Why can't I play well in tournaments?

[pgarob]

I need help people!!

Ok everyone, I'm sure other people have this proble but it sucks so bad. I have been working so hard on my swing and game over the winter and early this season, playing some pretty good golf when I play with my dad or just on my own. My swing was feeling good but I had a tourney today and it all went south. I drove the ball o.k but my iron play and short game stunk. I really need some help. I felt like coming in my swing was good and I had lots of confidence but like usual for me I can't seem to play well during competition. I know there are probably lots of others like me who had this problem. What can I do? I feel like I put in so much hard work but can't get the results when I need them. I am attempting to become a CPGA professional this year and there is a playing ability test in which you have to shoot 155 or less for 36 holes. I know normally that is no problem but I don't want a repeat of today.

Can anyone help me out please??

It is so frustrating to struggle when I know I should be contending

[ebenn]

forget tournaments. why can't a play well from the range to the first tee. I think I am the ultimate range pro. but when I get on the course I completely lose and take steps backward. I was so bad this weekend I almost left the course but was at least having fun with my 4 some.

 

I really don't trust my swing on the course and mentally cannot change this in my head. How can I cure this!!!!!

[pmas93]

My biggest thing in this area is to NOT think about score. My best scores have come when I don't even keep up with my score. What I mean by that is that I don't think, 155 I can only have 3 bogey's a side. If that is the case, when you get the first one you put extra un-needed pressure on yourself and you will never make it. Just write your score down on the score card as the number and don't add it up or think about how many over par you are or under par. I recenlty played a tournament where I was -3 through 4 holes. The first 4 holes I wasn't thinking about score until my playing competitor said , hey you are 3 under. I started thinking, wow, I could go low on this side. Next 3 holes I was +4. So don't add up your score or think about it until you make the last putt on the last hole.

[pitch]

I used to play a lot of amateur tournament golf and also played the occasional "open" tournaments against the pros. At the time my handicap floated around scratch, best was +2.

 

I got some really good advice once from a friend that was a pro and that played a lot of tournaments. He said to just get the yardage, check the wind, choose a club, focus on a specific target and pull the trigger asap. Do NOT think about it!!!! Works on everything from the tee shot to a putt.

 

This actually works well. If you don't give your mind time to think about the consequences or results the game becomes easier and more fun. At least that's how it worked for me. Have you ever noticed how when you are practicing and hit a bad shot, you just grab another ball, drop it and hit it really well? Could be the big difference was the thought process or lack thereof.

 

Good luck.

[matt411]

Ok everyone, I'm sure other people have this proble but it sucks so bad. I have been working so hard on my swing and game over the winter and early this season, playing some pretty good golf when I play with my dad or just on my own. My swing was feeling good but I had a tourney today and it all went south. I drove the ball o.k but my iron play and short game stunk. I really need some help. I felt like coming in my swing was good and I had lots of confidence but like usual for me I can't seem to play well during competition. I know there are probably lots of others like me who had this problem. What can I do? I feel like I put in so much hard work but can't get the results when I need them. I am attempting to become a CPGA professional this year and there is a playing ability test in which you have to shoot 155 or less for 36 holes. I know normally that is no problem but I don't want a repeat of today.

 

Can anyone help me out please??

 

It is so frustrating to struggle when I know I should be contending

since your tee game is pretty good, maybe you should try and play a round and imagine you don't know where any of the flags are. play to the middle of the green on every hole. its pretty hard to do that but its worth a shot. i think a lot of us get in more trouble going at flags and leaving impossible up and downs. a local course here would start pulling flags at twilight but would still let the walkers go out and i shot some of my best 9's with out knowing where the flags were. just a thought

[TRAV1]

Everyone will give you advice about a mental aspect of their game that worked for them. However, your mental game will be different. Just as you need to be fitted for clubs, you should be professionally assessed by a sport psychologist or mental coach, if you are serious about winning tournaments and your CPGA. If it is just one issue, it won't be but a few sessions, and it won't cost more than some golf lessons. It is worth the investment.

[Navigator17]

Everyone has triggers that cause stress and nervousness, The first real tournament I played I got away from my comfort zone right off the bat with a long warm up session...because everyone else was...I should have just stuck to my own routine. I ended up ballooning up about 10 strokes. since then I stay to exactly the same routines I would use on any weekend round..and I have done fairly well since that first time.

 

R/

Nav17

[BILL12x]

Tension is probably #1.

 

Play it like a round with your buddies. Fairways and greens, go for middle of both and don't worry about distance. Stay relaxed, if you can, just as if you playing with some friends.

[d_monares]

Its all mental, you have to find out what gets you into the zone. Luckily for me I have an uncanny ability to block everything out around me. I know its hard but try to clear everything out of your mind and focus on your breathing once you have concentrated on your breathing and you have a nice calm feel about yourself hit that damn ball. You just have to find out what method works for you. I was nervous as hell when I took my PAT about 10 years ago and I focused on my breathing and wound up shooting 131 for both rounds (you have to love the easy courses they pick as well as the tee boxes, LOL).

[tbyeaton0627]

Ok everyone, I'm sure other people have this proble but it sucks so bad. I have been working so hard on my swing and game over the winter and early this season, playing some pretty good golf when I play with my dad or just on my own. My swing was feeling good but I had a tourney today and it all went south. I drove the ball o.k but my iron play and short game stunk. I really need some help. I felt like coming in my swing was good and I had lots of confidence but like usual for me I can't seem to play well during competition. I know there are probably lots of others like me who had this problem. What can I do? I feel like I put in so much hard work but can't get the results when I need them. I am attempting to become a CPGA professional this year and there is a playing ability test in which you have to shoot 155 or less for 36 holes. I know normally that is no problem but I don't want a repeat of today.

 

Can anyone help me out please??

 

It is so frustrating to struggle when I know I should be contending

 

I think The Golfing Machine puts it best. (synopsis) One should perfect the total motion of the golf swing FIRST. Practice and Playing practice must be incorporated into your routine. Tournaments are SCORING TESTS so play in these events should be shun until you perfect your total motion

[oneplanedan]

I agree with pitch...............I have delt with this and you could say at times still do. I am going to take my pat in the next 6 months...........................I think you are to result oriented.......you put the work in why isn't there.............................you need to step on the tee and control your breathing........you can practice this as you drive to the course all the way to the tee...............what ever is going to relax you......................don't be result oriented think process! you have spent the time now just step to each shot as one shot and relax if you can relize that it is just a shot and you have 69 or whatever more it is going to be you can only make the swing in front of you... If you get out there focus on target see the ball going there then trust what you have spent all the time learning and practicing...........let it happen trust it

[Lake]

I think this is the best advice I've heard on the mental game. If you can look at a tournament as a test of your skills and relate that back to school...when I studied properly for an exam I wasn't nervous at all, I was ready, anxious, and pumped to see how close to perfect I could get...However, when I didn't study properly I was a nervous wreck and I had to use common sense to eliminate as many multiple choice answers that were obviously wrong. Relating back to golf: If you don't understand what makes you swing desirably how can you expect to get lucky when the pressure adds tension to your timing and the multiple choice test is hook left, push right, thin, & fat shots!!! The more time I spend reading these replies on golfwrx the more I realize how much I like TGM.

[yoonie]

I don't think it's a matter of the mental game, I think the problem is the swing you've spent grooving on the range won't work under pressure. I mean absolutely no offennse by that, as it took even Ben Hogan 20+ years to put it together. I would think that you're practicing things that require fine motor control and timing. When you're beating balls on the range that's fine, but if you're grooving things that won't work when the adrenaline is flowing, you're just practicing how to hit balls well on the range.

[Zach Heusser]

Do you have any problems in your swing? Is your clubface square at the top? Often times people can get away with swing faults when not playing under pressure, but they break down under the gun.

[cdesana]

I used to have the same problem, so I went old school. PLay for more money than you are comfortable in losing. This will often trigger the same stress as playing tournament golf, especially when you are playing with guys you have a hard time beating when no money in volved.