[xochgtlm]

I thought I would share a conversation I had with my instructor after blowing up in a tournament a couple weeks ago mostly due to my lack of bunker skills, nerves and WWPTOM.

I was telling him how embarrassed I was by my score and he shared a story with me. I just found the story he told me in a book that he shared with me last year "The 30-Second Golf Swing: How to Train Your Brain to Improve Your Game".

The story he told me was about a round that Mark O'Meara played with Hale Irwin. Mark played really poorly and apologized to Hale afterwards about his poor play. Hale put his arm around him and said "Nothing personal Mark, but frankly I don't give a damn how you played".

Here's a link to an excerpt from the book that talks about this: http://books.google.com/books?id=4zv...20shot&f=false

Use the arrows at the top to scroll to page 117

It's a good quick read. I'm glad to have that bad round behind me and I am glad I actually gained some knowledge about myself from it. I've definitely worried way too much about what people think. Just another thing to add to the list to work on.

[LeviBrawn]

Great story KB. I've been guilty of that when playing with some low shooters, that mental approach will really help, thanks.

[xyupi]

Thanks for the link! My wife a super duper bad weekend on our club championship, so I'm sending this link to her, although it is a good read for me as well. My weekend was far from great and the bad thoughts started creeping in, but I kept them away for the most part but it was far from easy.

[mArVHDO6]

I thought I would share a conversation I had with my instructor after blowing up in a tournament a couple weeks ago mostly due to my lack of bunker skills, nerves and WWPTOM.

I was telling him how embarrassed I was by my score and he shared a story with me. I just found the story he told me in a book that he shared with me last year "The 30-Second Golf Swing: How to Train Your Brain to Improve Your Game".

The story he told me was about a round that Mark O'Meara played with Hale Irwin. Mark played really poorly and apologized to Hale afterwards about his poor play. Hale put his arm around him and said "Nothing personal Mark, but frankly I don't give a damn how you played".

Here's a link to an excerpt from the book that talks about this: http://books.google.com/books?id=4zv...20shot&f=false

Scroll down to page 117

It's a good quick read. I'm glad to have that bad round behind me and I am glad I actually gained some knowledge about myself from it. I've definitely worried way too much about what people think. Just another thing to add to the list to work on.

Thanks for posting that KB! I think most of us have been guilty of that at one point in time or another.

[FrassyLap]

I felt that way before kb, but I've learned to play for me and no one else

I tapatalk better then I tapaputt

[PerfectCreditForYou]

The link would not let me view page 117, it said I had exceeded my viewing limit. Oh well, I believe I get the gist of this.

[xochgtlm]

I felt that way before kb, but I've learned to play for me and no one else

I tapatalk better then I tapaputt

Good for you! I'm gonna get there one day.

I played in my first "serious" tournament with some really good players. I did well in my practice round but when the tournament started, everything changed. The average handicap in the championship flight was 2.9 and my group was 7.5 but split into 4 flights based on the first two days of play. I was so intimidated once they announced the average handicaps. The nerves and self-doubt immediately set in.

So what did I do last week? I signed up for another individual tournament at the end of this month. I'm a glutton for punishment. It's kind of like overcoming a phobia for me. I'm gonna keep fighting through it.

[xochgtlm]

The link would not let me view page 117, it said I had exceeded my viewing limit. Oh well, I believe I get the gist of this.

Maybe you could use the arrows at the top that scroll the pages left and right. That just worked for me.

[CGECngjA]

Good for you! I'm gonna get there one day.

I played in my first "serious" tournament with some really good players. I did well in my practice round but when the tournament started, everything changed. The average handicap in the championship flight was 2.9 and my group was 7.5 but split into 4 flights based on the first two days of play. I was so intimidated once they announced the average handicaps. The nerves and self-doubt immediately set in.

So what did I do last week? I signed up for another individual tournament at the end of this month. I'm a glutton for punishment. It's kind of like overcoming a phobia for me. I'm gonna keep fighting through it.

Keep at it KB, you'll get over it. I play a few tournaments myself. To keep my nerves calm, I've been telling myself it's just another day of golf. I treat it like just going out as a single and making new friends. It helps me stay relaxed and calm. If you haven't read it already, Every Shot must have a Purpose is a good book to help you deal with nerves too.

[RichardHaads]

Thanks for posting on this. I have been really struggling with this. I played twice last week and both times I shot horrible on the first 4 holes as I was so nervous and ended up blowing up the first 9. Once I got calmed down I shot decently and shot decently on the back. I really need to keep myself calmer at the start and I'd be shooting much better.

[Junrlaeh]

KB I know I am big time guilty of this. I will apologize to whomever I am playing with if I am going bad. Funny thing is I know that I don't care if someone shoots poorly while they play with me. I'm a mental basket case.

[Fruriourl]

KB did yoccos help you with the title of this post?

I'm dead guilty of this no matter who I'm playing with, hell sometimes I even worry about what the folks who live on courses I play think. Maybe that's why I like playing alone at courses with no houses.

--
tapatalk

[Indoendris]

Thanks for the link KellyBo, I think most of us have gone through days when were aren't playing up to our potential and have gone through the "man these guys must think I really suck" phase.

[HRS1H7gO]

Good for you! I'm gonna get there one day.

I played in my first "serious" tournament with some really good players. I did well in my practice round but when the tournament started, everything changed. The average handicap in the championship flight was 2.9 and my group was 7.5 but split into 4 flights based on the first two days of play. I was so intimidated once they announced the average handicaps. The nerves and self-doubt immediately set in.

So what did I do last week? I signed up for another individual tournament at the end of this month. I'm a glutton for punishment. It's kind of like overcoming a phobia for me. I'm gonna keep fighting through it.

I suffer through this problem at the beginning of tournaments . I've only played in two so far, and both times, the first couple of holes I would look like a complete beginner, all because I was so worried about how I was playing and how it would affect those I was playing with. I just went through this situation this past saturday. So what do I do? Like you KB, I sign up for an even tougher tournament next Monday. Go mental game!

[skydaypat]

Thanks for posting that KB, it affect most of us at some point and time and still does me sometimes lol.

[pMJWFoAWD]

I think many of this feel this way. When I first got out of the hospital I played the forward tees with just my irons and one hybrid. I got some "looks" but I didn't care because I was just so thankful just to be out on the course again (not to mention looking down on the grass and not up at it). In addition, I'll (you'll) probably never see those people again and they won't be thinking about me or my round anyway.

[fgjhfgjh]

I am guilty of wanting to display my "A" game when playing with strangers. Your motor inside your brain goes into overdrive. Your adrenaline starts pumping and your eyes start to bulging. You look like a June Bug riding on a leaf who just notice a huge Bass circling right beneath you! The next thing that goes out the window is your tempo. Boom you swing like you are chopping down a 10 foot wide oak tree. It's really quite funny because everybody else is worried about their own freaking games and don't give a rats arse about your little wayard drives, topped shots, and chunky monkeys. Why do we put pressure on ourselves? Cool is not cool if you are not relaxed about it!

[milfovoxapl]

I actually do this quite often, but not in front of strangers. I do it when I play with people I know. It's just that overwhelming feeling of wanting to play good. Golf doesn't like when you want to play good. It likes when you either don't care or you know you are going to play good.

It's hard to shake.

[doksSirmAdods]

Hawk and I just spoke about this very thing Sunday. Was pretty interesting really.

[Cibirrigmavog]

I dont even want to know WPTOM. so I cant worry about that