Short Game Contests

[dagolfer18]

Does anybody play games around the practice green, whether on your own or with a buddy or two? My brother and I love to compete against each other. Here are two of our favorites:

1) Par 18/36. Each hole is a par-2, and you have to pick three easy holes, three medium holes and three hard holes. I say 18/36 because sometimes we do nine holes, sometimes 18 (where it’s par 36). We’ve been playing the game as matchplay lately, but we do strokeplay as well.

2) A classic game with a golf twist. First to spell H-O-R-S-E loses. Here’s how we play: one of us will pick a shot and a hole (our practice green has 4 or 5 cups to choose from) and we try to get up-and-down. If we do, the other person has to get it up-and-down as well. If the second person doesn’t get it up-and-down, they get a letter. In case these rules aren’t clear, I’ll give an example.

Lets say I’m sitting at just an H-O, and my brother is at H-O-R, He picks a shot, and he makes the up-and-down. If I make the up-and-down as well, I get to pick the next shot, nobody gets a letter. But, if I fail, we would both have H-O-R. Now, if my brother didn’t make the up-and-down in the first place, I would get to pick the next shot. No letters to him.

[p1n9183]

It´s the best practice to compete with another player. You can feel the pressure and translate that practice to the real thing at the course.

If you are alone you just can play against yourself, and if you don´t reach your practice challenges you have to pay with something productive for yourself that you don´t like to do regulary.. like 50 pushups, run 2 miles.. eat healthy for one day.. etc.  

[Patch]

I have done everything the OP mentioned in the post. Its a fun way to practice, as it adds more focus to one's practice time. 

My short game practice competition of late, has been with Granddaughter. 

We adults usually play for quarter, and round off to the nearest dollar. 

Earlier this week I played in a 9 hole short game tournament. T was charity type thing for a local cause.  It's basically a par 3 tourney, starting with pitches, and/or chips from designated areas around the greens. I actually won the overall  by 3 strokes. Walked a way with 4 dozen e12s for my effort. 

Thanks to Bridgestone for their donation. 

[dagolfer18]

40 minutes ago, p1n9183 said:

It´s the best practice to compete with another player. You can feel the pressure and translate that practice to the real thing at the course.

If you are alone you just can play against yourself, and if you don´t reach your practice challenges you have to pay with something productive for yourself that you don´t like to do regulary.. like 50 pushups, run 2 miles.. eat healthy for one day.. etc.  

Competition in practice with my brother has helped me loads on the course. We just started these competitions about a month ago, and I’m already seeing tons of improvement in my short game. We’re actually going to the course to practice later today to prepare for tomorrow’s round.

[Papa Steve 55]

7 hours ago, p1n9183 said:

It´s the best practice to compete with another player. You can feel the pressure and translate that practice to the real thing at the course.

  

Any research that backs that up? I try and relax as much as possible practicing, and try to bring that to the course.

[p1n9183]

On 12/26/2019 at 9:45 PM, Papa Steve 55 said:

Any research that backs that up? I try and relax as much as possible practicing, and try to bring that to the course.

In the course if you really care about winning the tournament or shooting a low score you will feel the pressure, everybody feels it, even tiger. The ones who manage it better will prevaile over the ones that crack over it. If you don´t practice playing with pressure when it hit you in the course you will crack under it until you learn how to manage it. You can learn that by playing a lot of tournaments or practicing with a decent amount of pressure. 

PD- I don´t know a single player that suffers the Yips in the practice facility, but on the course...

[Papa Steve 55]

On 12/30/2019 at 11:43 AM, p1n9183 said:

In the course if you really care about winning the tournament or shooting a low score you will feel the pressure, everybody feels it, even tiger. The ones who manage it better will prevaile over the ones that crack over it. If you don´t practice playing with pressure when it hit you in the course you will crack under it until you learn how to manage it. You can learn that by playing a lot of tournaments or practicing with a decent amount of pressure. 

PD- I don´t know a single player that suffers the Yips in the practice facility, but on the course...

I've done well in my clubs events. Honestly, i think if you can treat all your shots like they are just another shot you will do better than thinking how important the shot is, then trying to control the resulting pressure from that thought. I think the pressure is the result of thinking about the results if you miss.

Maybe we are saying the same thing in a slightly round about way. 

[p1n9183]

21 hours ago, Papa Steve 55 said:

i think if you can treat all your shots like they are just another shot you will do better than thinking how important the shot is

In a perfect world, yes, this is mentaly the best approach but in reality when you really care about the outcome of an specific event you will be ansious or nervous. Maybe golf isn´t that much important to you, so when you play you can relax and enjoy the round no matter how the round goes. It happens to me at my home course, theres no presure at all, but when i go out and play Mid Am with the best Am´s in the country i feel the pressure from the 1st hole, even while driving to the course, I start to became a little ansious because i want to performer well. 

Think outside golf, maybe you are on the final exam of your carrear or facing going to jail for a crime you didn´t commit. When you do care about the outcome of something you will be nervous and it´s going to be harder to performer well if you don´t prepare for it.