5 Cent Head

[Late4ttime]

My golf course broke down our club championship into flights- then we play match play from there, crowning a champion in each flight. I shot an 83 during qualifying which put me in the 3rd flight. I had a semi final match on Friday.

I was even after 3 holes and was up 2. As I was walking to the 4th tee- I was thinking "I'm 3 strokes ahead of my acceptable score- this has the potential to be a great round of golf"

Well- I then doubled the next 2 holes- was now 4 over after 5 and the match was tied. I ended up losing the match 2 in 1.

I shot an 81 which is essentially my handicap- he shot an 85 which is essentially his.

I can't help but think that I would have won this match, if I hadn't started thinking about my score. I expect to shoot my handicap and played down to achieve it.

Any thoughts on allowing yourself to exceed your expectations or keeping out the destructive self fulfilling prophecies?

Late-

[saevel25]

But i would never think, eh i am doing good, possibly my best round ever.. What that does, puts pressure on you. Try to put thinks into small steps, goals you can achieve.

For example, when i play my leagues, i think i should birdie every par 5 i come accross. There isn't much issue with the drive and the greens are accessible, i can reach each in two. When it comes to hole 5 & 7 in my league, i would like to go even par, maybe 1 over par through those. They are just nasty holes. If i get to a par 5 and miss my drive, i don't get into the mentality that i got to make up a shot, i will usually lay up then.

So its not compounding errors, knowing the holes you can score on, knowing your self and your game.

The key is routine as well. When i get behind the ball to imagine my shot, i lock all things out and focus on the shot at hand. I do the same thing and it takes the same amount of time, roughly, each time. This allows me to be consistant.

[Game]

I second what Saevel said. I always get into trouble when I think 'man i'm playing so well that if I just go even par over these next 5 holes I'll be in the 70s! Then I'll inevitably double bogey the very next hole and feel pressured to try some miracle shots which turn into shanks and leave me feeling bad about my game even though it was one of my best to date. So forget last hole and just think about the hole you're on. If it's the #1 handicap hole then expect a bogey perhaps by playing safe and laying up when you need to. You can always make that miracle putt easier than trying to put your 3 wood onto an island green.

[alf174]

  Late4ttime said:

Any thoughts on allowing yourself to exceed your expectations or keeping out the destructive self fulfilling prophecies?

Stay in the moment. I know, easily said, but's important to not think too far ahead of what you're doing right at that moment. This applies to many sports.