Mental Game

[Dr. Griefo]

Hey everyone,

Any good tips or sources for not letting someone ruin your game?  I shot in 102 last night (ussually in the low 80's) because I let someone get under my skin.  Here's my story...

A guy joined our threesome last night that would just not shut up.  Either he was blabbing while we were hitting, he YELLED "put it in the cup" on one of the guys backswings on his putt, etc.  He finally stopped after we reminded him, a little less politely each time.

What really got me was that guy never stopped his own negative "self-talk."  Any shot he made, even if it was decent wasn't good enough.  And he talked and talked to himself about how bad of a shot it was.  As the game wore on, he got more and more frenzied and when I would pull up to my ball, he would jump out of the cart, grabs some clubs and storm ahead in front of us and hit his ball.  Then there was the "don't shank it like I did" comments before someone else would hit, "Don't top it" and finally, golf tips.  We stopped those in a hurry but by this point I wanted the round over, done and shot bad, putted worse.

So here's the point to my long-winded story.  I apologized to a a group in front of us after this idiot was babbling while waiting for them on the tee box and one of the guys said to me, no worries, a bomb could go off while he was lining up and hitting and he wouldn't notice.  I want to be this guy.  Any tips, ideas on how to get there?

[saevel25]

Just ignore everything around you. Really its just concentration at the shot at hand. I don't know what to say else, its really something you just have to get use to.

[inthecup]

Was his name Gary?  I know him!

[baseballfrk8998]

Haha this kind of stuff doesn't bother me at all.. Guess I'm different than most people.. I'd say just to ignore him but I know that you would have done that already if possible. Just try locking in on your shot and focusing solely on it. That should help.

[Dr. Griefo]

No his name wasn't Gary.  I think there are a lot of "Gary's" out there ha ha (apologies to persons named Gary who are not obnoxious on the course). I would like to say that this guy was the exception but it seems like I ussually wind up with a guy like this in tournaments (curse of being a higher handicapper is being paired with persons who have no clue about golf etiquette (sp) and they really throw me off.  People that annoy me on the course are always going to exist and it's not them, it's me.  I need to figure a way to ignore this but right now, I'm just at the point where I'm comfortable with my swing and don't think about it until a tipster comes in.  I'm usually ok when someone is chatting while I'm hitting but this guy was an exception, he was yelling like we were at a football game,all the time.  The walking in front of us to his ball when we were lining up to hit was hard to ignore.  I should golf with this guy more because if I learn to play through this nonsense I could play through anything.

[ND Fan]

Oh Hell no!!

You really want to subject yourself to that?

Pass I wouldn't play with him any more, life is too short to worry about people like this, leave em behind and play with decent people.  Sad thing is the guy probably just doesn't know any better.  Anyone who says this wouldn't bother them is either a lier or a hack that just doesn't care.  I care when I am playing, most guys do.

[LfSideStrngSide]

I second the statement from ND FAN . Which is hard for me to stomach!

Originally Posted by ND Fan

Oh Hell no!!

You really want to subject yourself to that?

Pass I wouldn't play with him any more, life is too short to worry about people like this, leave em behind and play with decent people.  Sad thing is the guy probably just doesn't know any better.  Anyone who says this wouldn't bother them is either a lier or a hack that just doesn't care.  I care when I am playing, most guys do.

[THR3E]

Make a solid preshot routine as soon as your routine starts walk into a "bubble" the size of your preshot routine. feel as though your bubble blocks everything else out except for the ball and the single minded pursuit of your target, when you hit the ball your bubble disappears and you can go on being annoyed by "gary"  But as soon as you step into the bubble block everything out. it'll do wonders...

[Dr. Griefo]

Thanks, I think I can do the bubble and will try it with the next annoying partner out there.  Thanks!

[IceDave]

Would recommend Zen golf. And the chapter called something like You are not your thoughts. Some situations tend to be tougher than others. Just be happy you dont have to spend more time with that person. Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

[Mikeyg]

Dodge those types of people!!! I go out to play golf for enjoyment, competition and to enjoy the people who are playing the game around me. If there is an idiot in your four it can be a right pain in the arse, I would go home pissed and take a week of because of it. I like playing with passionate fun people who love playing and enjoy good company. I was playing once and this idiot whispered in my ear before the 17th tee "don't shank it" and he kept on whispering "shank, shank, shank" after the shot I warned him if he does that again I will punch him in the nose, so he took up the challenge on the 18th and I dropped him.

After that he never did it again, lesson learnt. However this is not the best way to deal with these types so what is?

[RyderJ]

Who are you...Bob Barker?

[Dr. Griefo]

Thanks guys, zen or punch the guy out, that's two opposite ends of the spectrum.  Is there a both option ;-)  I'll try the zen and the bubble.  Yesterday I was able to ignore idle banter of a group waiting at the tee behind us waiting on an overcrowded course with a lazy marshall not speeding up play.

[Gioguy21]

i had the same situation with a guy i played with the other day after work. he didn't stop talking about two things. 1) texas and 2) all the things in life he was good, sorry, GREAT at. we got to the 18th hole and it's a two tiered green, pin was on the lower front portion of the green. not only did he tell me that he was going to hit his ball into the hill to get it to roll back, but as he's hitting it he goes, 'ya know, b/c i'm good at this shot...see?' i wanted to deck him. when all was said and done i was 7 over thru 9. (normally high 70's, low 80's...) i asked this same question to a friend of mine and he had a response, 'tell him to play through'...

[Tomboys]

Originally Posted by Gioguy21

i asked this same question to a friend of mine and he had a response, 'tell him to play through'...

You have a wise friend.

[baseballfrk8998]

Originally Posted by Gioguy21

i had the same situation with a guy i played with the other day after work. he didn't stop talking about two things. 1) texas and 2) all the things in life he was good, sorry, GREAT at. we got to the 18th hole and it's a two tiered green, pin was on the lower front portion of the green. not only did he tell me that he was going to hit his ball into the hill to get it to roll back, but as he's hitting it he goes, 'ya know, b/c i'm good at this shot...see?' i wanted to deck him. when all was said and done i was 7 over thru 9. (normally high 70's, low 80's...) i asked this same question to a friend of mine and he had a response, 'tell him to play through'...

So did he hit the hill of the green and get it to roll back?!?

[Inebriated]

Gotta tune it out. I can tune out pretty well and just resume conversation, but with a small chunk of it missing. A good way to deal with it is to think of how it's positive for you. If he's going on about sucking it up, then you know he isn't confident, and should be able to beat him! Think of it as him defeating himself.

[Gioguy21]

Originally Posted by baseballfrk8998

So did he hit the hill of the green and get it to roll back?!?

he tried...it came back but it rolled back past the hole towards him to about 20 feet. he would've done better just chipping/putting it to the hole...