temperment

i have a problem controlling my temper whenever i'm playing, i'll hit a bad shot and i'm really mad. i'm sort of trying to be too perfect. any suggestions on how i can control my anger on the golf course. (i also break a bunch of clubs)

Do you break clubs because of your bad shots or out of anger? (I'm guilty of both.)

I don't get very angry anymore when I play golf, even if I hit topped shot after topped shot. Personally, I bend the rules a bit, re-hit, and take the better of two shots...it gives me some satisfaction, since I know I'm capable of executing the shot.

My 6 iron got some air time a couple weeks ago--best bet is to take a deep breath, get back in the cart and have a drink of beer. Just don't take it seriously.

With a 2 handicap, you probably don't miss too many shots...

I can't say don't take it too seriously, especially if you are trying to take your game to the next level, but part of that, in my mind, would be controlling your emotions.

Think of a key-word, "a happy place" or something that gives you pause, and allows you to cool off. I am a cool customer on the links... it is at home with my kids that I find my temper the shortest (and that is when I need to control it the most!)

Good Luck.

I know this sounds chessy but when I get angry I always think of my daughter when she is smiling or doing something funny like how she dances when commercials with music come on.

I also try to think to myself if I cannot enjoy myself on the golf course why spend 5 hours out here doing it.

Just some thoughts

I used to get pretty worked up and toss clubs from time to time when I was in college. But now, I just smile and think to myself "a bad day on the course is better than the best day at the office"!! It works. No matter how bad I'm hitting the ball, I'd still rather be on the course than at work!! Now I stay pretty calm and it has improved my handicap. You just have to forget about the last shot and concentrate on the next. If I top a 4 iron 60 yards or so, I just think "well, now I've got an 8 iron to the green, good layup!!" Sounds dumb, but it works.

thanks everyone for their advice. i'll remember that the next time i play. thanks

thanks everyone who posted on this thread once again. i used your advice today when i played at Furman University Golf Club, i was +1 after 9, then went +5 after 13 and almost lost my cool, but i thought about what everyone posted on this thread and ended making 2 birdies on the last 3 holes to shot 75, thanks again everyone

I waited until I was old enough (in my case, 34) before I started playing golf specifically because I'd have been a hot head. But now I have a 5 second rule. For 5 seconds after a bad shot I can cuss, look unbelievingly at the sky, try and assess what went wrong, whatever. But after that time I just let it go. It's worked for me thus far.

I used to get so angry with myself after the slightest mistake. Now I just laugh at myself. It has helped so much. If you can laugh at your mistakes... it does good things for your golf game. Because chances are you are making more mistakes than rights. Golf really comes down to who makes the best mistakes and who over comes the bad mistakes.

Golf is supposed to be fun for the average joe and life is too short to take a bad shot seriously.

I got alot more angry when I was a teenager playing. I guess because I was so competitive. I'm alot calmer on the course now. I guess because I can appreciate more being out on the course and how lucky I am to have that opportunity to spend a beautiful day!

Once I started playing again after college, I just kinda laughed at myself. One scramble, I literally was topping every shot. Even the shots I love (100-120 yards). I'd just top em. But I kept my cool, and I was surprised I did. I still have an outburst every now and then, but if I just sit back...take a deep breath and realize just how "important" that bad shot was in the whole scheme of things...I seem to calm down.

This might sound strange, but after I read the book Extraordinary Golf by Shoemaker, my game totally changed. I still get a bit frusterated especially with my handicap... but I let it go right after.

I used to have a really bad temper about bad shots but now i'm pretty calm. Before I used to say a couple explatives and slam my club into the ground. All i do now is walk up to the ball after a bad shot, take a deep breath and swing. 95% of the time i hit a perfect shot. You just need to relax after a bad shot. As someone else said quoting Happy Gilmore, go to your "Happy Place." Golf i've noticed is a game best played with a clear head.

extrodinary golf is a good book, i've read halfway through it but i'm still in school and i have book reports and stuff like that so i didn't get to finish it, but i'm going to start reading it during the summer. shoemaker has a lot of experience of anger

One of my golfing Buddies has the same problem. he will shoot 80s usually but when he has one bad shot, he looses that club..its like who is the weakest link. He usually breaks his P wedge. Irish Temper..if there is one..lol

if you ever play alone, DO you get mad? Because whether you believe it ornot, no one cares if you hit a bad or good shot, obviouisly most people want you to play well, but if you dont itts not the end of the world. You arent judged by the scores you make on the course, however you will be judged by your temperment, you probably dont make golf very enjoyable forthe people you play with. Also, you may need to ask yourself if you really enjoy golf, or if you just enjoy shooting low, because if its the latter then maybe you shouldnt play because you really dont enjoy it. How well you score is not indicitive of your personal worth. You need to just realize getting angry is juvenile and it shows lack of self esteem (or that you are psycho) Trying to "control it" doesnt help the problem, realizing what the problem is and then figuring out how to get rid of it does. Having a bad "temper" is a horrible excuse for everyone to have, if you are an adult get over yourself (sorry if this come soff harsh, I used to have a problem with getting angry and realized that I never got angry until I started playing with a friend of mine who used to go berserk on the course, I started playing with much older better players and assessed why I got angry and now I enjoy golf as much as I ever have, dont worry about your score and take things as they come, it all evens out in the end anyway)

Also, just remember you are paying to play, if you get psised off and dont enjoy playing dont play, and no one gives a damn about your score but yourself, so dont tell everybody about it because it gets old.

Good point about ruining it for other players....I am "old" compared to you, 39 this month....and it drives me crazy when people get SO mad at their game or how fast or slow others are playing....it is just a game. Someone else said it, about enjoying your time out there...and good shots. If you obsess on every shot and can't let it go, it will most likely have a negative effect on the rest of your round. Do you ride or walk? Walking may give you a chance to "shake it off" and calm down before your next shot. Try to enjoy it! And lighten up, for your sake and those playing with you.

One parting thought, at my ripe old age of 39, I've decided that I'm too old to play with miserable SOBs...and I have let a couple of guys in our 4some make the turn without us....and played with the 2some behind us. Life is too short to play with miserable people. Golf is great....enjoy it! And at a 2 handicap....what are you complaining about???!!!! I'm so jealous at about an 18 handicap!

Hit 'em straight....and if you don't, take a deep breath and laugh it off!

i was playing at a public golf course by my uncle and people were getting mad cuz we were playing slow. We were playing at a very good pace, couldn't really do ne thing cuz there was a group of 4 ahead of us. We had just gotten off a difficult par 3, the guys behind us must of donated 5-10 balls in the the drink. As soon as we left after out tee shots they made a comment of us playing so slow and blamed us for them hitting balls in the water and ruinin their groove. I still don't understand why people wanna play this game faster than their suppose to. If i'm having a good round i would wanna stick around and cherish it, especially if i paid