Mental improvement desired

[Kumabjorn]

I've come to the conclusion that I now have a swing that I can live with, it is not the most technical perfect swing, but I pretty much know which shots I can hit and what I need to do to hit them. I can step up and hit a 30 yrd extra on the driver if I need it, but I will only do that on a par 5 if it gives me the advantage to reach with my second shot. I can flop, and have about 55% on bunker shots. What kills me is my mental approach.

As a kid (long, long time ago) I was always going for the guts and glory, often I could pull it off and when I couldn't I'd go ballistic. Not these days, I go for the safer choice, hit punch short when the wind is up, dont' get mad when a birdie putt grazes the cup and come to rest right behind the hole on a perfect line. I began to think that I had finally begun to master my emotions on the course. Yet, my scoring isn't really improving. Because I still tend to make irritating little mental mistakes, selecting the wrong kind of shot, using a putter from teh fringe when I need to go back and get my SW in order to chip the ball. Going down in a bunker with my SW, discovering that the sans is packed hard and I should use my LW (less bounce) but figuring I can just slow down my swing. But I end up 8 ft away instead of 4 ft. Stupid, annoying little mental errors in my decisionmaking. This isn't something my pro can help me with (his advice is that I should just stop doing it). Well, I want to, I just can't figure out how to do it. Has anyone here been able to handle mental errors like these? How did you go about it? Do you still lapse back into making dumb decisions, and catch yourself as soon as it's done?

Let me give you an example from today's round. I'm an 8 hcp, so shooting 80 is right on my handicap. Having played 12 holes I'm on par, including a double bogey on the 8th hole, got a bad bounce and ended up in some thorny rough next to the green with the hole being cut close. Decided right there that the only important thing was that I should not stay in that rough, chopped a LW into a bunker, got out but didn't make the put. I was OK with that, I knew I got a bad break and I was willing to take my medicine. On the 10th, a fairly long par four into a very strong wind I was able to punch a 4 iron to 4 ft, splendid birdie opportunity that I blew. Still didn't get upset. On 13the however, I hit a nice 3W from tee, a 50* GW to the green, with a 20ft putt left for birdie. But I'm not thinking birdie, all I'm thinking is not to hit it to hard because after the hole it slopes away. "Don't hit hit too hard, don't hit it too hard", is running through my mind. So obviously I hit it to hard and the return is just a little soft so it ends up next to the hole.
Walking onwards to the 14th I began to realize that I made the cardinal fault od thinking in negatives. Now I'm getting down on myself. Decisions is the only thing you as a player have full control over on the course. So don't go an waste shots on stupid thinking. Before I no it I have blown 8 shots on the last six holes. Ohh, a nice 72 net, I won all the bets and should be happy, right? Nope, I'm mad as hell for making that stupid mental error on 13th. What can I do to avoid something like this in the future?

[bill reed]

Re: Mental improvement desired

hi
i think getting improvement in the mental game is so inportant and its so hard to keep it going all through a round. i played in the monthly medal 3 weeks ago and i sat the night before and downloaded my shot saver onto the computer and blew up the hole's and worked out where to hit the ball on each hole, and i sat with my eyes closed trying to see the shot, i then worked out what to do if i got in trouble with my drive on each hole. my plane was to aim for the middle of each green. when i started playing the next day everything started out fine till the 14th, its a par 5 and i was playing so well i thought i'd go for it in 2, and hit my drive into the deep stuff, ended up with a 7, the next hole is a par 3 and i thought go for the flag and try and make the shot back, again i missed the green and took two to get out the bunker and ended up with a 5, after that i went back to my plan and the last 3 holes i played well, i shot 11 over par and i'm playing off 14, if i had stuck to my plan i would off shot a even better score but i let my greed for a even better score take over.
not played other than by myself since but next time i play a foresome i will try and stick to my plan.
bill

[Kumabjorn]

Re: Mental improvement desired

I'm bipolar when it comes to game plans. I can certainly see the point in structuring a strategy before you start a round. At the same time, golf contains so many unpredictable variables that you need to adapt to the situation. I've played with a game plan and as long as it worked I was fine, but when something unexpected occurred I was at a loss on how to handle the situation. Sometimes I'd stick to the plan - playing cautiously - and that would cost me strokes. Sometimes I'd abandon the plan and go for the glory shots, pull of some nice ones, but then mangle the putts.

[chessbum]

Re: Mental improvement desired

Read Bob Rotella's book Golf is not a game of Perfect. It is a really good book and believe it or not, everyone I talk to including myself has seen lower scores using his advice.

It addresses exactly the proper way to handle the thoughts that you are trying to cope with.

It is an easy read and I read it in one evening. I got it out of the Public Library, so you don't even have to buy it if you don't want to.

ISBN 0-684-80364-X



Chessbum...

[Stillhacken]

Re: Mental improvement desired

Try therapy.
Just kidding.

Try the book titled "The power of positive thinking".

[mariner]

Re: Mental improvement desired

I do this all the time - perfectly executed wrongly-chosen shots and then realise it immediately, don't know what the answer is though

[bill reed]

Re: Mental improvement desired

hi
in a round of golf you play 4 hours + and only swing at the ball for about 4 minuets in the total off that 4 hours. the rest of the time your minds thinking and thats where you get the "WHAT IFF'S" what if it went left, what if i dont carry the water or that deep bunker when you should be thinking i want a high fade that will turn about 15 feet, and you have to see that shot in your mind before you hit it, that what the mental games is all about. blanking all the negatives and thinking only the positive, it take a lot of will power to do it for 4 hours or more but really you only have to think for about 25 minuets in a whole round and that is broken down into 30 seconds segments.
its not so hard once you start doing it right.
bill

[LowPost42]

Re: Mental improvement desired

Kind of like the excerpt from 'Every Shot Must Have A Purpose".

You only have to 'golf' for 30 minutes. Focus on the golf when you're playing your stroke. Otherwise, you may as well dissociate and daydream!

[amcevoy]

Re: Mental improvement desired

Hey guys,
I think everyone would pretty much agree that no one plays good golf when they're angry... I find the best medicine in to make your aim for the day to have fun, what will be will be... How many times have you gone out with your mates and played the round of your life without batting an eyelid, just because your only concern was socializing and enjoying it. I've just come off a very bad month of golf because i started playing for score... no more of that, fun comes first.... if you achieve that and have a bad golf day, you've still had a good day

Al

[LowPost42]

Re: Mental improvement desired

Just some more commiserating on the need for mental toughness and a proper mental approach.

I just finished my Club Championship (I finished dead last in the B flight - great for a 23 index!). I told myself during my practice round that I'd been working on my game, that my ball striking is solid, and that if I shot in the 70's (I usually shoot low to mid 90's) that it would be OK; no-one could call me sandbagger or say anything - I've been working on my game so that I COULD shoot in the 70's! I also went into the weekend reminding myself to be positive and play smart - to start off on the conservative side and to build some momentum. My foursome was comprised of friends, and we put a little $$ on the round as well, so it lent itself nicely to my 'cock and swagger' attitude. I went out in 40 - including a double - and looking back, I realised that I was doing a great job of staying in the moment, focusing on the shot at hand and not thinking about the future, or what any particular shot meant - I simply focused on where I wanted to hit the ball, and executed my routine and shot. I was aware that my putting routine was particularily solid, and that I found it relatively easy to stay focused on my shot.

At the turn, some blabbermouth told me what my score was. Like an idiot, I'm holding on to some dumbass belief that if you're scoring well and know it, then you'll score poorly from there on in.

What really happened was totally and completely a mental thing. My swing didn't change. My body didn't change. My equipment didn't change. What changed was my attitude. I started considering that I should easily shoot in the 80's, that 80 was possible, that a 79 wasn't out of the question, would a 79 put me in the A flight, how awesome would that be... everything but the shot at hand. Now, rather than focusing on my target and simply swinging my club, I started trying to steer the ball, trying to make it happen. I started putting the ball to not miss, versus putting to make. And a little voice inside my head mentioned that I shouldn't worry, I'll shoot 50 something on the back to get into the 90's "where I belong". So it starts on the back 9, bogey, quad, double, triple, double and a bogey. 41 after 7. The comments start coming about how I'll manage to bogey in and shoot 50. I say fark that - I'm par-ing in... and just like that my focus changed back to the positive, the easy swing and target lock came back, touch and feel returned and I parred in for a 40-48.

The second day, I was 3 strokes behind the leader, but I was already mentally beat. I already had visions of playing well and shooting a pair of 80-something scores... it took 13 holes for me to let it go and just swing... and when I did, I finished bird (1 foot tap in), par (2 inch tap in), double (lost focus on the green and 3 jacked), par, par (2 foot putt, topped my drive and had to lay up). 1 over after 5... all because I managed to stop caring about my round and my score.

I really, really need to learn how to get mentally tough.

[bill reed]

Re: Mental improvement desired

hi lowpost
i think you have learned a lot in just two games. now it up to you to use that information so it never happens again and you now understand where your focus must be and why.
you seem to have taken a lot for for the second half of your first round but did not applied to to the following round.
playing to your game plan does take mental strength and also takes practice.
learning to manage your game is so very important but few of us practice it.
go out and play a round to play the same way on every hole even if you find it makes the game harder but that will help you in the long run. play with say driver then 5 iron on every par4/5 hole and the with say a 5 wood on all the short holes. no changing to the club best suited play to the plan.
you find its hard to play a full round like that but once you know you can then its easer later to play to a plan.
like all things you have to practice.
cheers
bill

[LowPost42]

Re: Mental improvement desired

Thanks Bill.

Part of the strength is that I do have a plan - including a 'no wind' tee box selection based on known yardages and where I want to be for my second shot (there are quite a few holes on my course that, regardless of pin position on the green, you need to be one side or the other to have an easier time into the green).

It certainly does take discipline to stick to the plan, but it also takes knowing yourself and your game as to when you can deviate from the plan - the perfect example was the 12th hole, 300 yards, severe dogleg right. Normally I hit a 4 iron to leave myself around 130 in, but I had been hitting a consistent slice with my driver all day - so I played driver around the dogleg and trees to leave myself 70 yards in - hammered a wedge in nicely (and proceeded to 3 jack as I putted to 'not leave myself a tough 2nd putt' - which is promptly what I did, then babied it and had to 3 putt for a bogey. Nice that I had the green light to get agressive, then a stupid mental mistake (misplaced focus and self-talk) to take what had been a 'sure par' situation all weekend into a 'sweated it out bogey'.

Other simple mistakes was trying to hit draws (I don't have a natural draw ballflight), trying to force shots (layups to a questionable lie, hitting a half gap wedge when the lie was unforgiving to decel and needed a full sand wedge instead)... just simple things that add strokes to the card - mistakes I didn't make on that glorious front 9.

I did a great job of starting out playing relatively conservatively, had some success getting agressive, but haven't learned how to spot the 'warning signs' and dial back to conservative - yet. I'm sure when I learn some of the more obvious 'green light/red light' cues, my scores will come down again. In the meantime, I figure a few more rounds where I'm relatively adroit will see my handicap come out of the 20's by year end.

[Neil18]

Re: Mental improvement desired

I've come to the conclusion that I now have a swing that I can live with, it is not the most technical perfect swing, but I pretty much know which shots I can hit and what I need to do to hit them. I can step up and hit a 30 yrd extra on the driver if I need it, but I will only do that on a par 5 if it gives me the advantage to reach with my second shot. I can flop, and have about 55% on bunker shots. What kills me is my mental approach.

As a kid (long, long time ago) I was always going for the guts and glory, often I could pull it off and when I couldn't I'd go ballistic. Not these days, I go for the safer choice, hit punch short when the wind is up, dont' get mad when a birdie putt grazes the cup and come to rest right behind the hole on a perfect line. I began to think that I had finally begun to master my emotions on the course. Yet, my scoring isn't really improving. Because I still tend to make irritating little mental mistakes, selecting the wrong kind of shot, using a putter from teh fringe when I need to go back and get my SW in order to chip the ball. Going down in a bunker with my SW, discovering that the sans is packed hard and I should use my LW (less bounce) but figuring I can just slow down my swing. But I end up 8 ft away instead of 4 ft. Stupid, annoying little mental errors in my decisionmaking. This isn't something my pro can help me with (his advice is that I should just stop doing it). Well, I want to, I just can't figure out how to do it. Has anyone here been able to handle mental errors like these? How did you go about it? Do you still lapse back into making dumb decisions, and catch yourself as soon as it's done?

Let me give you an example from today's round. I'm an 8 hcp, so shooting 80 is right on my handicap. Having played 12 holes I'm on par, including a double bogey on the 8th hole, got a bad bounce and ended up in some thorny rough next to the green with the hole being cut close. Decided right there that the only important thing was that I should not stay in that rough, chopped a LW into a bunker, got out but didn't make the put. I was OK with that, I knew I got a bad break and I was willing to take my medicine. On the 10th, a fairly long par four into a very strong wind I was able to punch a 4 iron to 4 ft, splendid birdie opportunity that I blew. Still didn't get upset. On 13the however, I hit a nice 3W from tee, a 50* GW to the green, with a 20ft putt left for birdie. But I'm not thinking birdie, all I'm thinking is not to hit it to hard because after the hole it slopes away. "Don't hit hit too hard, don't hit it too hard", is running through my mind. So obviously I hit it to hard and the return is just a little soft so it ends up next to the hole.
Walking onwards to the 14th I began to realize that I made the cardinal fault od thinking in negatives. Now I'm getting down on myself. Decisions is the only thing you as a player have full control over on the course. So don't go an waste shots on stupid thinking. Before I no it I have blown 8 shots on the last six holes. Ohh, a nice 72 net, I won all the bets and should be happy, right? Nope, I'm mad as hell for making that stupid mental error on 13th. What can I do to avoid something like this in the future?

From reading this I don't think you're too far away from where you want to be. You know the theory, which is part I. Part II is the application.

The application of strategy and "positive thinking" (or whatever you wanna call it) is easier than you think. The hard part is letting go of all the negative stuff that is, however counter-productive, comfortable and familiar.

By your account, it seems you played well. Your language in regailing your story, however, betrays your true state of mind about it.

EG's:

"dont' get mad when a birdie putt grazes the cup.........a 4 iron to 4 ft, splendid birdie opportunity that I blew."
If you don't care much whether you miss a putt or make a putt, then you didn't "blow it" and you won't recall it that way. "It didn't drop" is the good thinkers way of looking at it.

"Going down in a bunker with my SW, discovering that the sand is packed hard and I should use my LW.......... I can flop, and have about 55% on bunker shots"
It's perfectly possible to play a very decent bunker shot from packed sand with a sand wedge. It wasn't God's daily quota of bad luck that saw you 8 feet away instead of 4 feet. It was a slightly improper execution of the shot (cos lets face it if your usual bunker saves are 55%, 8 feet away from a packed lie using "the wrong club" ain't bad at all). Why not think "I got that to within 8 feet off a wet bunker lie with a sande wedge! I can make that putt now!" The way you remember it was the way you thought at the time. Then, if you're already thinbking well about missing or making putts, the next shot simply becomes a missed putt, not another failed up 'n' down from a trap. Stats are for statisticians, not players. As a foot-note, I would add that it's an error to select your club before you know the lie. But had you been thinking clearly at the time, you'd learn that for next time, and practice wet sand wedges when you next get the chance.

"selecting the wrong kind of shot, using a putter from the fringe when I need to go back and get my SW in order to chip the ball."
I putt from the fringe all the time. Plenty of people do. Nothing wrong with it. The only thing wrong with it is if you're over the shot thinking it's wrong. You can think it's wrong, and by all means go and get whatever club you chip well with, but if you know there ain't nothing wrong with putting from the fringe, then that removes the problem all together. If the fringe isn't good, then don't putt it, but that brings us back to selecting the club after having a good look at the lie.

"Walking onwards to the 14th I began to realize that I made the cardinal fault of thinking in negatives."
No. You made the cardinal fault of thinking about what just happened on 14, rather than what you are doing. You state that a player has control over only one thing; his thinking. But he absolutely has no control over what is done already.

"Ohh, a nice 72 net, I won all the bets and should be happy, right? Nope, I'm mad as hell for making that stupid mental error on 13th."
Next time, you can think that in spite of those errors you made, you still won the cash. And the putting error on 13? What putting error? Seve Ballesteros once said of a 4 putt at the Masters "I putt and miss, I putt and miss, I putt and miss, I putt and make". It's no more complex than that.

It sounds to me like you've learned a lot from playing your golf. You play off 8. That's good golf mate. Really good. And you hit good shots all the time don't you? Do you remember those as vividly as the bad ones?

Do some deep breathing whilst you're out there. Learn how to really enjoy your good shots. They're there to enjoy fully. Who wants to remember the bad ones all the time? If you're truly "in the game" you'll learn what you can at the time from the bad ones without thinking about it, and move on.

Yeah we all want to be lower and score better, but when we start trying too hard at the expense of enjoying every wonderful moment this game throws up, it defeats the object entirely.

You've done enough learning by thinking about it. Now switch off. See my signature at the bottom of my post? It's not there for decoration. Don't think you can. Know you can. Mistakes will still happen, but you'll start learning on an entirely new level when you learn to quiet your mind and just let all your experience and knowledge out, rather than trying to apply it. Play golf like you drive a car. Do you get mad at yourself when you crunch the gears accidentally? No. But we all do it from time to time.

You've played enough golf in your life to play good golf. Let yourself play good golf. Then add to your wealth of knowledge and skill by practicing what you're not so comfortable with (like the sand wedge from a packed lie in a bunker! ) So often, people that excel in something state that it felt as though what they were doing was happening through them, rather than them actually trying to do it.

Be the vessel of great things, not the applicator of fine theory.

There is no one shot or one club for any given situation.

Enjoy yourself.

[BrianW]

Re: Mental improvement desired

From reading this I don't think you're too far away from where you want to be. You know the theory, which is part I. Part II is the application.

The application of strategy and "positive thinking" (or whatever you wanna call it) is easier than you think. The hard part is letting go of all the negative stuff that is, however counter-productive, comfortable and familiar.

By your account, it seems you played well. Your language in regailing your story, however, betrays your true state of mind about it.

EG's:

"dont' get mad when a birdie putt grazes the cup.........a 4 iron to 4 ft, splendid birdie opportunity that I blew."
If you don't care much whether you miss a putt or make a putt, then you didn't "blow it" and you won't recall it that way. "It didn't drop" is the good thinkers way of looking at it.

"Going down in a bunker with my SW, discovering that the sand is packed hard and I should use my LW.......... I can flop, and have about 55% on bunker shots"
It's perfectly possible to play a very decent bunker shot from packed sand with a sand wedge. It wasn't God's daily quota of bad luck that saw you 8 feet away instead of 4 feet. It was a slightly improper execution of the shot (cos lets face it if your usual bunker saves are 55%, 8 feet away from a packed lie using "the wrong club" ain't bad at all). Why not think "I got that to within 8 feet off a wet bunker lie with a sande wedge! I can make that putt now!" The way you remember it was the way you thought at the time. Then, if you're already thinbking well about missing or making putts, the next shot simply becomes a missed putt, not another failed up 'n' down from a trap. Stats are for statisticians, not players. As a foot-note, I would add that it's an error to select your club before you know the lie. But had you been thinking clearly at the time, you'd learn that for next time, and practice wet sand wedges when you next get the chance.

"selecting the wrong kind of shot, using a putter from the fringe when I need to go back and get my SW in order to chip the ball."
I putt from the fringe all the time. Plenty of people do. Nothing wrong with it. The only thing wrong with it is if you're over the shot thinking it's wrong. You can think it's wrong, and by all means go and get whatever club you chip well with, but if you know there ain't nothing wrong with putting from the fringe, then that removes the problem all together. If the fringe isn't good, then don't putt it, but that brings us back to selecting the club after having a good look at the lie.

"Walking onwards to the 14th I began to realize that I made the cardinal fault of thinking in negatives."
No. You made the cardinal fault of thinking about what just happened on 14, rather than what you are doing. You state that a player has control over only one thing; his thinking. But he absolutely has no control over what is done already.

"Ohh, a nice 72 net, I won all the bets and should be happy, right? Nope, I'm mad as hell for making that stupid mental error on 13th."
Next time, you can think that in spite of those errors you made, you still won the cash. And the putting error on 13? What putting error? Seve Ballesteros once said of a 4 putt at the Masters "I putt and miss, I putt and miss, I putt and miss, I putt and make". It's no more complex than that.

It sounds to me like you've learned a lot from playing your golf. You play off 8. That's good golf mate. Really good. And you hit good shots all the time don't you? Do you remember those as vividly as the bad ones?

Do some deep breathing whilst you're out there. Learn how to really enjoy your good shots. They're there to enjoy fully. Who wants to remember the bad ones all the time? If you're truly "in the game" you'll learn what you can at the time from the bad ones without thinking about it, and move on.

Yeah we all want to be lower and score better, but when we start trying too hard at the expense of enjoying every wonderful moment this game throws up, it defeats the object entirely.

You've done enough learning by thinking about it. Now switch off. See my signature at the bottom of my post? It's not there for decoration. Don't think you can. Know you can. Mistakes will still happen, but you'll start learning on an entirely new level when you learn to quiet your mind and just let all your experience and knowledge out, rather than trying to apply it. Play golf like you drive a car. Do you get mad at yourself when you crunch the gears accidentally? No. But we all do it from time to time.

You've played enough golf in your life to play good golf. Let yourself play good golf. Then add to your wealth of knowledge and skill by practicing what you're not so comfortable with (like the sand wedge from a packed lie in a bunker! ) So often, people that excel in something state that it felt as though what they were doing was happening through them, rather than them actually trying to do it.

Be the vessel of great things, not the applicator of fine theory.

There is no one shot or one club for any given situation.

Enjoy yourself.

Jeepers Neil, you have a wise head on your shoulders for your age Another great post.

[OllieD]

Re: Mental improvement desired

The thing about maintaining positive thoughts is that you have to think about it!!
I know myself I struggle to control my conscious mind.

Since I have been listening to subliminal messages catered for golf my game has skyrocketed.

Subliminal messages?? Audio you listen to that conditions your subconscious mind.

And no I'm not some hippy freak, couldn't be further from it.