How to Better Deal With "Tournament BS"?

[pinseekingdreams]

Some good advice here.

I think one major component that I'm probably overlooking is that I'm not very confident in my golf swing, partially because I am going through a lot of changes right now so I feel I have to try really hard to "mentally" get in the right state before I hit the ball.

This causes me to sometimes spend a little too much time to "pull the trigger" which probably causes slow play, and then the slow play and getting a warning from the official puts me under pressure to where little tiny things get to me (like the spotter for example).

If I was at a position in my golf swing to where I'm confident in my movement, and I don't need to think as much about what I am trying to do, I think these issues will eventually go away.

[Ty_Webb]

11 hours ago, billchao said:

That’s progress! If you’re anything like me, I learned that the enjoyment part had to come first, then the performance part after. You don’t want to get lackadaisical if you’re truly after scoring well, because otherwise you’ll just be happy you shot 90 or something, but you want that attitude of “whatever, shit happens,” with you when you hit bad shots. And the opposite is true, too. Don’t get too high on hitting those good ones that you get stressed about capitalizing on the next one.

I read or heard something one of the mental game people said that quite well resonated with me. He was saying that you should care about what happens, but not worry about what happens. Then he said, if that doesn't make sense, think about the difference between these two things you might say to someone "I care about you" and "I worry about you". 

Some of the best golf I've played was in a tournament I was playing in, I was in a playoff, but I wasn't particularly fussed about whether I won or lost and I didn't have a whole lot of time because I had to be somewhere afterwards, so I figured I'd just go have fun and if I hit a bad shot, then I lost - BFD. First hole shortish par 4 with a lake left. Normally I'd aim that shot towards the right side of the fairway/edge of the fairway and much of the time miss it right. On this occasion, I just aimed down the middle and hit it there. Wound up halving that in four. Second playoff hole came back the other side of the lake back towards the clubhouse, so I did the same thing. Nailed a drive down the left center. Wound up in a deep divot and barely made the front edge, three putted and lost. Then had to leave anyway. But those two drives that I hit were as good as I could do and I didn't worry about the lake left on both of them and hit good shots. I wish I could always feel like that, but between it being a playoff in a small event that I wasn't particularly concerned about made it easy not to worry. 

[pinseekingdreams]

Update; I think I've gotten over the tournament BS. What has helped me is just realizing that tournaments aren't perfect, smaller amateur events are never going to be perfectly organized. I'm a very detail oriented person, but most people aren't. In my own life, it really bothers me when details are missed but I can't let other people's lack of detail awareness bother me.

I think one of the major things you need to learn in order to figure out how to play well in the smaller events is to just roll with the punches.

I had a tournament a few days ago, there was no driving range, just a small net to hit into. Normally that would bother me, this time I just laughed it off. The course also hasn't cut their putting green yet, so did this bother me? Nah. I just didn't warm up my putting.

I actually think that's a big life lesson, to just laugh at stuff.

[saevel25]

Know your shot zone, know your expectations. Know that a small percentage of the time you will just hit an outlier bad shot. The rest are just variance in the swing that are accounted for in your shot zone. If you know that 20% of your shot zone is in the rough, then hitting it in the rough 3 times in a row is statistically possible and not a bad outcome. 

Also, with expectations, you can't control other people. You can control the reaction you have in the moment. It's better to imagine yourself as a spectator to these quick reactions. That way you can realize they are happening, and then move on from them. Example, someone cuts you off on the road. You realize you spent the last 30 minutes complaining to yourself in the car about how bad drivers are. You suddenly realize you are at your destination. If we are more self-aware, then that 30 minutes could be cut down to 30 seconds. On the course, that could be the difference between taking 1 shot to reset or being on tilt for half a round. 

This all takes practice. It's a skill. 

Also knowing ahead of time helps. If you have a tournament, give the course a call. Ask if they have a putting green, driving range, etc... Then you are not surprised the day of. Now, the range might be closed down, or the machine to dispense range balls might be broken. Still, odds are you have the information at hand. 

Always give yourself enough time. I like the trick of just taking my time. Drive slower to the course. Walk slower on purpose. Really keep the heart rate down. Don't feel rushed. Breathing can control our heart rate, and we can control our breathing rate. Slow methodically deep breathing can calm us down. 

Just some tricks

[klineka]

8 hours ago, pinseekingdreams said:

I had a tournament a few days ago, there was no driving range, just a small net to hit into. Normally that would bother me, this time I just laughed it off. The course also hasn't cut their putting green yet, so did this bother me? Nah. I just didn't warm up my putting.

Do you mean they hadn't cut the practice green yet this entire year or just not that day?

If the speed was really that far off from the real course I probably still would have at least done some start line work like 5 feet and in just so that my very first putt of the day wasn't one that counted. But that's just me.

 

Either way IMO I think that's unacceptable for the course to host a tournament where people are probably paying $75-100+ for the tournament round to not spend the extra bit of time to cut the practice green ahead of the tournament. 

Edited July 17, 2024 by klineka

[pinseekingdreams]

1 hour ago, klineka said:

Do you mean they hadn't cut the practice green yet this entire year or just not that day?

If the speed was really that far off from the real course I probably still would have at least done some start line work like 5 feet and in just so that my very first putt of the day wasn't one that counted. But that's just me.

 

Either way IMO I think that's unacceptable for the course to host a tournament where people are probably paying $75-100+ for the tournament round to not spend the extra bit of time to cut the practice green ahead of the tournament. 

It just wasn't cut yet, it was early in the morning.

The green was covered in dew, when obviously on the course they wouldn't be.

Since I was so early, the practice green probably wasn't a priority.

I putted fine that day, had like 28 putts.

[DaveP043]

9 hours ago, pinseekingdreams said:

I think one of the major things you need to learn in order to figure out how to play well in the smaller events is to just roll with the punches.

This reminded me of something else that can help.  Watch your playing partners, watch them get frustrated by little things, watch them ruin their own chances.  Know that when you can avoid that frustration, you're giving yourself an edge over them.