Do you talk to yourself????

[kregan]

type "negative self talk" into google and read about it.

I still do it but I try and turn it into a constructive thought.

[WhatIsPaintball]

does "ah crap!" then follow by "FOOOOORRRREEEE!" count? then yes.. i do talk to myself... and then to whom ever is playing in front of my group..

[chipper2]

Yes, I talk to myself and so do most of my friends. When you start getting answers to your questions from yourself then it time for some proffesional help.

[netsniper]

hahahah this thread is great!!!

from my first tee shot, to the last putt, im constantly talking to myself about my game...or if im not talking to myself, im talking to my golf ball

[piper_clap]

My driver and I have a running dialogue going this season. So far, he's winning the argument, but he's starting to see my point of view on things. (Namely, the benefits of playing from the fairway vs behind a tree in the right hand rough).

My putter was just being a dick about it and not conceding any points in our ongoing debate about not 3 putting, so he's on timeout in the trunk for now.

[Voiceontapex]

Mama always said, " you can talk to yourself all you want, just dont answer back"

but if i play by myself, there are 2 scenarios lol

1. perfect shots, long putts, chip ins, Best round yet. " O great no one will ever believe this"

2. if i start sucking real bad, launching it over the green, hitting a putt to long, too short, just playing horribly, i use some pretty bad language its funny cause i direct it at the ball like i want to hurt its feelings lol

ill grab it real hard like and mutter some words HAHA, but then i get happy again and continue on till it happens again =]

[microcrayfish]

I talk to myself on the course all the time, I usually try to keep it down when I'm at the range and there are a bunch of other people around though.

[Shindig]

I talk to myself, both in golf and otherwise. Most of the time, I'm the only person whose answers I'll accept anyway

[Toph]

most of my on course talking is directed at trying to sweet talk my golf ball in mid flight lol... but i do catch myself quite often relaying information back to myself on what i need to correct or should keep doing

[Eeryck]

While most talk about visualization, I find that in my pre-shot routine I need to have some audiolizations to help my visualization. While standing behind the ball I talk to myself about the ball flight, trajectory, landing area and the swing that makes it. Seems I can't really do it silently.

Sometimes after a few bad swings I give myself a mini pep talk, focusing on several swing ideas and running through them so I can be target focused on my actual swings.

If anyone ever says anything to me about speaking to myself during the round I just start refering to myself in third person regularly to really throw them for a loop.

-E

[jorruss]

When I play by myself I have the announcer going in my head, pretending to be leading or coming from behind. It's a fun game to keep myself focused and put a bit of pressure on myself.

"Cinderella story... Outta nowhere... A former greenskeeper........."

[Dub]

Dude, I'm my own caddy, shrink, and commentator. I think it's more common than people let on.

Yup.....freaks people out sometimes...playing partners will laugh a my self abusive comments....."Arghhhh.....you bonehead" being one of my more common shots.

It freaked out one of my playing partners during my best recent round. We were both playing well on a tough course....he hit a long dive but played wide right....very safe from the left fairway bunker...but put himself further from the green. I took an aggressive approach and rolled into the bunker. He hit his long iron and rolled up a bit short right of the green. He then parked the golf cart right beside the bunker....5 ft beside my ball and said....."See there....that right there (pointing to my ball) is why I laced mine out wide". He took a sip of his drink and grinned at me. I lasered my shot....and talked myself through the shot plan....he was sitting so close that every word must have been easily overheard...."178 to the pin.....gotta clear this lip but take it out right edge of green and draw it back....avoid the monster left greenside bunker......hmmmm.....easy shot.....gotta be a smooth 4hybrid with slight draw....nice and smooth...full follow through.....smooth it". The result was a perfectly executed shot that had me giving a subtle fist pump. It freaked him out that I saw the shot....planned it.....and pulled it off as planned. I went on to beat him by 6 strokes....first time I ever beat him. (he thouroughly whooped me by 8 strokes our next round a week later) Talking yourself through it can ease your nerves and fill you head with lots of "do" thoughts and keeps you in the moment....one shot at a time.

[CarlSpackler]

I talk to my ball, sometimes the course, but never myself.

[MiniMoe]

when I played the Open qualifier, I liked having a caddy because it made it appear that I was talking to him instead of myself. I talk my self through almost every shot. Sometimes its out loud, sometimes it is in my head where no one else can hear. When I'm really in the zone I'll say every other word I'm thinking to myself. My playing partners are relentless about giving me a hard time about it. Its pretty funny

[TN94z]

I can't play a round without talking to myself. I do that to calm myself down..especially in a pressure situation. And when I hit a bad shot....man, I let myself have it!!

[CarlSpackler]

I can't play a round without talking to myself. I do that to calm myself down..especially in a pressure situation. And when I hit a bad shot....man, I let myself have it!!

I think the key for me is to quiet the voices in my head (no, we are not schizophrenic) since they are usually saying bad things. I play very well when it is just me, the ball, the course and my clubs.

[IPgolfer]

i talk to myself alot and when a good shot comes i like to talk my confidence up and when a bad shot comes i try to keep my confidence up but it never works cause i always end up swearing under my breath or something which doesnt really help.

[Mallet]

This turned out to be a good thread. Last week in my Thursday league, not only did I talk up a storm, but I even threw my hat to the ground a-la Tiger, after hitting the 2nd 30+ foot putt of the day!