Mental skills?

Question

i was a laid back, cool golfer. Hitting a ball into the water, hazard, jungle or even a guy...nah couldnt care less and i smile. Plus if i having a great time and smile, ill play way better than now. As the days goes by and i think im getting more competitive, i was not a guy in course i used to be. A bad shot popped out, i uttered lots of f bomb, s bomb...even throwing the club. Worse, i played bad when im an incredible hulk. I guess im losing my mental skill. How can i regain my old 'cool, laid back dude personality' in the course and how to relax and gain my confidence after a bad shot? Dont worry, im all business in golf but a h**l of friendly guy outside the course. cheers =)

Answer 1

been there done that i hung up the clubs for a season

Answer 2

don't get mad you're not that good. and if your throwing clubs. just give it up. nobody wants to play with a club thrower.

Answer 3

There's no certain way to get it back. Its all about your outlook on the game. Golf does not define you as a person and you need to realize that when you get mad at yourself its like a snowball effect and the results will keep getting worse and worse. I've been in this situation before and i've realized that it doesn't matter the end result of a round. Just have fun playing. I did this and i got back down to a scratch handicap.

Answer 4

Unless you work at it full time your a part time golfer like most other people and shouldn't have any expectations on the course other than to have fun. If you do work at all the time then get a grip on your attitude. The pro's don't hit perfect shots all the time so why should you. There gonna make mistakes and so is everyone else. The pro's will just make less. But they know when they start on Thursday that there going to make a bad shot or 2, or 3 etc so they expect it. Good luck.

Answer 5

Alright before even hitting the ball you need a routine. My routine is taking to practice strokes to the side of the ball. While doing this i concentrate on spine angle and keeping the club face square. Then is take a step back and pick a spot 3 feet out in front of my ball going towards the pin. Then i address the ball and as i swing through i make sure my clubface is square all the way up to that spot i picked out.

- This should help calm you down before each shot and forget about past shots.

Answer 6

you're probably putting too much pressure on yourself.  you're good enough to be getting close to playing on the PGA, and that's cool as h**l, but somewhere along the way you stopped thinking of golf as a game.  That's all it is- a game.

Tiger's dad always taught him to be mad for 10 steps, and let it go by the 11th.  That was all he was allowed, those 10 steps.  You can see it when he hits a bad shot: he fumes, mutters stuff under his breath (or sometimes out loud), and by the time he gets to the ball- BAM- he's in the zone.  

There are also a lot of golfers (like Jason Gore and Rory Sabatini) who have pictures of their kids on their headcovers or bagtags.  You may be too young for kids, but do you have nieces or nephews, or anyone special who always makes you smile?  Put their pic in your bag tag, and whenever things look like their goin south, take a look at that pic.  Remember something funny that that person did to make you laugh.  It shouldn't take long for you to regain your composure.

There's nothin wrong with bein "all business" on the course, but remember that there's more important things than golf.  Having a reminder or routine to help you find your center should help you regain those mental skills.

Remember: a bad day on the course sure beats a good day at the office (or classroom, or whatever LOL)!

Answer 7

I don't know how good you are since you haven't really ID'd your handicap or average score, but i'm going to wager you're not a scratch golfer.  The thing you have to remember though is that you're not a pro either. there's no reason to get upset when you hit a bad shot. everybody hits bad shots. The difference between pros and the average golfer is that the Pro can rise above it and concentrate on the next shot to hit a good one, whereas the average golfer gets hung up, swears, throws clubs, etc. I played 2 rounds this weekend and had plenty of bad shots on my way to an 81 and a 77. I didn't stress about it because i'm not a pro, and the only reason i shot that well is because i didn't worry about the bad shots and concentrated on making good ones.

Knowing you can do something and actually doing it are 2 different things. VASTLY different. How many times have you read or seen a tutorial on how to hit a slice or draw or how to hit a pitch and you KNOW how to do it --- then you're on the tee, spray one to the right and say "now why did i do that?".  Because you're just not that good to have complete control over your game 100% of the time and that needs to be realized. When you can consistently shoot in/around par or 2 over... then you can be upset.