How Important Is Confidence in Playing Golf?

[Carl3]

11 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

Every once in awhile you'll bump into a guy who is totally "cocky", "confident" and wearing bright purple, while smoking a cigar.  Then he hits his shot....................................

 

I will stir the pot... Is this guy with the purple outfit wearing a white belt?😁 

 

I was at a municipal par 3 course, 9 hole variety. This guy gets out of his car dressed head to toe in Loudmouth gear. The greenskeeper sees him and starts laughing and tells him "this ain't Caddyshack".

Edited February 17, 2022 by Carl3

[Double Mocha Man]

1 minute ago, Carl3 said:

I will stir the pot... Is this guy with the purple outfit wearing a white belt?😁 

Yes, but purple shoes...

[StuM]

12 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

Every once in awhile you'll bump into a guy who is totally "cocky", "confident" and wearing bright purple, while smoking a cigar.  Then he hits his shot....................................

 

I think there is a difference between "Confident" and "Cocky".  It may seem like a fine line but a "Cocky" person thinks they can do no wrong, that the are better that others, etc.  A Confident person knows what they are able to do and focuses on doing that, not showing off or trying to look good.

[ChetlovesMer]

36 minutes ago, Carl3 said:

I will stir the pot... Is this guy with the purple outfit wearing a white belt?😁 

There are those who can pull off the white belt. For example @billchao can make it work. 

But I truly believe that for most of us, the white belt needs to be reserved for those under 34. That means under 34 inches around the waist and under 34 years old. 

Once again, disregard this comment if you are in the navy, sell ice cream for living or happen to be a female pop star. 

[GolfLug]

2 hours ago, phan52 said:

I think Shiffrin lost her confidence before she even got to Beijing. She had banked her skills beforehand and was the face of these Olympics in America. That is incalculable pressure and I think that scared the shit out of her and she didn't trust that all of her good work would pay off. Her skiing out in the slalom was pathetic, she is way too good for that to happen. There will be books written about what happened to her.

She has had the pressure for years and still has performed. From all accounts she was brimming with confidence getting to Beijing. And she was back on the saddle after getting it right on Super G. It didn't do her any good yesterday.   

2 hours ago, phan52 said:

But you have to have confidence to take it to the golf course. You have to trust what you are doing. If it working, you aren't even aware that it is confidence. Confidence is trust.

Let me ask you this - would you consider confidence a pillar of your game? I don't. To me it is window dressing, a mere by-product or a reflection of your state of game, not an independent requisite. I can't tell you how many times I have doubled the easiest hole on our course (120 yard par 3) with me slobbering over a juicy pitching wedge. Confidence doesn't do shit. It has even screwed me over. I see confident folks make lazy swings hitting thin all the time.   

1 hour ago, StuM said:

I do not believe confidence will make you a better golfer but lack of confident will make you a worse golfer.

 Why would one lack confidence if they are playing to their ability?  

If I come upon a green that is only 30 yards wide that is 170 yards out (5 iron for me and a 25% chance at best because of my shot zone), I know no matter how confident I am, there a good chance (75%) I am going to miss the green. Thems just the facts. No amount of confidence changes the odds. 

If you expect to hit the green from buck seventy out that you know you don't have the game to hit with any reasonable certainty, then it's easy to blame the failure on lack of confidence as some kind of independent actor. 

[mohearn]

I chose 7. I'm confident that's the correct and only answer.

 

Seriously though, is confidence and commitment the same.  I see commitment as being almost a 10 in order to play to your capability.

[WillieT]

I went on 8.  Confidence creates a sense of freedom that allows good things to happen in the game.  It reinforces the body and related mechanics.  It moves you to see a little sharper whether on the fairway or the green.  It also allows you to know there are better holes ahead when the last 3 or 4 have really stunk!  

[ChetlovesMer]

3 hours ago, GolfLug said:

If you expect to hit the green from buck seventy out that you know you don't have the game to hit with any reasonable certainty, then it's easy to blame the failure on lack of confidence as some kind of independent actor. 

I see your point. 

The reverse situation is true a lot of the time as well. How many folks have been slicing the ball all over the course. They line up left of the flag and actually hit one dead straight. Then say something like "I should have been more confident." 

[saevel25]

I think confidence is good to keep you level in the round. It keeps you positive. It's not absolute certainty you will do what ever you want. That is how I look at it. There is something to the confidence of knowing you can do something because you did it 10000x in practice. 

There is confidence to keep your emotions and attitude level. Then there is just the confidence in something you have practiced. 

[GolfLug]

10 hours ago, saevel25 said:

I think confidence is good to keep you level in the round. It keeps you positive. It's not absolute certainty you will do what ever you want. That is how I look at it. 

Now this I agree with. It meanders into a broader theme of general outlook and expectations but that's a good way to look at it. 

[djfajt71]

22 hours ago, ChetlovesMer said:

Ah, so that begs the question. 

"Did you lose confidence in your driver because you are hitting duck hooks... Or do you duck hook because you lost confidence in your driver?"  hmmm....

The duck hook definitely came first.  My old miss was a slice.  When I hit that first duck hook, I thought how weird it was.  I had fixed my slice and was driving the ball pretty accurately with the occasional heavy fade.  Then, I did it again, then again, then again.  I'm mixing in accurate drives.  I have no idea what the difference is, and I have no idea what's going to happen every time.

[Carl3]

18 hours ago, ChetlovesMer said:

There are those who can pull off the white belt. For example @billchao can make it work. 

But I truly believe that for most of us, the white belt needs to be reserved for those under 34. That means under 34 inches around the waist and under 34 years old. 

Once again, disregard this comment if you are in the navy, sell ice cream for living or happen to be a female pop star. 

Yes, like being at the gym. If you are a man over 30, don't wear a tank top. No one wants to see it. There are rare exceptions to this.

When I am at Great Clips and they get to trimming up my neck sometimes they don't know where to stop. Once I told the cosmetologist not to worry about it and that the hair goes all the way down to my ankles.

[Ty_Webb]

19 hours ago, Double Mocha Man said:

Every once in awhile you'll bump into a guy who is totally "cocky", "confident" and wearing bright purple, while smoking a cigar.  Then he hits his shot....................................

Actually, to supplement my earlier balloon analogy, I'd like to think "confidence" can look like a graph.  Your game/shots can have extreme ups and downs, but when graphed, over time, with general improvement, I think the graph becomes upward (unlike the stock market right now).  So I believe you can garner confidence from knowing you can trust a bit more in shot X than you could two years ago... and execute it accordingly.

I think a lot of the people who dress like that subscribe to the "fake it till you make it" mentality. That outfit doesn't speak "confident" to me. Funnily enough, I think the confident guy is the one who looks a little slobbish. He doesn't need to look good because his golf game speaks for itself. 

Speaking as someone who fights with chip yips from time to time (far too much), confidence has a huge impact on my game. I have confidence in my long game for the most part and I don't think it plays much of a part *for me* with my long game. Stick me 20 yards away from the hole and some days I think I can barely make contact. Others I think I can stuff it. I'm generally right too.

[iacas]

13 minutes ago, Ty_Webb said:

I think a lot of the people who dress like that subscribe to the "fake it till you make it" mentality. That outfit doesn't speak "confident" to me.

It creates confidence, though.

Even if you just make yourself smile, you'll be happier. Our bodies are sometimes really stupid. 😄

[boogielicious]

1 hour ago, Carl3 said:

Yes, like being at the gym. If you are a man over 30, don't wear a tank top. No one wants to see it. There are rare exceptions to this.

When I am at Great Clips and they get to trimming up my neck sometimes they don't know where to stop. Once I told the cosmetologist not to worry about it and that the hair goes all the way down to my ankles.

 I haven’t worn a tank top since I was running track back in 1981.😜

[iacas]

As with all mental game things, it's way down on the list.

The poll options are pretty badly worded. I mean, "Confidence will allow you to make your best swing. Therefore its important." Okay, sure, but Jon Rahm's worst swing is going to be 10x better than almost anyone here's best swing, so… 8/10 importance? Or still 1/10 when taken as part of the whole?

You know who's confident? A guy with a better swing. A guy who is playing better. And yet… you can be just as nervous or confident over a 150-yard approach shot in your game as a PGA Tour player who needs to make the cut to keep his PGA Tour card is… and the Tour pro is still going to, on the whole, put a much better swing on it than you will.

So again… since "confidence" is a sub-set of the whole "mental game" thing, even 1/10 is a stretch.

[StuM]

21 hours ago, GolfLug said:

 Why would one lack confidence if they are playing to their ability?  

That is not what I meant.  I am meaning if you approach your shots and have doubts in your mind then you may not play to your ability. 

[GolfLug]

So I am half way through listening to Rotella's NLU Podcast. his take on confidence seems to be.. if you are not feeling a driver, shrink down the club selection to something you can hit with confidence. If I were to follow the advise I would never hit anything over an 8 iron, ya know... to hit the fairway.  Or better yet, some days I would just stay home. 

I believe it's not confidence that is key.. I think it is courage. Like them Ukranians.