Buckle under competition pressure

Schecter01

Heres the craic, i played a super round last week scoring 23 on stableford (good score for me!) my best score yet, considering i was playing a 5 iron off the tee, no wood or driver ,lPlayed my first 4 ball today with lads who have much better handicaps than me (i was given a handicap of 20)was hitting the wood ok on the range so decided to hit her off the first, skyed it! couldnt hit a decent shot after that, got nervous and panicked, even my 5 iron off the tee was going everywhere, embarrassing round to say the least, wanted to go home after the 5th. shot a 12.
anyone else suffer from this pyschologicaly when playing in a group? i seem to play well with the lads i know. i just panick with guys ive never played with before.
also, should i leave the wood and driver at home till i can hit irons better?
im playing about 4 months. cheers

markthespark77

maybe a few lessons to get the confidence up, and the pro should be able to give u some tips to keep calm when things dont go right. good luck

First Up

You are not nervous under competition pressure. You are a nervous beginner.

FixdePitchmark

By the way

You do know if it is stableford you can pick up the ball.

Don't get yourself worked up on shot 9-10-11 , is only frustrating yourself.

Everyone feels nervous starting out in a club - I was playing off 8 when I joined my club and was terrified. But - it will pass with time.


Just practice more and play more and you will be grand - lessons good idea.

It is early days for you and golf psychology. Just try enjoy each shot and smile or laugh the bad ones off. Every golfers hits terrible shots - I'm meant to be a low handicap player - but almost miss the ball sometimes. We amateurs are fairly terrible at golf - because it is one of the hardest games out there. So don't worry - every group you join will have a player in it that was worse than you at some point. Sure I myself got the shanks this year and I know guys who are playing the game 20 years and then got them

There is a lad called Rotella who could help - but it is way too early for that stuff.

If you are nervous and aware of what is around you - I'll give you a quick tip that would make me a much better golfer , but never remember to do it.

When you stand over the ball and are aiming at say a green or fairway.

Don't do that - pick a very very accurate spot on the horizon - say a tree - a house. But this is where it get more interesting - if it is a tree pick a leaf. If it is a house pick a window.

Put all your focus - every bit of it on that target .

That is where the ball is going - that exact spot

Then hit it and it is an amazing feeling when it goes at that exact spot.

Then hole the bloody putt for Bird.


But even when you get to green - don't aim at a bit of green - aim at a piece of paint or damage on the lip.

Giving yourself up fully to that target will remove you from the space you are in - you will almost forget you have any playing partners.

luvthegame

If you ask the comp sec of any club you would see that a big % of players in a comp are only shooting in the 20's. And many don't even hand in their cards its so bad. No need to be embarrassed.Woods skied a 3 wood not so long ago. Check out biggest fails on pga tour. Everyone does it

Schecter01

Thanks lads good advice there, booked myself a lesson with Gavin Lunny tommorrow hopefully he can sort me out!

freddie1970

Sure im the same myself im playing last year off 25 ...only last week i went.to the driving range for an hour hit lovely straight shots with driver ..
Tee,d up for a compettition an hour later and hit a massive slice for the 1st 2nd and 3rd hole .
Gave up after that ..

exaisle

Guys..just slow down.....standing up on the first tee, we all get a bit nervous....chances are, the adrenaline is making you swing too fast...so just try to relax and take things nice and slow.Be conscious of swinging the club rather than hitting the ball...

Massive slices are quite often the result of trying to take the skin off the ball...much better to make a nice relaxed swing and to strike the ball more as a result of it being in the path of the swing rather than making hitting the ball the objective.

ziggy

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