Do you play to the level of your group?

[ChiChiIsMe]

We were discussing this the other night and I thought it would make a good poll here.

The question was "Do you play up to the level of your group when playing with better players?" or "Do you play down to the level of your group when you are the best player?"

The consensus was "no" everyone thought they played there own game regardless of the skill level of their group. However I know this to be untrue for at least a couple people I play with regularly. "Bob" says he plays his game, but then cards a couple snowmen and has a "horrible" round when playing with higher handicappers. Pair him next week with a couple single digits and he has a great (for him) round.

[TheNatural]

I could see how i might focus more when playing w a low hc....i have only played w a 9 hc once...one guy claimed to be a 5 but his play looked like a 10 and score was 86 or so. I will outdrive my group %90 of the time even if their hc is lower by 10.
blow ups are my problem...

[msd3075]

I never purposely play better or worse depending on the group I'm paired with; I always try to play my best.

That being said, I think that most golfers end up playing better when they are paired with better golfers and end up playing worse when paired with worse golfers. I think the sight of someone else outperforming them makes people concentrate more on their shot/swing/setup/decisions. When playing with worse players, people either tend to get too confident or simply relax too much to play a good round.

[TMO]

Success and failure are both contagious for me. It took me years to break par while playing with my dad. On the other hand, one of the craziest days I can ever remember on the course was during a practice round where our group's scores were 64, 64, and 61. It doesn't mean I have to play to the level of my group but it is definitely a problem when I am gambling.

[PiKapp23]

I am far and away the best player of the group I regularly play with and sometimes I do seem to play down to their level a bit more than I would prefer. I have a couple people that play to low handicaps that I tend to play better when I'm with them. I also have a couple friends I play with occasionally that I seem to always play well with, despite the fact I am quite a bit better than them. For me, it seems to depend on who I'm playing with.

When I was younger I was highly competitive, but as I've gotten older I am less so. When playing with my friends I do not get competitive - I just play my game and don't worry about how my score compares. I do not even play skins or nassaus with my friends. However, if I get paired up with someone there are times where they will do (or say) something that brings the competive spirit out in me and at those times I seem to play my best. I have played in 2 handicapped tournaments in the last 2 years and won 1 and finished 2nd in other. The one I won I was paired with this guy that was just an arrogant jerk and about the 4th or 5th hole my competive spirit kicked in and beat him like a drum - he had been a couple strokes ahead of me at that point and was outdriving me, but once I turned it on I was longer on every drive and I think I finished 5 strokes better than him. I didn't care that I had won tournament (in fact I didn't find out until later that night), all I cared about was that I had beaten the jerk.

[Lefty22]

I don't know but it seems like the "better" players are more focused on their game and it frees me to focus on mine more as opposed to looking for balls and such.

[DavidFehertysBike]

Sometimes i do, yes. Especially if the group im playing with is hacking it around everywhere and i spend at lot time helping them find their ball after a wayward hit. Its rare that i play with an entire group thats better than me so i really dont know how i would react in that situation.

[neudi]

I play against the course, and the course always wins because I always have at least 1 shot that I could have hit better.

[right handed phil mickelson]

well I'm a 9.5 handicap and i play with a friend who is about a 6. When i play with him i shoot higher scores. I played last year on the Middle School golf team and shot a 38 at a tournament when i played with like 15-20 handicappers. I think i play better with higher handicappers because i'm not as pressured to keep up. But, i've been playing with my 6 handicap friend for about 20-30 times in a row now without playing with anyone else, which i think is going to be good because if i can keep up with him, once i get out in a tournament i should be great.

[JetFan1983]

Hmm lets see. When the guys I get paired with have no etiquette whatsoever and no game whatsoever, I tend to play pretty poorly on the back nine. Dunno why. Lost focus maybe? I've also been known to play badly when the guys I get paired with are really, really good. Envy? Probably

Wait a minute, maybe it's because my swing isn't very good I really need the only grass range in this area to open up already...When's it going to be April?

[Big_M]

there was no option for me on the poll...

I play better with people better than me, but I also play worse witha bunch of hackers... it's not ALWAYS this way, but I would bet that my scoring average has some variance with regards to this.

[chipper2]

For me, I can have a very good day or a very bad day with people better than me, same as me or not as good as me. It is my game.

[meenman]

Oddly enough, I play best with total strangers that are much better than me.

I find it funny for the simple fact that if I am at a par 3 with a huge backup, I usually choke with a big audience. Part of shooting better with better players probably has to do with the less time spent ball hunting, although some of these guys can be real slow once they hit the green.

[flopdarock]

oh man this is a trippy mental thing when comparing your scores playing with better/worse partners and its true...
i tend to play much better with lower handicappers due to the fact i dont wanna embarass myself... plus its always in my head that ill slow up play...
when i play with high handicappers... just watching them hit gets in my head... i either start mimicking them with poor shots or want to show off and end up hitting poor shots...
now playing with my brothers is a completely different head trip... one is a low hcp and the other is sometimes better and sometimes worse 12-14 hcp... we are competitive as hell and i think that screws with our heads and we end up shooting high scores when we play each other... then when we talk about games over the phone(they live in diff cities)... we dont believe each other... hahaha... lets just say our hcp's get thrown out the window when we play each other

[Slim 11]

I usually play a little better with lower HC's. I almost always play worse with higher handicaps. That said, I think it is mostly a concentration issue. I have improved on this the last couple of seasons.
Of course, the higher handicaps are all buddies and the lower ones tend to be business associates. I know that I am more likely to goof and joke around with the buddies and focus less on my game.

[David in FL]

As much as I hate to admit it, the level of play from my playing partners will usually have some impact on my own level of play.

My challenge doesn't lie so much on the physical aspects of the game, but more on the mental. Course management, visualization, and having a plan for each hole usually make the difference between a good round and a mediocre one. Very good players tend to focus on the same things and as a result, I tend to stay better focused myself, play smarter, and as a result, I tend to score better.

My own fault entirely, but recognizing it is half the battle, right?

[leezer99]

I actually play better with people that are worse than me and don't always play well when I'm with the scratch players in our club. My Saturday golf buddy is a +2 and I never play well on Saturdays. On Sundays I go out with whatever group I can sneak into and if you know anything about Sundays at a muni course it's "Hackers Delight" out there. Lets just say I am able to stop worrying about my game and just play for fun which frees me up to swing easier and not try and impress anyone.

[jermzkill]

Sometimes I'll play better when I play with people better than me, I think it's because I usually ask advice for how I should play a hole and usually the better players have better advice.