I try too hard!

[DaveyG]

So I know myself from being on this site a while its quite a generic thread to post "Why cant I play like I do on the range"
and although this is linked I guess its not exactly what I mean.

I honestly cant stop trying too hard... When I am practising whether its on the range/practice area/shortgame area or in my garden I can execute the shots I want most of the time on command... I can go round the course on my own and knock it round no problems at all but as soon as I am playing with others or in a comp I completely change... everything gets faster and out of sync.

Most commonly I will become alot more rigid and lose my balance on near enough any full shot... not to the point I fall over but I cant hold the pose and have to step out sideways... My short game becomes awful until I get on the putting green...

Another example is today after hitting a few balls at the range I went to the short game area with a couple of lads I play with, the short game area at the belfry is brilliant with about 8 pins to aim at and its all floodlit. We played a game where we had 1 shot at each of the pins from various different distances and lies.... I did pretty well but never won overall... What I did notice is there wasn't one shot I played which wasn't within 10ft of the pin with the majority less than 5ft from the pin... Now I know there was no pressure etc. which led to me hitting it so close but why cant I do it on the course... I know I don't have 10 chips in a row on the course before someone says it and I honestly think with me it is 99% mental...

The lads I play with all bomb it down there but said today they don't try and hit the ball... I however cant stop myself from trying to hit the ball hard... Someone once said you cant hit the ball hard you can just swing fast which is a fair point but if we are talking about feel that is exactly what I do and just cant stop myself from doing it...

I feel like I hit the ball best when I don't even try but how can stand on the tee and tell yourself not to try!

Appreciate this is turning out to be abit of a rant but does any body else feel like this...

Its as if whatever I do/tell myself before a round or during practise its impossible for me to use it in the round something just takes over and I completely seize up and go at every shot trying to force the ball?

 

[Evesdad]

Feel your pain brother! Had my best round ever on Monday. Went out on my own to play 9 holes. My only swing thought was nice and smooth. Again nothing at stake and shot 20 points so thought I'd carry on and do the back too, 42 points total and my best gross in 3 years! Now put a card in my hand and like you I think try too hard. Will see how it continues tomorrow, got a winter league match!

 

[DaveyG]

Sorry I got caught up there...

What I am asking is if anyone else feels like this what do they do to reverse this feeling... Surely you cant have the I don't give a #### attitude and benefit from it?

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Sorry I got caught up there...

What I am asking is if anyone else feels like this what do they do to reverse this feeling... Surely you cant have the I don't give a #### attitude and benefit from it?

Please have a look at New Golf Thinking. A whole lot of stuff in there covering exactly this, and less than the price of a sleeve of premium balls. I was in a similar position. I worked hard on the range and had lessons. Could do it in practice and not in comps. I'm still not there 100% but finding it a lot easier to get the ball round even when not swinging great and managing to threaten the buffer zone even if I don't always quite get there

 

[pokerjoke]

So I know myself from being on this site a while its quite a generic thread to post "Why cant I play like I do on the range"
and although this is linked I guess its not exactly what I mean.

I honestly cant stop trying too hard... When I am practising whether its on the range/practice area/shortgame area or in my garden I can execute the shots I want most of the time on command... I can go round the course on my own and knock it round no problems at all but as soon as I am playing with others or in a comp I completely change... everything gets faster and out of sync.

Most commonly I will become alot more rigid and lose my balance on near enough any full shot... not to the point I fall over but I cant hold the pose and have to step out sideways... My short game becomes awful until I get on the putting green...

Another example is today after hitting a few balls at the range I went to the short game area with a couple of lads I play with, the short game area at the belfry is brilliant with about 8 pins to aim at and its all floodlit. We played a game where we had 1 shot at each of the pins from various different distances and lies.... I did pretty well but never won overall... What I did notice is there wasn't one shot I played which wasn't within 10ft of the pin with the majority less than 5ft from the pin... Now I know there was no pressure etc. which led to me hitting it so close but why cant I do it on the course... I know I don't have 10 chips in a row on the course before someone says it and I honestly think with me it is 99% mental...

The lads I play with all bomb it down there but said today they don't try and hit the ball... I however cant stop myself from trying to hit the ball hard... Someone once said you cant hit the ball hard you can just swing fast which is a fair point but if we are talking about feel that is exactly what I do and just cant stop myself from doing it...

I feel like I hit the ball best when I don't even try but how can stand on the tee and tell yourself not to try!

Appreciate this is turning out to be abit of a rant but does any body else feel like this...

Its as if whatever I do/tell myself before a round or during practise its impossible for me to use it in the round something just takes
over and I completely seize up and go at every shot trying to force the ball?

A couple of thing from me that I see from what you write.

1 is the range,to me its nothing like a golf course and as you say you get a lot of goes at it.
I would get on the course more.
Love the way you say you can do it on command I wish it was that easy.
It also sounds like you care,but to you care too much to the detriment of your game.
Do you beat yourself up if you mess up,because that's what I used to do.
As soon as you stop doing this I guarantee you will improve.

 

[the_coach]

need to make sure you have a sound process you repeat before each shot. practice with the process so you get used to it.
when on the course you have a process to occupy the mind before the shot.
the focus has to be on that process.

otherwise you focus too much on the outcome/result of the shot before you've hit it, or projecting to much into the future what the score will be at the end. it's impossible then to have a reasonably calm mind to be able just to put the best swing you can on the shot that's actually facing you.

cliche but entirely true, it has to be one shot at a time.

have to have a repeatable similar process to occupy the mind before each shot.
everyone will hit a bad shot, or hit a good shot but have some bad outcome still - then you have to let that go - it's happened can't change it - get back to the process to be able to give yourself the best chance to make the next stroke a good one, so you don't compound one error so it affects a number of shots.

 

[G_Mulligan]

The process the coach mentions is all about clearing your mind of any analytical thoughts. They key is to analyze the shot, lie, wind, target, hazrds etc. once you have done that and and selected the club/shot you need to bury it. Quieten the mind in the best way you can. One technique I have used in the past is called a fluid cue. A nice soft sounding number like one, seven or nine on repeat in the head. You can start loud with it as you approach the ball but make it very soft and quiet before you take the club back. This technique engages the instinctive part of the brain and shuts down the analytical part.

Try it in practice first and see how you get on when you introduce it onto the course, if done correctly it can create some remarkable results and wonderful shots. Also bury your target too, once selected the brain won't forget so just relax do the fluid cue and swing.

 

[DaveyG]

The process the coach mentions is all about clearing your mind of any analytical thoughts. They key is to analyze the shot, lie, wind, target, hazrds etc. once you have done that and and selected the club/shot you need to bury it. Quieten the mind in the best way you can. One technique I have used in the past is called a fluid cue. A nice soft sounding number like one, seven or nine on repeat in the head. You can start loud with it as you approach the ball but make it very soft and quiet before you take the club back. This technique engages the instinctive part of the brain and shuts down the analytical part.

Try it in practice first and see how you get on when you introduce it onto the course, if done correctly it can create some remarkable results and wonderful shots. Also bury your target too, once selected the brain won't forget so just relax do the fluid cue and swing.

Wow I guess being a Business Analyst doesn't help...

I have just looked into NGT and its the same business terms I use with my own stakeholders so why can't I apply it for my golf...


In response to Pokerjokes comment around hitting the shots on command this is exactly where my problem is when it doesn't matter I can do it... I get out on the course say to myself I am going to do xxx and I go and do it... not everytime because no player can do it every single time but when I am playing with others and I WANT to hit the shots something completely changes.

What I notice the most is how nothing feels natural when I get out there for a knock in a comp or with others... this isn't purely when I have a card in my hand... I know it may sound pathetic but it happens when I play just a friendly knock with my old man... I don't know why but I am trying to force something and right down to my stance it just feels foreign...

In fact to be fair I don't feel anything... Its almost like I come off the course and cant remember myself standing over a shot with any thought... I almost go on auto-pilot!

I know people mention staying in the shot/ taking your glove off and only putting it on when you mean business but does anyone actually manage this for 18 holes every round... I have the best intention and feel the benefit but by the 4th or 5th something creeps back in and I look back at a round of what the hell happened there... (even when I walk off with a good score)

Jeeeesus I am going to start talking about a poor childhood in a minute...

 

[MadAdey]

Sorry I got caught up there...

What I am asking is if anyone else feels like this what do they do to reverse this feeling... Surely you cant have the I don't give a #### attitude and benefit from it?

I sort of have a couldn't give a @@@@ attitude. If I hit a bad shot I just laugh about it and move on, most of the time. I have a happy song I keep in my head and sing it to myself on the course, bit like the happy place from Happy Gilmore.

 

[G_Mulligan]

Wow I guess being a Business Analyst doesn't help...

I have just looked into NGT and its the same business terms I use with my own stakeholders so why can't I apply it for my golf...


In response to Pokerjokes comment around hitting the shots on command this is exactly where my problem is when it doesn't matter I can do it... I get out on the course say to myself I am going to do xxx and I go and do it... not everytime because no player can do it every single time but when I am playing with others and I WANT to hit the shots something completely changes.

What I notice the most is how nothing feels natural when I get out there for a knock in a comp or with others... this isn't purely when I have a card in my hand... I know it may sound pathetic but it happens when I play just a friendly knock with my old man... I don't know why but I am trying to force something and right down to my stance it just feels foreign...

In fact to be fair I don't feel anything... Its almost like I come off the course and cant remember myself standing over a shot with any thought... I almost go on auto-pilot!

I know people mention staying in the shot/ taking your glove off and only putting it on when you mean business but does anyone actually manage this for 18 holes every round... I have the best intention and feel the benefit but by the 4th or 5th something creeps back in and I look back at a round of what the hell happened there... (even when I walk off with a good score)

Jeeeesus I am going to start talking about a poor childhood in a minute...

That is unusual because the auto-pilot feeling is actually a good thing and often shows that you have not been overthinking or forcing the shots. Tiger Woods has been quoted as saying that when playing his best he can go through a run of holes without any memory of what happened.

It may not be easy at times but you have to trust that swing on the course like you do in practice. That is why you practice in the first place, to build up a store of muscle memory for a repeatable effective swing. Several things can stop this from happening on the course. Pressure to perform and focussing on technique are two of the most common. Both will affect your ability to make a smooth rhythmical swing on the course.

With regards to the don't give a #### attitude this is entirely possible and for the vast majority of people is by far the best way to play. In fact I would go as far to say that people who play well while trying really hard are doing so despite this not because of it and could play even better if they learned not to care. This can be confusing and it is not a case of simply not caring about your shots and scores. It is creating a mindset whereby you can fool yourself into feeling like you don't care even if you do. You can only have so much control over your shots so don't try to control what you can't. Bob Rotella talks about gaining control by giving up control and this sums it up very nicely. You can't control the shot but you can control your reaction to it and increase the chances of hitting a good shot next time byt simply shrugging, smiling and focussing on the next shot wherever it may be.