How Important Is Confidence in Playing Golf?

[ChetlovesMer]

I was talking with a guy at the range the other day. He had 2 putters in his bag. I asked him if he used one for short putts and one for long putts or something like that. He said no. Then he said "I was fit for that putter but I have more confidence with that one." I asked him if he had any stats to back up which putter he was better with. He just looked at me like I was from Mars. He said "Putting is all about confidence." As if that should have answered all my questions. 

Which got me thinking. Does confidence matter? Not just in putting but in any golf shot? I certainly hear about it a lot. I've even seen adds for certain drivers, irons or wedges that will "Boost Your Confidence". etc... 

So, how important is confidence when hitting shots in golf? 

[boogielicious]

I voted 7 because with proper training you can focus on the task at hand and execute. 

[cdb]

I voted 7 as well. I think if you feel good about a shot you're planning it helps (me) to have the confidence that I can actually execute that shot. It helps me to visualize the shot, and say to myself, "Yeah I can pull that off."

[bkuehn1952]

A little bit of the "chicken or egg" question here.  Is practice and preparation needed to make one confident, or is being confident the key to making good swings?  I would say building confidence through practice and play is the key.  Being confident without the work won't produce good results.

I have always somewhat envied a buddy of mine.  He has never been a consistent player.  He can hit all the shots, just not often enough.  When he stands over his ball, I know he is totally confident he will hit a great shot.  5% of the time he does but usually the result is far from great.  Yet he is always surprised when he doesn't hit a great shot.  If confidence was the magic bean for golf, he would be on Tour.

[TourSpoon]

Confidence will help give you the proper mental framework to hit the shot that is within your skill-set for a given situation. 

[imsys0042]

I gave it an 8.   It's not a silver bullet, but having confidence leaves me less tense and tension kills my swing.

[Darkfrog]

I'm somewhere between 7-8. Confidence allows me to swing without thinking about technical minutia.

[Vinsk]

Oh what the hell, I voted #1. I’m sure confidence plays a role in overall playing but more in regards to strategy and error prevention. But for an actual golf shot, all the confidence in the world won’t stop that shank.😁

[mcanadiens]

I went with 5. 

To me, confidence or the absence of confidence is a result of how the player has been swinging the club. 

Can you make your self confident without having the physical goods? 

 

[GolfLug]

I guess I might be the anamoly here. Easy to gain confidence from good play, but the reverse is not at all true in my experience. I've played just as shitty as anytime while being in a great frame of mind coming off a hot streak.

Confidence is fleeting anyway. Couple of hooks in middle of a good round and I feel like a five year old trying address the nation on the state of the union.. heh.

I went with #1..

[boogielicious]

59 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

Oh what the hell, I voted #1. I’m sure confidence plays a role in overall playing but more in regards to strategy and error prevention. But for an actual golf shot, all the confidence in the world won’t stop that shank.😁

Take the opposite approach. You are very confident that you can shank it anytime you want!

[DCCarpenter]

If I hit a few good shots to start a day with a club I tend to play well with that club the rest of the day, if my first few shots with a given club are poor I tend to lose confidence in it and struggle with it the remainder of the round. So for me confidence level is very important to play well.

 

[Zippo]

I voted 3. I think "having confidence" is overrated. Particularly at my level. I'm confident every time I swing a club.

[billchao]

I went with #4. I feel like confidence only serves to allow me to commit to the shot I have chosen. Beyond that it’s all execution. I’ve hit plenty of bad shots I was 100% confident I was going to pull off.

The only reason I didn’t go with #1 is because I know what it feels like to completely lose a feel for the game. Like straight up standing over the ball and feeling like I’ve never swung a golf club before in my life. That’s a strange sensation and hard to shake to make a good swing.

[Denny Bang Bang]

I chose 8.  Of course one needs the ability and skill to play well, in any sport.  Being confident also does have a big impact on results.  Michael Jordan, Tiger and a slew of others wouldn’t have won as much as they did without confidence.

[SoCal Hack]

I find that “confidence” only really comes into play in my game on the greens…I have become very good at knowing what shots I can hit and ones I cannot tee to green…high fade that starts over trouble and catches the left edge of the green leaving an uphill birdie putt?  Never could, never will…but hitting a punch shot that either catches the front of the green no matter where the pin is or at worst leaves a straightforward chip?  I can hit that shot all day, everyday…

But when putting, every now and then the line and speed come together, and when happens on the first or second hole, that breeds great confidence with the flat stick and a great score is coming…opposite true as well…early three jacks just makes everything on the green a crapshoot…

my 2 cents, for whatever it’s worth…

 

 

 

[Piz]

Went four five.  Confidence is an emergent quality for me.  

[KMP]

8 - Confidence comes with preparation and committing to the shot. However, I voted for the words that went with the number, and not the position on the scale. On a scale I would place the importance of confidence at 5.

Edited December 11, 2021 by KMP
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