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Learning "Clutch"

bkuehn1952

Entry posted by bkuehn1952

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I imagine some people are just born with the ability to perform when the game is on the line.  These are the guys who tee off and putt last in scrambles and are avoided as opponents in match play.  For the rest of us, performing under pressure is a learned skill, if we ever acquire the talent at all.

A golf buddy, “Bob”, helped me a bit over the past couple years with performance pressure.  He is a gambler and always likes to have something on the line, nothing too big, more of a bragging rights kind of thing. I think he correctly figured out I was the perfect pigeon to be plucked.

Our games are similar but I suspect we each think we are a bit better than the other.  Bob goes to Arizona about October 1 and returns around May 1.  While he is in Arizona, his index typically drops to around 6.0.  Meanwhile, I struggle with the mud and cold during the early season and stand at 9.0 or so in May.  By the end of the summer, though, we typically are fairly close statistically.   

Our game is match play with $1.00 on each nine and total.  Yes, big stakes.  Still, it is REALLY hard to take when one of us has to hand over $3.00 at the end of the day.

The first year we started our game, Bob got up close to $30.  He beat me like a drum.  My stroke count was often better but he always won the hole-by-hole match play scoring.  Bob was the consummate gambler who was not averse to using a bit of verbal or mental gamesmanship.  Also, match play was fairly foreign to me and my conservative stroke play mentality of “don’t make the big mistake” did not work as well with match play.  But I was learning.  While I made a bit of a rally near the end of the year, Bob left for Arizona with close to $25 of my money. 

The following year Bob was ready to use me as his personal ATM once again.  Not so fast Bob! I had learned my lessons well the previous year.  I did not lose to Bob the entire summer.  The best he could do was tie me on occasion.  The trend continued the next year until Bob was forced to call a truce.  He was done with handing money to me every week.

While I certainly don’t consider myself a clutch player, most of the time I no longer wilt under pressure.  I do tend to over think certain situations.  As one competitor observed last year, “you are a good player but you worry too much.” Still, I am learning.

How about everyone else?  Clutch or choker?

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saevel25

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High loss aversion seemed to help players’ performance when they were threatened with increasing losses; even with a potential $100 loss, participants in this category didn’t choke. When compared to their performance on trials with no monetary value, those with high loss aversion who were offered gains of $25 to $75 also showed improved performance, but when offered a $100 award, they choked.

Meanwhile, those with low loss aversion improved their performance with increasing prospective gains and with increasing prospective losses, only up to a point. They choked when threatened with a loss of $100.

Those people with High Loss Aversion seem to choke when the reward gets to a certain level. This tends to be people who really really hate to lose. For them thinking of what they might be losing if they don't perform would probably be better. 

Those people with Low Loss Aversions seem to choke when the loss gets to a certain maximum. This tends to be people who enjoy winning more. For them it might be thinking of what they have to look forward to if they win. 

I do think athletes tend to fall into the hate losing more. Especially the elite athletes. You hear about players playing with a chip on their shoulder. I am guessing that those types tend to be high loss aversion. 

There are players who are just in it for the money. So they might have a big season if they know their contract is going to be restructured. 

This is a bit different when it comes to playing casually. I might say that it's tougher to play at an extremely high level if it is not competitive. Also, I think knowing your expectations as well. If you are an 18 handicap, don't get upset if you choke more often. You're just not good enough to be that consistent.

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Guest jasonfish11

Guest jasonfish11

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I guess it is a learned trait.  I have a friend who I gable with a lot.  Not "a lot" of money although some times it can be more than either of us would like, but we just can't play a normal round of golf.  He and I are the same, if we have something on the line on the 18th hole watch out.  Example last time we played I was playing terrible, I mean like really bad.  I hadn't had more than 5 shots I liked all day long.  We were betting lunch on the round, so naturally I pressed on the 18th tee.  I said now we are playing for lunch, a beer and the tip.  He of course agreed.

I stepped up and piped my drive down the center cut.  He hit his fine and hit a 7i into the green about 25' away.  I had 102 yards left pulled my SW and said to him "unless you sink that putt I'm ending this now." I proceeded to knock it to 3', he made the putt and we walked off with me owing him lunch as we tied 18th.  Prior to that hole I had made 1 par, and neither of us made a birdie.  

Compare this to another friend in Nashville where we played $1/hole birdies double with carryovers.  I never would win money on the front side, but I always walked away with money at the end.  Me playing better and him choking down the last 5-6 holes became so common that he said on the 10th tee one day "crap I'm only up $5, looks like I'll be going to the ATM."  We settled on him buying me a hotdog after that round as I played the back 9 at +1 and 16-18 at -2. 

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GolfLug

I have not performed well when under pressure of competition, don't know if it is fear of losing or something else. I feel like I cannot get my feels right or clear my head, get my grip right, can't find my trigger and then eventually make hasty swings and hit snap hooks. In short my bad miss shows up at the worst time. I guess, that is what choking feels like. It is an embarrassing weakness but well, it is what it is.

Now, I do feel once I have been in a situation or a group I fell lot more settled and do handle pressure a lot better. So, I think a learned trait. Gosh, I hope it is for my sake! I joined a league two weeks ago to learn to play better competitively.

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Big Lex

I've been both. I topped a ball into a water hazard in front of about 60 guys in a big club tournament....it was a playoff hole for the championship. I'd played great all weekend....my best golf of the season....but under that pressure, into the water it went. I wanted to follow the ball into the lake.

In the biggest $ match I ever played in, I had about an 8 foot, sharply breaking sidehill putt. I needed to 2-putt for the tie, and it was a severe enough break that you knew if you didn't hit a good putt you could end up with a 4 footer coming back....or even another 8 footer. I drained it in the center of the hole.

I have memories of lots of solid, on line shots under pressure. I also have memories of terrible results under pressure.

I agree with you that there seem to be people who are born with the ability to shine under pressure.

But whether this IS true, or just seems true is very hard to determine. I know that the baseball-reference website has mountains of stats on player performance in "leverage" situations. As hard as it is to quantify, they believe they have some measurement of "clutch" ability. I believe the actual results are under-whelming. Most ballplayers, even the greatest ones, do about the same in clutch situations as they do in non-clutch. Some stars do worse. And the reputations don't always match the actual records.

I don't believe in "choking," at least as the term is usually used. I don't think Dustin Johnson "choked" on the 72nd hole at the 2015 US Open. He missed a tough putt, then missed a relatively easy putt. Sometimes we miss. Golf is hard.

Where I will allow that "choking" as a concept is valid would be as Bob Rotella describes it. He says choking is when you are in a situation that was likely or possible and you are totally unprepared mentally....you have no plan. The failure is because of something you had complete control over - planning, decision making/mapping, etc. Making a mechanical error is not something you can always control. They happen. But to not prepare....

My failure in the tournament I described in the first paragraph was a choke. I didn't even know the format of that playoff hole until we were walking out there to play it. While I face that particular shot every time I play my course, I never thought about or had a plan for what I would do if I ever had to play that hole to win a tournament. If in the same situation next year, I will definitely have a plan.

Great topic.  

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Dan42nepa

Once when I had joined a new company, I was invited to a local saturday foursome at a nice course in my area, I barely knew the 3 people I was playing with (they were new coworkers) and the saturday rate was alot more then I expected. After paying green and cart fees I had about 10.00 left. The first tee they told me about their wagering which wasnt crazy but I could conceivable lose 30-40 dollars which I did not have. This was before there were MAC machines for dispensing cash. It was a very stressful match playing for money I did not have and didnt want to embarrass myself but telling my partners I didnt have the money with me. Luckilly I played my **** off and we ended up winning... That was stressful... LOL

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