the good fortune to actually be in the same spot and not have to deploy. During this time I dedicated myself to playing competitive golf again. Recently, I even managed to get my work schedule to be conducive to golf. I am able to practice about 2-3 hours a day now.

Here is the problem, while I can go out and shoot rounds in the 70s when it's for funzies, when it comes to tournaments I rarely break 80. I've been playing competitively again for a year and a half. But, come tournament time I spray shots, my short game goes to total crap, I cant post a good score and I totally lose interest. Every now and then I will post a really good number but I cant follow it up the next day. I never used to have this issue when I was younger, I just played and always seemed to end up in the top 10 or winning.

Whats worse is that my mental issues with tournaments are leaking over into my normal rounds too.

I have the skill level and experience that I should always be competing for a win in the tournaments I play, but I never am.What the hell is wrong with me? Instructors, if you had a student with this same issue, what advice would you give?

And yes, I have tried playing through it, but it seems like that result has been a one step forward and two steps back deal. With getting continuously diminishing returns after all the work I've put in I am seriously considering walking away from the game. I'm not sure how much more frustration I can take.
 
B

Brian Manzella

Administrator
My buddy,

You have to just keep getting better.

Everyone plays worse when the gun goes off. You just have to get good enough that you choke and shoot good scores.
 
hp12c

hp12c

New
Hey Marcus,
these are some of the your thoughts that caught my eye.

I even managed to get my work schedule to be conducive to golf. I am able to practice about 2-3 hours a day now.
I cant post a good score and I totally lose interest...
Every now and then I will post a really good number but I cant follow it up the next day...
but it seems like that result has been a one step forward and two steps back deal. With getting continuously diminishing returns after all the work I've put in I am seriously considering walking away from the game.....

What I get from these particular thoughts is.
1. The expectation of, if I put in x amount of time for practice I should be geting these results.
2. If I dont get the result I expect then I lose interest I basicaly go through the motions at hals steam and finish the round.
3.I get really frustratred when I cant shoot the low score I posted yesterday or near that score the next day.
4.If by a certain time in the near future if I dont get/produce what I think I should produce Im quiting this game.

Some of these thoughts are rooted in the future and quitting is an end an out for you. When these thoughts are in there even if they are just lets say below the surface, they will come to the forefront and take over.
I would say when some of that self talk happens in your head before the round starts or after a score on a hole which was not what you had planned, a tournament which also didnt go as planned, a swing which didnt produce the outcome we planned, which are future events the out/quitting for you comes to the front of the line.
But we do need to plan but we should make room for easy altering of the plan if it goes a little bit not like we planned. But arent you already quitting just a little bit each time you lose interest in a hole, look at putt thats way too diffucult and really dont give it ur all, when the swing doesnt feel right ect?
So quitting should not be in the equation and when something goes not as planned meet adversity with "Is that all you got!"
Do you beleive if u took a week off to lets say do some other activities other than golf, would your game suffer so much damage that u would play worse than you are now?.
From what you posted u have tons of experince you know how to play this game,low score wins, but you are getting in your own way. U want to shoot the lowest score u can on that day, no matter what happens on a particular hole,shot,swing.
One way is to keep a close eye on what is going on in your head, that self talk that is defeating,giving up, not positive or if youre of the other temperment such as Im the best, no one can beat me, may be a little humility will serve you well. Either way quitting should not be an option cause it may make you be more in sync with what is going on at the present time. Im not a psycoligits heck I cant even spelled that word let alone psyquiatrist but I have been around awhile,seen, learned a few things in golf,life so dont give up even a little bit. :)
 
magicmarker

magicmarker

New
Don't always visualize everything going perfect for you, visualize poor shots and excellent recoveries too. Visualize the situations you are likely to encounter and then visualize success from there. I would stay away from visualizing everything perfect and just what you want and focus more on what you are likely to face. If you only visualize what you want to happen, you will feel very unprepared as soon as things get off track, and they always do.

"Don't at all think about the outcome. Don't think 'oh, I have to beat this guy, I'm better than him, I should win' NO! NO! That's not what we do... We take it step by step, moment by moment"

Chael Sonnen quotes from TUF

this guy could be my new favorite sports psychologist
 
B

Billy McKinney

New
You want to play better under pressure? Play most every round under pressure then. Basically de-sensitize yourself.
Putt out everything and keep score properly. Play STROKE PLAY. Play tournaments. You were in the military--they are the
world's best at preparing people to handle stressful situations. Make your practice MUCH more intense by finding a way to keep score.
This is the real stuff. Take the challenge and sack up. (this is also a note to myself).
 
P

ParHunter

New
If you haven't done so, get a CD/DVD/Book of one of the golf mind coaches (there are a few out there). I used to fall apart as soon as someone said to me 'you've got a chance of winning this'. I never used to count up my score after 9 so that I never had to 'protect' a score. This is certainly different to your problem but for me going to a seminar of Dr Karl Morris (Mind Factor) and getting a CD helped me a lot. There are too many good tips in there to repeat them all here but build yourself a 'mental' preshot routine and most of all get rid of this 'I should be playing better then this'. Every shot is a new shot, every hole is a new start. Don't carry baggage with you (good or bad) e.g. play 6 rounds of 3 holes instead of one round of 18 holes. For every 3 holes try to get the best score possible. And don't get worked up on bad shots. It is amazing what a difference your own body language can do for you. Whether you walk with your shoulders high or whether you let them slump. Golf is to 80% mental and the rest is in your head!
 
K

Kevin Shields

Super Moderator
The 30-60 yard pitch is my Achilles heel, always has been. In practice, I'll string off 10 or so the dance around the 50 yard marker. But then I'll take one ball and go through my routine and pretend its for something that really matters. I can't tell you how valuable this type of practice is at it gets the mind in choke mode, sets your routines and puts consequences on the shot. You'll see how your body, mind and technique change under the gun.
 
BrendanC

BrendanC

New
I have a theory that there are a set of swing flaws related to tension and relaxation that are particularly prone to surfacing when we take the extra 5 seconds, make sure we're aimed etc etc.

Basically, I think you are freezing over the ball as a consequence of trying to 'do it right' in comps.

Some good advice from a book I read - name escapes me right now but it was written by two Swedish instructors - is to separate the "think box" (behind the ball) and the "play box" (beside and over the ball).

And once you get in the play box, don't be deliberate, be instinctive.

If I was changing your routine, I'd suggest you try something like stepping in to your setup. Step out. And then step in again.

If done quickly enough, this won't necessarily slow you down.

A new routine is essential to cure this problem, IMO.
 
Erik_K

Erik_K

New
There's nothing wrong with you. There's a world of difference between playing in a casual round and then playing within a competitive field.

I don't have a lot of experience with respect to competitive sports, but I used to (trying to get back into) playing chess competitively. Knowing that every move is permanent and can easily lead to your demise puts enormous pressure on you. Just about any competitive endeavor can be very nerve racking.

I agree with just about everything the others have written. I think it is best to develop confidence and mental toughness for competition. This can only be done by repetition. Get out there and play in more tournaments. Get used to playing under pressure with 'something on the line.'

I forget who said it, but the difference between really great golfers and really poor ones are those who can but the bad shots behind them quickly. This can be translated to just about all other sports. You are going to mess up. You are going to hit poor shots and miss putts. That's part of life and as Swindoll once said, "... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it."

How you react under the pressure says a lot about what kind of golfer/competitor you are.

Erik
 
G

golfball323

New
This is why I LOVE to compete. It's a different animal. It's why Tiger gets so much respect.

My advice: Develop your short game until you can get up and down from anywhere, anytime. This will take so much pressure off of your long game that you will be able to shoot good scores when you don't hit it well, and go really low when you do.

Also, have a strategy going into the tournament. Play to your strengths, not your weaknesses. Play the heavy percentages, because YOU WILL GET SCREWED in tournaments. Bad luck gets turned up a notch.

Just the way it is.
 
M

Marcus0418

New
Wow, thanks guys! I really do appreciate the advice from everyone!

Hp: I think you pretty much hit the nail on the head, thank you!
Bonesy: I looked into that book, took about 2 minutes of reading reviews and I was sold, copy is on the way, thanks!

And thank you to everyone else for your input, I plan to apply as much of it as I can. I think going forward my practice sessions will be geared less towards working on things and more towards real life situations i.e picking targets as if it were a tournament round, applying pressure to myself as it were such. Above all, just make it fun again.
 
J

Jim Kobylinski

Super Moderator
My guess, is that your swing isn't the same as before. Brian always told me what works on the range and in casual rounds may not be something that works under the gun. Make sure however you're swinging now is close to how you swung when you were playing for that DII team.
 
S

softconsult

New
I remember being excited when I hired a salesman that had played on the mini-tour years before. He always shot around par in casual rounds at our club. Member-Guest? Think I took him 3 times as my partner. He never broke 80. The pressure got him I guess.
 
Burner

Burner

New
You are the problem.

Marcus0418 said:
Here is the problem, while I can go out and shoot rounds in the 70s when it's for funzies, when it comes to tournaments I rarely break 80.

I never used to have this issue when I was younger, I just played and always seemed to end up in the top 10 or winning.
Click to expand...

The answer, provided by you, is in the second paragraph.
 
B

Billy McKinney

New
Take me for example: I was recently asked to play in a tournament at a local club. I normally decline these invitations..but then I found out it was for blind and retarded kids, and I thought, "Hey, maybe I could win this thing." :D

*pardon the 'R' word...it just makes the joke funnier somehow.
 
B

Billy McKinney

New
*footnote: I didn't win. I was really struggling off the tee. I asked my caddie if he saw anything and he said, "there's a little piece of shit on the end of your club." I looked at the head and he said, "No, on the grip end."
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top