Competitiveness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[kid2]

Evening all,
Up another .1 after todays result i fear....Had 29 points in very gooed conditions and to say im P************ssed off is an understatement.....
The last 4 comps iv struggled to make 30 points although i never give in i came close today.....
As anyone on here that has played any form of sport before taking up this wonderful game you have to have competitiveness to survive....Without it my opinion is your only going through the motions.....

My Iron play is getting much better but again this morning stupid mistakes cost me a good score and some below average putting....
The round started off great being level after 5 hyoles i really thought today was going to be the ONE!
How wrong i was. I airmailed the 6 green with what i thought was a lovely smooth 9 Iron from 130mtrs into a wind....I found the ball in very thick rough at the back of the green.....Cue the 1st of 5 blobs.....

The rest were a mix of wayward tee shots giving myself no chance with the provisionals....
The battle between me and "middle earth" then started and that was that....Im trying so hard lately that im giving myself no chance whatsoever.....Iv went from 21 to 17.1 and back up to 17.9 in 8 months. with 2 wins.....Maybe they came too soon and i expected too much....Maybe iv raised the bar a little out of my reach.....The problem is i know that i have the game but im just not firing on all cylinders at the moment.....What do i do....Do i skip the comps for a bit and just hand in the cards as i play or do i stay true to myself and persevere knowing that i do have the game to get lower....

Is anyone on here competitive with themselves or is it just me.....Today the one shot that bugged me was a Draw oof our 10th tee box OOB and i sent the provisional Slicing right into the cabbage.....How can you hit 2 completely different shots with the same club in different directions and not get annoyed......
Oh and there were 4 muppets in front of us dragging there heels which wasnt helping......

End of RANT! Sozzy

 

[AliB]

Hi Kid2 I feel your pain as you can see from my 'positive attitude' post. Was cut to 23 on 'annual review ' and looks like I just can't quite hack it but do I sit back and just practice? - no I am throwing myself at medal comps and falling on my face. (I seem to have missed all stablefords because of other commitments and medals are the hardest to bear IMO).
Today after horrific middle 9 I steadied up from 14 onwards and thought that a decent finish might cheer me up if not rescue my card. Great drive and second shot on par 4 17th was followed by a slightly adventurous pitch to a back pin(why didn't I bump and run?)which I shoved into deep deep rough ....
We never learn.
Fingers crossed for both of us.

AliB

 

[GasMan]

Just get used to the fact that to come down over time is bred from consistency not fantastic shot making although it does help.

I'm in the middle of having my swing ripped apart and rebuilt by the best teaching pro I've ever happened across but it is an extremely frustrating process. If I don't do it I will plateau and not ever get down to below 5 but at the moment I'm happy to shoot 15 over. If you're struggling with eraant tee shots why not try playing a comp with nothing longer than a 5 iron and commit to never going for a pin but going centre green on EVERY hole?

You'll be surprised what you shoot

 

[JustOne]

Kid2, how many hours have you been on the practice ground in the last 7 days hitting balls?

 

[Imurg]

Chill out, don't worry, hit the ball, go find it, hit it again etc etc etc

You can't play to your handicap every time, you wont beat it that often, many times you get nowhere near it. That's the game.

Keeping concentration high and other thoughts low is the key.

And every now and then you'll hit a shot like a Pro. That's probably why you airmailed the 6th - you hit it perfect. Happens once a year or thereabouts. Accept it and move on. Its the only way.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Take it from someone who practiced too hard, played too aggressively and tried too hard that it isn't the way. You will go through more troughs than peaks and the secret is to enjoy the good days (I've just had my best month for a long time) and forget about the bad ones (I sucked today).

If you put too much pressure on yourself to perform or beat your handicap you are putting stress on your game before you start. Take one hole at a time, hit it, find it and hit it uagain until it is in the hole. Don't worry about the score. Some players play in club events for years and never threaten to win anything but they keep trying and never get too stressed if they don't succeed

 

[kid2]

Kid2, how many hours have you been on the practice ground in the last 7 days hitting balls?

I spent an hour on wednesday night "J" chipping and putting and 2 hours on thursday night.....
Thursday nights i hit nothing longer than an 8 Iron and i hit close on 150 balls.....
Of the greens i hit today i only missed 1 from inside 150mtrs....I was hitting well with SW,GW,PW,and 9I

 

[jammydodger]

Sounds like you need a serious case of chill outs on the course. Nothing wrong with being competitive but you need to be a lot calmer on the course and take good and bad shots with equal nonchalance. I was similar to you until about 4 weeks ago where I had the choice of giving it up altogether or chilling out. I chose the latter and my scores have tumbled , the last 4 rounds at my place have been 74,75,70 and 75 (gross btw).

I put it all down to my 'new' relaxed attitude , try it and see for yourself how it goes

 

[Ethan]

You seem to be going two steps forward, one step back. That is fine. Most of us are going one step forward, three steps back!

 

[Tommo21]

Kid2, how many hours have you been on the practice ground in the last 7 days hitting balls?

I spent an hour on wednesday night "J" chipping and putting and 2 hours on thursday night.....
Thursday nights i hit nothing longer than an 8 Iron and i hit close on 150 balls.....
Of the greens i hit today i only missed 1 from inside 150mtrs....I was hitting well with SW,GW,PW,and 9I

You will not gain immediately from this practice, it takes time.

 

[Swordsman75]

Anyone else read Dr. Bob Rotella's books? "Golf is not a game of perfect", "the golfers mind". Worth a look for anyone getting overly pi**ed off on the golf course.

 

[Oddsocks]

Sounds like you need a serious case of chill outs on the course. Nothing wrong with being competitive but you need to be a lot calmer on the course and take good and bad shots with equal nonchalance. I was similar to you until about 4 weeks ago where I had the choice of giving it up altogether or chilling out. I chose the latter and my scores have tumbled , the last 4 rounds at my place have been 74,75,70 and 75 (gross btw).

I put it all down to my 'new' relaxed attitude , try it and see for yourself how it goes

In my opinion this is your problem also. Its simply unrealistic to expect to better or equal your best game very game. I had my best game ever of 10 over last week around a quite tight and punishing course with a nice bag of 43 stableford points. I played the same course yesturday and if im honest i was dreading it, i knew i was already expecting myself to match/beat last weeks score. It was that bad i almost blew out.

Anyway i got to the corse yesturday, stood on the first tee and took a deep breath before hitting my first ball, while taking my deep breath a had a long think

" it was your best round for a reason, enjoy the round you had last week, but play this round this week "

Im my opinion i hacked around the course compare with last week, i must have missed 3 or 4 puts, had a couple of 3 put greens, yet somehow scrambled in with 38 points and on 13 over. I knew i couldnt beat myself yesturday, but the positives from my game must be that someone in that game yesturday must have been strong to finish only +13, which was only 3 off my best ever.

Us english had a bad habit of only taking away negatives, but dont, thats a game killer period. You seem to struggle with 7-5irons, so what practice 8 iron shots, you have this dialed already.

Like you i have set myself goals for 2010, started the year off at 18 h/c, was pretty much cut to 16 striaght away. After playing from 16 ive posted in the last three games, 3 over my h/c, 6 under & 3 under, so i know that 14 is on its way. Just enjoy it, otherwise you may aswell be shoe shopping with the wife!

 

[pokerjoke]

You said the words yourself "your trying to hard" those words are card wreckers just relax and enjoy, putting pressure on yourself is a surefire way of scoring badly.

 

[haplesshacker]

Competitive with oneself. Yep. That'll be me. So much so that I was the 'subject' of the mind bit in the mag a couple of months ago.

I'm learning that I'm not perfect and that I can't play every shot perfectly. Though when I do play a good shot, I am rarely happy with it, as it could always have been better. But I'm getting over it slowly. I'm also learning that once in the rough, just get out, and make sure I do. And not go for the miracle shot. This has shaved a few shots of my score.

Having just shot a second pb in as many weeks, I'm on a bit of a roll at the moment. But I know that sure as eggs is eggs, this game will come back and slap me, badly.

I can't put in enough practice time to warrent getting too wound up about the odd bad round.

Just roll with it.

 

[slugger]

s (I've just had my best month for a long time) and forget about the bad ones (I sucked today).

That's good to hear homer

took a while of a lot of people on here telling you that and it's great that you listened in the end.

to the OP, i also came from a competitive sports background (even represented my country) and know how you feel. It's very important that you realise as soon as possible that golf is the game you're going to be playing for the rest of your days so you have a lot of time to get good, that you'll never play the perfect round and only hard work will get you there. Only if you relax and let it take its natural course though.... learning to swing a club, and playing golf are two entirely different things. As soon as you learn that, the scores will come down. It was that realisation that allowed me to break 90 in a medal for the first time and now regularly score under that figure.

I'm far from saying that i'm a good golfer, but it sounds as if you have the same stumbling block as i had in my very early golf days...

 

[Spinn77]

some good advice already about calming down about it. Its hard though, competitive with yourself sounds very familiar!

I try to play every round as if it was a comp one. it helps i think. Only advice i'd offer is to only take on the shots you know you can hit most times and get out of trouble spots without anything flash.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

It also comes down to knowing when to attack. I hit our par 5 5th in two yesterday for the first time ever. I hit a great drive downt he short route on the left and it was begging for it. I happened to put the best swing of the day on the 5 wood and it found the target. In the same position in a medal I wouldn't have dreamed of taking it on and it would have been a short iron to around 80 yards and my trusty 52 degree wedge.

The point is, there is a time and place for going pin seeking but in competitive play, the middle of every green won't see you far wrong. By trying to hit career shots or chase flags to make a score or recover from a bad hole will only lead to missed greens and more dropped shots

 

[kid2]

All sound advice gents as always......Today on going back through my round yesterday i have taken some positives from it....My iron play is getting more consistent which is good....And also even with 5 blobs i still managed 29 points which says alot for my stubborness and perseverence....

I never go pin seeking its uaually always the green centre im after and its rare ill take on a shot that is a 1 in 100 chance of pulling it off.....
I play our par 5's for what i think is the clever route...3 wood off the tee and 2 irons in.....Even though i can reach 3 of them in 2 i no that there's no hope of the ball staying on the green from that distance......My course management is getting much better....Im thinking my way around which has seen me off to fliers for the first 5 holes for the past 2 rounds.....
All in All i know that all the replies on here are right and i know that i need to filter these into my game and there's always the BUT it will take time and i have to learn to accept that.
I eat sleep and drink golf since i gave up playing football last season and i had the same attitude playing ball its just the way im built.....But i know that i can achieve my goals and being positive is half way there...Its just with this game i suppose it takes more patience than others....
Its time for an attitude change me thinks!