Mental help

Played in my first society comp at the weekend really enjoyed it, got given a handicap of 24 which I was ok with, as my club on is 27 but been playing better. Started off with 18 points on the first 9. After a bit of banter and a hail storm i could not get back into it. Had a bad hole and kept telling myself to forget about it but it just all went to pot picking up just 6 points on the last 9.

Did pick up a couple of quid for the longest drive.

What im asking is how do you forget about a bad hole, and not let your playing partners get in your head.

Matt,

I played in my first ever Monthly Medal at my new club on Saturday & was quite nervous about playing off the medal tees so I decided that as it was was first medal I wouldn't care what score I got but just enjoy the atmosphere etc.

Played OK on the front nine shooting 1 over my handicap & then had a disaster on the par3 11th where I carded a nine!! Normally my head would have gone to pieces but I just got on with the round & managed to play the remaining holes 4 over. My playing partner kept bringing up the 11th  but I found that laughing about it was better than doing the usual "if this" "but that".

My advice is just enjoy playing & always remember there's always something  / someone worse off than yourself

J. 

Does'nt sound like those lads Mat, played with all them fellas before, are you sure you were'nt taking it a little too seriously?  

Matt, I play 90% of my rounds on my own and quite a few of them are similar to the one you describe.  Its probably more to do with the level we are at than any outside influences like playing partners.  The hot streaks only come in short bursts of 5 or 6 holes and then we revert to playing rubbish golf as confidence ebbs away or frustration sets in at a bad hole or shot. 

I guess the key to reducing handicaps is probably as much mental as technique. It is the ability to recover quickly from a bad shot or hole and put it out of your mind that leads to lower scores.

As yet I do not have the answer so will follow this thread with interest.

Who was giving you ear ache Matt - was it "Little Rob"..

Was it Asutin who went into moan motion....Par for the course for Austin that.

I know he told Austin to shut the f*ck up for blabbing on when little Rob was taking his tee shots...

What exactly was said that put you off so much - seems strange as they are good bantering lads but not to the point of ruining soemones round...

As you seen in the club house with Chris and his "that will do, won't it Matt" comments and little Robs squirrel impressions when eating - the banter is good.

However, the samari sword committee could arrange a be -heading at the next event if ya want... - but don't ya think little Rob is small enough as it is...

Chin up Matt......You might win at the next event...

Concentration.

Good answer John but its the bit before I'm interested in.  To concentrate you've got to let what's gone before go or empty your mind.  I try to relax as I take the first ten steps away from the hole and become aware of my breathing as I approach the next tee to make sure its deep and even.  Both work to a certain extent but any other tips would be useful. 

On another thread there was a suggestion to grip the club tight as you set up and then relax the grip before starting the swing which I am going to try.

Concentration is the key as John says, I find it helps to develop a pre-shot routine and stick to it.  Mine varies depending on the type of shot I intend to play and probably startys as I pull the club from the bag.  If something doesn't feel right I sometimes even go back to the bag and start again.  Forgetting the last shot is an important part of this routine and I'm finally getting the hang of that.

However, nothing prepared me for the situation I came across in one of last years comps when I stood on the tee and forgot everything about golf!  I stood over the ball and it all looked so alien, I may as well have had a trombone in my hands and it all felt horrible - the last five holes were a nightmare.  Hasn't happened since, thankfully, but it was an interesting lesson.

What GREAT advice appears here.  Mental discipline is something rarely taught in the West except on an individual coaching basis, often by highly trained experts or by others who have excelled in the same sport prior to retirement.  When a sports person attributes their unusually high performance to 'being in the zone' they are usually referring to a day when their concentration was almost trancelike, and their bodies functioned well. 

An empirical and funny way to learn to concentrate and let things go is to take two or three pals (or better still strangers) to a driving range and have them do their very best to disturb you whilst you are hitting. They should not enter your physical space but should do their best to seriously insult you, and also possibly crack jokes. You should not even acknowledge their existance during this exercise.

Concentrate totally on your pre-shot routine, and then on anything special which you need to import into your swing. Expect their words to occasionally get to you, and then imagine their words blowing away like wind through a tree. Never hold on to their words, instead switch back to your pre-shot routine.

When playing on the course there is a long period of time between shots (unlike Long Drive competitions) and such should be filled with repeated pre-shot imaging for your next shot even if you are not quite sure exactly what form it will take. Always recall your best previous shots from similar lengths and lies. 

Only focus on your game. Totally ignore how your playing partners are doing. You can only fairly influence your own game. And then, only by focusing on one shot at a time which must always be your next one.

Mental discipline can be learnt but it takes hard work and failures only the way. Practice it, persevere, and recognise it to be just as important as the physical side of our game.

Finally, realise that over 95% of learning should not take place on a golf course. The above skills are best learned sitting in the quiet at home - imagination and concentration. 

My big problem is concentration.

I find when I play matchplay, this is not an issue, as you have to concentrate on every hole, and every shot.

I played in a little matchplay the other week. I gave 1 shot away to my opponent, and managed to win 2and1. My point is that my best hole was the s.i1 hole. The only hole where my opponent had a stroke on me. He got away a good drive, 200yards straight down the middle.

I stepped up, hit a good drive left of fairway, 6 iron to the centre of the green and 2 puts for par.He managed a 5, we halve the hole. Very happy with the end result.

If only I could bottle that level of concertration. 

Like yourself, Philip, I like to see everyone play nice golf, so I do tend to put my oar in so to speak.

I have said before on this forum that I can play in a war zone, as I am finding that everyone is usually still gassing when I step up to take my tee shots.

I learned how to concentrate many moons ago so it has never been a problem for me. I can switch on and off without any problems, as I am sure you can.

If he really thought that, Philip, that was extremely poor from a top player, like he was.

This probably is the difference between the Pro tournaments and scratch amateur tournaments, as being amateurs, we never have a leaderboard, so do not know what scores are in and what you might have to beat, so one concentrates right to the end.

It can work in reverse of course as knowing that you only needed a five down the last would obviously change ones tactics, but amateurs never get that choice.

Matt,

I have a 20 yards focus point - 10 yards behind the ball and 10 yards in front.

How this works is thus:

1) I walk down fairway have a crack with Tony or yourself but when I step over that 10 yards to the ball mark I focus straight away on the shot and forget everything that has just gone by.

2) After taking the shot I walk forward and once at the 10 yard away from ball point I release totally any bad thoughts on that shot.

Then we are off again down the fairway until I am 10 yards from the ball and so on and so forth...

NWOT.....

Matt, I prefer to aim for a good shot and not make allowances.  I get much more frustrated if I aim right to allow for a hook and then hit it dead straight into trouble. 

The same applies to distance, there have been a number of contributions to other threads where people have suggested clubbing up to allow for a poor contact.  If I hit one short through a bad contact with the correct club I can accept it far easier than if I club up get a good contact and go shooting through the green.

But I guess with all these things it is horses for courses.

For the sake of the North v South, I hope that is all Robbie has in common with Tiger!!!

Should'nt that be "the body of "tigger"..

So some guy called Tiger has been copying me...

Bet he can't 4 putt the way I do though....

NWOT......