Parallel universes

[Daniel Eason]

I appear to be in them at the moment when it comes to tournament play and range practice. I work my faults in the week, although not perfectly but enough. But into tournament play and they just all erode from memory like i've never played before, tops, slices, fats...oh yes thins...its all happened today.

 

I've heard all the cliches, "don't hit so many balls" or "you need to practice with intent", "get a routine" however it just isn't working for me despite trying to do both.

 

Have I jumped on this ship too late to aspire to getting any good at the game? Is my routine not solid enough and I'm not getting my fundamentals? The pressures of my golf are not really about what will go wrong, but more whether I can repeat....i know deep inside I can do it, i've done it....so the excitement and a bit of expectation turns into nervous energy, irritation and frustration.

 

All my faults surface under pressure, and my issue is I refuse to just let it go and flip my hands all the way around the course. I want to have a repeatable, consistent swing arc is it too much to ask! or is this my problem?

[gelardi44]

I think when you are at the range you should visualize a course you know fairly well and start to play a round of golf on the range. this will create a course feel. Also, you should always have positive thinking in stead of thinking i topped my last shot think last time i played this hole i stuck it inches from the cup. This is just what I have learned from instructors. good luck

[Daniel Eason]

[quote name='gelardi44' timestamp='1429995860' post='11441105']
I think when you are at the range you should visualize a course you know fairly well and start to play a round of golf on the range. this will create a course feel. Also, you should always have positive thinking in stead of thinking i topped my last shot think last time i played this hole i stuck it inches from the cup. This is just what I have learned from instructors. good luck
[/quote]

I do visualise the first few holes and shots I need to make.

The positive thinking I'm good with.

Maybe I expect too much of myself.

[MadGolfer76]

It seems you haven't yet gotten to the point where competition is fun. Nerves tend to come out when you are afraid of losing or playing poorly. I suggest playing like you just don't give a shiz.

[Sean2]

The more tournaments you play, the "easier" it gets, "easier" being a relative term. Everyone gets nervous at a tournament, especially on the first tee, but the more events you play, the more familiar it becomes, and the easier the nerves are to manage.

[Daniel Eason]

Ive played comps for a few years now...Its the giving a shiz thats my problem I think. I want it so bad....and know i can hit the shots on the range.

Bit annoying when you start with a dirty pull you've been fighting off.

[MadGolfer76]

[quote name='Daniel Eason' timestamp='1429998404' post='11441327']
Ive played comps for a few years now...Its the giving a shiz thats my problem I think.[b] I want it so bad[/b]....and know i can hit the shots on the range.

Bit annoying when you start with a dirty pull you've been fighting off.
[/quote]

There is (I think?) a Zen concept where you need to suspend your expectations and focus instead on the task at hand. If you concentrate on the "success" of the current shot, and then the next one, and the next one...and judge yourself by how well you have executed individual shots vs. an all-or-nothing/win or lose standard of accomplishment, you may find yourself performing much better, and enjoying yourself an awful lot more. There are very few people who can sustain a high level of performance in an activity or process they don't enjoy.

[juliette91]

[quote name='Daniel Eason' timestamp='1429991753' post='11440781']
I appear to be in them at the moment when it comes to tournament play and range practice. I work my faults in the week, although not perfectly but enough. But into tournament play and they just all erode from memory like i've never played before, tops, slices, fats...oh yes thins...its all happened today.

I've heard all the cliches, "don't hit so many balls" or "you need to practice with intent", "get a routine" however it just isn't working for me despite trying to do both.

Have I jumped on this ship too late to aspire to getting any good at the game? Is my routine not solid enough and I'm not getting my fundamentals? The pressures of my golf are not really about what will go wrong, but more whether I can repeat....i know deep inside I can do it, i've done it....so the excitement and a bit of expectation turns into nervous energy, irritation and frustration.

All my faults surface under pressure, and my issue is I refuse to just let it go and flip my hands all the way around the course. I want to have a repeatable, consistent swing arc is it too much to ask! or is this my problem?
[/quote]

Search for the book "Beyond Golf" by Larry Miller, a fable about the most important club in your bag---the 15th, your head. It's a quick moral tale and I guarantee you'll come out feeling better about the way you fit into the game, the virtue of the game itself and stressful expectations.

[BenHoganSlam1953]

[quote name='Daniel Eason' timestamp='1429998404' post='11441327']
Ive played comps for a few years now...Its the giving a shiz thats my problem I think. I want it so bad....and know i can hit the shots on the range.

Bit annoying when you start with a dirty pull you've been fighting off.
[/quote]

I think it depends on what "giving a shite" means to you. I find it can have two meaning :[list=1]
[*]I'm worried about what if's, and should-a, could-a's
[*]I'm refusing to quite, and I'm going to kick and punch all the way to the end
[/list]
I used to be the first - since having a better state of mind for regular rounds, I've moved to the second for tournaments. You have to give a shiz if you want to win, but stay in the moment and refuse to relinquish one second to the future (fight it for all your worth). If you do not remember the day you've likely had a good round in the "now".

Is it only for tournaments that your game starts to fail, or do you experience it with regular rounds too?
I was having issues bringing my range technique to the course so I decided to play many days when the course was not busy and the weather was bad so that I could re-hit shots that I knew I could do on the range. If a group caught up to me I would just let them play through and get back to my practicing on the course. Once I mentally realized I could do the shots on the course, the difference between my abilities on the range and course disappeared.

[DriveIt"N"3Putt]

Read the book" Zen Golf" it helped my game quite a bit.

[Unteachable]

[quote name='MadGolfer76' timestamp='1429998703' post='11441345']
[quote name='Daniel Eason' timestamp='1429998404' post='11441327']
Ive played comps for a few years now...Its the giving a shiz thats my problem I think.[b] I want it so bad[/b]....and know i can hit the shots on the range.

Bit annoying when you start with a dirty pull you've been fighting off.
[/quote]

There is (I think?) a Zen concept where you need to suspend your expectations and focus instead on the task at hand. If you concentrate on the "success" of the current shot, and then the next one, and the next one...and judge yourself by how well you have executed individual shots vs. an all-or-nothing/win or lose standard of accomplishment, you may find yourself performing much better, and enjoying yourself an awful lot more. There are very few people who can sustain a high level of performance in an activity or process they don't enjoy.
[/quote]

i have never read anything about zen but i agree with this.

My first few years playing tournaments were disasters due to nerves. Then as i got more comfortable with my game and tournament atmosphere i played really well on the first round or two (depending on how many days the tourney was) and still did bad on the last day of the tournament due to thinking about winning and what i could and couldn't do.
Ive learned to just eliminate everything as best I can and play each shot and hole and not think about the next.
Sometimes that means going for birdie. Sometimes it means I have to make the decisions to ensure a bogey is the worst score i get on a hole. Much different than the normal rounds with friends where i don't care as much about having a bad hole.
I will say this - there is a lot of pressure for almost anyone when you are playing a 4 ball or just a solo tourney and you are tied for the lead or a stroke or two down in your flight starting the last day, especially when you know there are sandbaggers in yours flight and there is a lot of calcutta money on the line. Sometimes you can ruin yourself mentally before you tee off. Much less pressure in a scramble

[Guia]

The simple answer: Go with the attitude of playing for fun, no pressure, it leads to relaxation, consistent golf, and usually a better tournament score. Above all, remember it is just a game, it has ups and downs, no big deal, there is always another day.

[Daniel Eason]

Thanks for the help here, i was expecting abuse

I kind of think not playing with people could be why i'm playing so bad, so easy on my own to just pick up and walk on when playing alone, where if i'm playing for a small kitty or something I will obviously keep going.

Also i've worked so intensively on my game i'm not accepting the fact i've got flaws. This is why I admire Tiger so much, he played Augusta last week under obvious reconstruction, yet had the ability to still keep the mindset and decently score.

I've read the Rotella books tonnes, and also a few others, they worked...but they are hard to relate to when your confidence is so low.

Once again....thank you I really appreciate the input.

[Smash Factors]

Do you have the same problem when going from the range to the course or just from the range to tournament? What I mean is, Is this only a tournament issue or do you have the same problems in casual rounds? I'm guessing casual rounds also...

[JIM STEWART]

[quote name='Daniel Eason' timestamp='1430032190' post='11443735']
Thanks for the help here, i was expecting abuse

I kind of think not playing with people could be why i'm playing so bad, so easy on my own to just pick up and walk on when playing alone, where if i'm playing for a small kitty or something I will obviously keep going.

Also i've worked so intensively on my game i'm not accepting the fact i've got flaws. This is why I admire Tiger so much, he played Augusta last week under obvious reconstruction, yet had the ability to still keep the mindset and decently score.

I've read the Rotella books tonnes, and also a few others, they worked...but they are hard to relate [size=5][color=#FF0000][b][i]to when your confidence is so low[/i][/b][/color][b].[/b][/size]

Once again....thank you I really appreciate the input.
[/quote]

think this is your problem, if u don't think u can play well then you won't.........also take a look at what your thoughts are during the tournaments, get rid of the negative or mechanical thinking and play golf. you admire Tiger, do u think he was thinking about chunking or blading his chips at Augusta, I don't, he worked his tail off, like you at the range, and trusted it.......have faith in yourself and be positive....best of luck in the future.

[Shambles]

A thing I learned playing Golf, or any game actually, is that you have to think your way through it and not just react or act out the ceremonies of dismay because they are a waste of time and energy. Spending the immediate after finding the fault or error has a way of building up to a solution even if you fail to find it all that quickly. Solve the problems one at a time, never all at once, and you learn how your swing works. Add the succeeding solutions and fit them in to the proven ones and you are better on your way to a technique that works for you.

It's important to understand that the range is essentially a place to practice the basics. Conditions, a reasonably even stance and lie with a swing that is not stressed by the need to hit that target with that shot, encourages you to work at coming to an understanding of how you do things and what works for you. The fairway is different. The stance and lie are not necessarily even, the wind comes from wherever and the target landing is not as well or as easily defined. You could also be easily wrong about the carry distance you actually need. For this reason you also need fairway time confronting those differences, all while trying to meet your expected performance. Part of your practice time needs to be on the fairway regardless of the greater expense for fewer shots made. It helps much to have an intimate knowledge of the range of carry you have for each club under fairway conditions and the ideal conditions of the range. That knowledge gives you a chance to figure out why those differences exist and how much to adjust expectations when the conditions change. In my theory, it's why we keep coming back to this game.

The only reason the gifted players get to playing so much better is because they figure out their problems so much faster. Most of us need more time finding solutions, but we really need to begin as soon as possible because the more often we solve the problems, the better and faster we become at finding solutions.



Shambles

[Daniel Eason]

Thanks guys...

In response to the question on if I do it casual play..no! I went to the club today (hid as i was last yesterday in the comp with the exception of people who didn't hand cards In), went to the range, hit sand wedges to get back to basics, then hit a few mid irons, i wanted to do this but a mate turned up down there for a 9 hole round who said did I want to play.

I was reluctant as i wanted to work on repetition, but the back of my mind was saying "this shiz is boring get out for some competition" even when hitting balls.

He plays off 9..i play off 13....we decided to play on scratch each. I beat him 2&1, striping it! Thoughts were to not sway/be lateral etc which is a big issue for me.

Just so annoying yet I see the positives in this.

I think @shambles you summarise how the range is used...to experiment and work out what works for me.