Do you have that competitive spirit?

[rembrandt]

I have always been alot like Roger the Dodger(Stauback), I want to win somhow, someway.........if I played with Tiger, I'd try to out drive him and beat him on the scorecard. Thats just the way I've always been. Course I wouldn't stand a chance in hades of beating Tiger but I'd try anyway. On the first tee we would be even!

[cdriver]

I am so competitive that my wife refuses to play cards with me.. I can get upset over Old Maid!! I am so competitive that I try to be just an inch or two ahead at the red light.. It is so bad. Reason has no place in this quest to be the best.

Does that give you an idea about my competitive spirit???

[iammike]

Free lunch after a round makes me competitive to have a better round than my buddies.

[Jeepthrills]

I am super competetive. I want to beat everyone whenever I play. There is nothing I hate more than hearing "It's only for fun." My answer to that is, "If it's just for fun then why do we keep scores and standings."

I am mostly competetive with myself. I don't like to not do my best.

My 8 year old plays baseball and they don't count balls and strikes. They also don't keep track of the score. Everyone plays the same ammount and everyone bats. This league is more about fundamentals and that's fine. Next year they start to keep score and standings. I have told my sons (12 and 8 1/2) that it is OK to hate losing. As long as they are not poor sports, I think it's good for them to learn that competition is healthy. I don't want it to define who they are, but I don't like the whole attitude that we are taking as a country that we shouldn't keep score and that kids should be taught that it doesn't matter if you win or lose. In real life they do keep score.

[ragontona]

My competitiveness is subtle. Even with friendly rounds with my buddies, I'll try to find little ways to get in their heads:

I'll sneak in a comment about me hitting a 9-iron on a par 3 that he's hitting a 7-iron into.

I'll remind him that he needs to par the last three to break 90, or something.

After he hits a nice tee shot, I'll mention something like, "You did something different with your preshot routine, there. Try to remember that..." (Naturally, he'll wonder about what he did for the rest of the day and get in his own way)

Of course, the best way to get in their heads is to stripe it down the fairway all day long, or sink a few 20 footers for bird.

Basically, I let it be known that I'm better than him (even if we're pretty even), and he's going to have to play his best to beat me. I never say it out loud, but it's there...

[thehillgolfer]

i used to be competitive...but now i'm like who cares? i think its probably cuz i have 4 sisters and no brothers so i never really have to compete with anyone at home.


i have considered being really focus and concentrating solely on my golf during matches and stuff and even doing something like ragatona was talking about, but when i think about it, whats more important? beating some guy in a high school match that i'll forget about in a couple months, or starting a relationship with those kids and being friendly and being as we play all public schools and i go to dayspring CHRISTIAN academy, showing those kids that i am different. cuz am i showing love for people if i am doing everything i can to make them play bad or beat them?

i still try to play as good as possible, and i enjoy pressure and playing with people watching me, but i hate setting myself against people.

[iacas]

My competitiveness is subtle. Even with friendly rounds with my buddies, I'll try to find little ways to get in their heads:

There's competitive and there's rude. The examples you gave were "gamesmanship," not "competitiveness" and gamesmanship lies a lot closer to "rude" on my scale than to "competitive." Competitive is minding your own game. Gamesmanship is minding someone else's.

Another way to put it: gamesmanship is playing those lame little mind games. Competitiveness is using the fact that someone is playing lame little mind games as a good reason to squash the guy. Get it? I'm competitive at golf - always. With myself, with whoever I'm playing with, etc. I hit a few good shots per round - shots that come off just the way I envisioned - and I'm happy. I'm competitive on the range (again, usually against myself) and so on. I've learned in recent years to not be so competitive in situations that don't warrant it. I've gotten to the point where I can turn it on and off, or where I can be competitive with myself without letting my wife know that I'm trying to beat her at mini golf by 36 shots or something and we can still have a great time.

[Lefty2380]

running with the gamesmanship idea...there is a book called "How to Win at Golf Without actually Trying" and its loaded with all sorts of ways to win mentally over your opponent with such lines as you mentioned as well as other things...it clearly doesnt reccomend cheating because thats...well...thats cheating...but its got a lot of good tips on how to keep your mental game sharp and you're needle in your opponent's balloon sharper...

...if that last sentence made sense, I'll take the credit, otherwise i heard it from my little sister...

I am very competative when the time comes, but i usually like ot relax and play some good golf. ive got a friend who plays me for small things in the proshop (bags of tees, a sleeve of cheap balls, small accessories, a bucket of range balls, etc.) and for that stuff i dont usually play too seriously. I have enough respect for the game to be competative yet under control...a lot of people i know are competative to the point where if they miss a put on the second hole of an 18 hole match they will go nutso...it just doesnt make sense to me...

[cdriver]

I used to play in an every Sunday skins game for a quarter a hole. If my Mother had only known how hard I would concentrate for a quarter, she would have dangled one on a string when I was in High School and I'd have been a Rhodes Scolar. LOL

[rembrandt]

I used to play in an every Sunday skins game for a quarter a hole. If my Mother had only known how hard I would concentrate for a quarter, she would have dangled one on a string when I was in High School and I'd have been a Rhodes Scolar. LOL

Thats a good one.....with me it was winning which drove me... more than the money.

[aquacooled]

Like the taylor made ad saids "I grind for buck like it was a thousand" I have always been that way, growning up I played ice hockey. I even made it collage hockey, however wanting to win has always been in my blood. The best thing about golf is its all on me, no one to give me that bad pass or the goalie that let one thru.. nope its all on me..

I love golf..

[Jeepthrills]

I even made it collage hockey, however wanting to win has always been in my blood. The best thing about golf is its all on me, no one to give me that bad pass or the goalie that let one thru.. nope its all on me..

I'm the same way. I played basketball up through my second year of college. I still play in a league from December to March. I also bowl from September to May. I have always said that as soon as I stop getting upset about losing, I will quit. I'm 35 and I still get nervous about each basketball game. The fisrt season that I don't, I'm done.

I feel the same way about golf. There is nobody to blame but me. If I hit a bad shot it wasn't because I was fouled and the ref missed the call.

[cdriver]

I, too, like the fact that golf is a single sport. No one to blame (or count on) besides one's self. I played soccer and it was great, but there was always someone else to contribute the the success or failure, not out there on your own like golf.

Also, it is much easier to come up with a foursome than a twenty-two some for a quick game...

[aquacooled]

Also, it is much easier to come up with a foursome than a twenty-two some for a quick game...

very true however, most of the time I go by myself.. I dont care I love it that much.. matter of fact I would say 60% of my golf I try to better myself..

[allin]

I am not super competitive as I get older. I have no problem with those who are. As long as you relish the challenge more power to you. I do have problems with people who have to be obnoxious, like I was growing up. What is great about golf is that like my only true sport track, your real opponent is yourself. The creative challenges of hitting a shot the way I want to are what drives me. It is nice to see so many who celebrate their successes, sincerely, and are not so full of themselves that their self worth is tied to their golf scores. It is a pleasure reading your posts.

[Konrad]

I love competing with my peers, and I don't play golf with anyone my age. Why? Because they're not my friends on the course. They're my competition.

[Xt1ncT]

I am far far too competitive.

So much so it's ruined past relationships.

My wife won't play scabble with me any more - or nay game for that matter..!!!! I try so hard not to be, but hell, that's just not me.

[NCGolfer]

I've very competitive, but I don't take it out on other people...making them putt out a 2 footer, making snide comments, etc.

No matter who I play with, I feel like I should be the best in the group and want to beat everyone. That's why I love playing with better players...it makes me realize how many good golfers are out there and how much I need to work on my game.