Sports/Golf Psychology

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Bit of a topic I think may well divide a lot of the forum up, but is it something that needs to be looked more into, especially from an amateurs point of view. I often find myself getting frustrated etc with golf with silly things. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy playing the game for fun, but when I play, I want to be the best I can be every single time. I know that is a hard thing to do, but it's my mindset. If I am doing something competitive, I want to win, end...so when I drop a silly shot (or 2) I can get a little agitated and things start rolling from there.
I'd love to read more about it, but there doesn't seem to be anything around really which seems to help. A few people have said recently the only thing stopping me from being a good player, to becoming a really good player is my head, so I want to sort it out...but where to turn!?

Thoughts on it all?!!
 
That is a very common problem in golf more than most sports. A couple of good examples of how professionals deal with it is Sam Snead (I think) and Tiger woods.

Snead went to the course knowing he was going to hit 7 bad shots per round. Each one he hit he smiled, shrugged, and said 'oh well thats one of my 7' Tiger allows himself to be upset for 10 steps. He hits a bad shot, sets off towards it, and after 10 steps he forgets all about how the ball got where it is and switches mind set to how he is to play from wherever he is.

I have a new client who although is a much higher handicap than you also struggles with the same thing. I am posting our sessions as a case study in the blog section of my website. Keep an eye out over the next couple of weeks for how we are getting on with this problem and it may help you with your own game.

If you have not read it as yet get hold of Golf is not a game of perfect by Bob Rotella which may also help you with this problem
 
Wabinez said:
Bit of a topic I think may well divide a lot of the forum up, but is it something that needs to be looked more into, especially from an amateurs point of view. I often find myself getting frustrated etc with golf with silly things. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy playing the game for fun, but when I play, I want to be the best I can be every single time. I know that is a hard thing to do, but it's my mindset. If I am doing something competitive, I want to win, end...so when I drop a silly shot (or 2) I can get a little agitated and things start rolling from there.
I'd love to read more about it, but there doesn't seem to be anything around really which seems to help. A few people have said recently the only thing stopping me from being a good player, to becoming a really good player is my head, so I want to sort it out...but where to turn!?

Thoughts on it all?!!
Click to expand...

There are plenty of books on the subject, some of which I have read, most of which is common sense. G_Mulligan is always an expert in this field. Not so long ago I was like you, I used to get annoyed by the dropping of silly shots and it would ruin my round. Over the years, partly I guess because some of the things I read, and partly because I worked stuff out for myself I have managed to change and this is a lot of the reason why my h'cap has dropped. This is my mindset...

  1. I am going to hit bad shots, but they have no bearing on the next shot unless I allow them to
  2. I am going to make silly mistakes, but they aren't going to affect the next shot unless I allow them to
  3. The reason I play off of the handicap I do is because I am capable of shooting lower scores than my handicap
  4. I can't force myself to hit a good shot, but I can aid myself in hitting a bad one by being negative
  5. I will miss short putts
  6. I can't force the putt into the hole, the best mindset to have over any putt is that I don't care if I hole it
  7. If I find myself thinking negatively over a putt, I step away and tell myself nothing bad is going to happen if I miss
  8. Never give up, always set yourself a target. If I have used my h'cap by the 10th tee, I will set myself a target of level par back nine or the buffer
  9. Allow yourself to get annoyed after a bad shot, if you have to swear at yourself or whatever you do to let the frustration out, do it after the shot but forget it before the next one.
  10. Never dwell on the negatives, always take the positives from every round
  11. Que sera sera
 
I'm a sucker for negativity, only yesterday did I throw my toys out the pram over silly shots because I started my round so badly.

I've been known to break a club. The times I have (yes... times) I feel like a complete idiot and that I should leave the course due to my arrogance and bad manners.

I need to read up / get help of some kind before I do something really stupid & ruin an important round of golf!
 
Ive been good at the mental side for a while and keeping myself in the zone.

Fell off the waggon big style yesterday and will be turning back to Bob to reset my mind :D

Makes a big difference if you can keep the mind channelled towards the task in the right manner.
 
Birchy said:
Ive been good at the mental side for a while and keeping myself in the zone.

Fell off the waggon big style yesterday and will be turning back to Bob to reset my mind :D
Click to expand...

I lost it once last year in the 3rd round of our society weekend away. I was in contention after the first 2 rounds and played great for 12 holes of round 3 then made a mistakes on 13 and 14 and lost my head.

I was furious with myself afterwards. That was the first time in 18 months I had done it and I vowed to myself it would be the last time.
 
To me...

These/this can help many, but they are/it is not for everyone. Those that reject them as 'rubbish' wouldn't be receptive anyway - often an ego thing.

There was a time when quite a bit was made about the 'Mind Coach' - especially in 2002 when the 'favoured one' was, i think, used by 2 of the guys in the playoff for The open. The fact that you are interested in the subject indicates you are not one of them.

Golf is pretty unique in terms of individual shots being so important and the different skills/approaches/situations that can arise, so make sure your reading is either focused on Golf, or is truly applicable for it - even in Matchplay, much of the one-on-one approach of other sports doesn't apply.

There are quite a few books about on the subject, so try a few and pick out the specific things from each that you find valuable. Much of it is 'common sense' competitive logic, but it's surprising how often common sense goes wayward in a round of Golf and/or in competitive/stressful situations!
 
G_Mulligan said:
That is a very common problem in golf more than most sports. A couple of good examples of how professionals deal with it is Sam Snead (I think) and Tiger woods.

Snead went to the course knowing he was going to hit 7 bad shots per round. Each one he hit he smiled, shrugged, and said 'oh well thats one of my 7' Tiger allows himself to be upset for 10 steps. He hits a bad shot, sets off towards it, and after 10 steps he forgets all about how the ball got where it is and switches mind set to how he is to play from wherever he is.

I have a new client who although is a much higher handicap than you also struggles with the same thing. I am posting our sessions as a case study in the blog section of my website. Keep an eye out over the next couple of weeks for how we are getting on with this problem and it may help you with your own game.

If you have not read it as yet get hold of Golf is not a game of perfect by Bob Rotella which may also help you with this problem
Click to expand...

Thanks...I will take a read. The past few weeks I had been better at accepting shots etc, and the front 9 yesterday even though I dropped a couple, I was always thinking "I can get them back" but as I hit the back 9, and it went on, more silly shots were dropped and I was fuming! There wasn't any club throwing/breaking but just anger sharks swimming in my head.

HawkeyeMS said:
There are plenty of books on the subject, some of which I have read, most of which is common sense. G_Mulligan is always an expert in this field. Not so long ago I was like you, I used to get annoyed by the dropping of silly shots and it would ruin my round. Over the years, partly I guess because some of the things I read, and partly because I worked stuff out for myself I have managed to change and this is a lot of the reason why my h'cap has dropped. This is my mindset...

  1. I am going to hit bad shots, but they have no bearing on the next shot unless I allow them to
  2. I am going to make silly mistakes, but they aren't going to affect the next shot unless I allow them to
  3. The reason I play off of the handicap I do is because I am capable of shooting lower scores than my handicap
  4. I can't force myself to hit a good shot, but I can aid myself in hitting a bad one by being negative
  5. I will miss short putts
  6. I can't force the putt into the hole, the best mindset to have over any putt is that I don't care if I hole it
  7. If I find myself thinking negatively over a putt, I step away and tell myself nothing bad is going to happen if I miss
  8. Never give up, always set yourself a target. If I have used my h'cap by the 10th tee, I will set myself a target of level par back nine or the buffer
  9. Allow yourself to get annoyed after a bad shot, if you have to swear at yourself or whatever you do to let the frustration out, do it after the shot but forget it before the next one.
  10. Never dwell on the negatives, always take the positives from every round
  11. Que sera sera
Click to expand...

I try to do some of these, and accept some of them...but it's pride. I know I can do it, so I want to do it!

I have read the Dr Bob books, and found them helpful...but in the heat of competition, it can be hard when you want to win!
 
As mentioned on here last week, Greg and I are going to do some work, predominatly on my chipping which is all in the head now and hopefully some tools for the round as a whole. Can't wait. You have to admire his bravery
 
Golf is 20% physical and 80% Mental :whoo:


How many times have you been swinging and hitting badly, to then 'fire one away' into a field/out to sea and its a beauty?

It's the easiest thing in the world to say be positive- clear your head of negative thoughts blah blah but one of the hardest things to do- you need a 'I don't care if it's a bad shot' type mentality to get the pressure big shots
 
I just go out and play now without bothering about anything else. If I play Crap then I think well it cannot be any worse next time around. Lifes to short to be worrying and getting stressed over Golf.
 
In_The_Rough said:
I just go out and play now without bothering about anything else. If I play Crap then I think well it cannot be any worse next time around. Lifes to short to be worrying and getting stressed over Golf.
Click to expand...

Blasphemy Blasphemy- wash your mouth out :eek: it's about the only excitement a lot of us get these days:whistle:
 
CMAC said:
Blasphemy Blasphemy- wash your mouth out :eek: it's about the only excitement a lot of us get these days:whistle:
Click to expand...

I used to mate but it did not do me any good. Sure I go out and practice but the days of me getting down in the dumps over golf are long gone. It contributed towards a relationship ending in the past and it is not going to happen again. At our level life throws enough obstacles our way without golf being an additional worry.
 
I played snooker when younger and learnt then not to stew over bad shots as you needed to be ready for your next shot. I also have 2 rules when I'm playing Golf, I play during my leisure time and if I don't enjoy it what's the point?, also there is only one person to blame for a bad shot so get all the negativity of the way on the walk to the ball.
 
Given we are all off a - handicap rather than a + handicap, we are all going to hit our fair share of duff shots during a round. The more tense we get about it, in all liklihood the more duff shots we are going to hit and so the cycle continues.

I have struggled in the past to bring my practice game to medals and so have got frustrated about the monthly 0.1 addition to my handicap, culminating in me not playing in competitions for 3 months over the winter (no loss there). However, having reread a number of the Rotella books, I now manage my expectations before I play as well as accepting that poor shots are inevitable given I am a 13 handicap.

Whilst still not wholly there yet, I avoided the 0.1 this weekend and so we move to next month.
 
I like Sneads 7 shot thought, gonna use that as opposed to worrying where it came from, just dont want to use all 7 in the first 2 holes or I'm in trouble
 
A couple of years ago I saw a wonderful example of golfing psychology.
Because of a mess up in a draw my daughter and I were drawn with a 36 handicap lady in a mixed foursomes. Her husband was single figure.
My daughter was playing off 2 and this lady was absolutely petrified of spoiling our game.
We were chatting on the first tee and reassured her, telling her off 36 she was allowed 18 bad shots, one a hole, whereas my daughter was only allowed one bad shot.
She played the first 12 holes brilliantly and we joked along with her, counting her bad shots, which were few.
As a couple they were in a good position to win the competition. She then hit a poor drive on 12th and her stupid husband had a right go at her.
After that they both played very poorly.
 
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