Preparing Mentally For first Tournament

[johnclayton1982]

Hi All,

Sandtrap has really helped me go from a 130 player to the low 80s, occasionally high 70s player.  For that, I am very thankful, especially the "Hit Down on Your Driver" thread which was incredibly helpful to me in figuring out my driver.

I thought I'd seek the group's wisdom here.  I'm playing in my first tournament in mid-February.  I'm playing my club's "opening" (<- we can play year round here in south louisiana) tournament.  The tournament starts on Friday afternoon with a stroke play 18, then 18 saturday morning, and then match play (top 8) saturday afternoon and sunday Am only 9 holes / match.

First, I've never played match play before, other than skins.  If I make it, is there anything I need to know strategy wise to adopt my game to this?

Second, I'm already feeling pretty nervous about this.  Any tips to help calm down?  I've started trying to imagine hitting that first iron off the tee while on the range, but I know I will have my heart pounding on that first tee of the event.  I'm starting on the par 3 3rd hole (shotgun start), which is a short par 3 with water on the left and a very deep, grassy rough bowl on the right, bunker behind the green.  Short is fine (fairway), left, right or long is very, very tough up and down.  I usually hit 7, but thinking about hitting 8 because I can be short and still probably par (you can put from the short front).  Then again, I am thinking about hitting 8 but maybe go with what got you there and hit 7?  Wondering how to think about calming down to hit that shot and generally trying to play my best in a tournament setting.  Luckily, I score my rounds pretty harshly rules-wise, but anything anyone could say about the mental approach would be great.  It is going to be tough to play for the first time not just my buddies out for a stroll.

Finally, I've never had to play this much golf before.  What can I expect in terms of body soreness / stiffness and something I might be able to do at home or in between rounds to help.  I'm a decent athlete (late 20s, used to play college tennis) but if I get to match play I will have to walk something like 12 miles in two days (I play worse with a cart for some reason).  Any tips for stuff to eat / not eat or ice / not ice to think about during the event?

I am in the "mid-handicap" flight, which is gross score between 10 and 20 handicap.  I'm already nervous and it is a month away.

Thanks,

John

[Cracker24]

With the tournament a month away, you have plenty of time to prepare, both mentally and physically. If you are working on any swing mechanics and changes at the moment, then i would try to wrap those up in the next couple of weeks, so you are going into the tournament trusting your swing and you don't have 15 swing thoughts in your head. The last thing you want is to be on the range, an hour before you are supposed to tee off, trying to find something out there(believe me, in one of my weaker moments, i may have made a frantic call to my coach, 30 minutes before our club championship final ).

Regarding the first tee shot (or 3rd), the most important thing to remember, and i'm sure you've heard this before, is that, chances are, your playing partners are going to be just as nervous as you will be. Say you are teeing off last in the group, will you really be watching intently, judging the other players? No, the only thing on your mind, and theirs, will be your/their own shot. During the week before, if you have time in the evenings, try and head out and play the course a few times, and specifically on the 3rd hole, try and put yourself under pressure and pretend that it is that first shot of the day. Regarding club selection, don't bother with that, there are so many outside variable which could affect your decision e.g wind, pin position, cold morning, how your hitting it etc.

Lastly, body stiffness, in the first round you'll probably be so jacked up on the adrenaline from the nerves you'll be fine, just remember to stretch afterwards, unless if you feel quite sore the evening before the matchplay, i doubt you should need to bother with ice.

Hope that helps.

[zipazoid]

Back when I played a lot of events, my preparation was, for the two weeks leading up to the event I would play and/or practice every day, usually 9 holes (cuz I had a regular job), followed by a bucket of balls - hitting balls after a round is an excellent way to work on what was wrong during the round.

But I made sure I spent at least a half hour on the putting green every day. I would do my 'pushups' as my buddy Paul used to call it, by holing 50 four-footers.Just holing four-footers, listening to the sound the ball made going into the hole, becoming bulletproof with those.

This was for a couple of reasons. One, positive reinforcement. Two, it's good practice! Three, you will likely have at least a half dozen of those putts during the round, and it's one thing to mis-hit a drive or skull an iron or whatever. Everyone misses shots. But you gotta make those four-footers. Nothing will kill your confidence quicker than yakking a couple of those early in a round.

Then two days before the tournament I wouldn't hit any more full shots or play cuz I didn't want to over-prepare & be stale. Two days off, after playing two weeks straight, gave my body the rest it needed & had the muscle memory built up from all the practice. But I would still hit those four-footers.

Especially if you're playing in a Match Play tournament. Want to slowly deflate your opponent? Keep knocking those short ones in. It will get in his head & have him think whenever you knock one tight that he's lost another hole.

And like Cracker said, for the couple weeks leading up to the event, don't be 'working on' anything. Play golf, play the course...don't be trying to ingrain some kind of move or whatever. Work on strategy, visualization, execution. Get your pre-shot routine honed. Tunnel vision.

Good luck!

[zipazoid]

Quote:

Any tips to help calm down?

Sorry, I missed that the first time I read.

In pressure situations we tend to speed everything up. In fact, I got what I call my "tournament swing", which is my regular swing done too quickly. I don't finish the backswing, I swing too hard and too fast. And everything else speeds up too - I stalk & stomp about, I damn near hyperventilate.

So two thing suggestions. Breathe, and slooooow down. I don't mean the swing, I mean everything. Walk slow. Move slow. Saunter about...no quick movements. That will transfer to your swing.

Re breathing, it's amazing how we forget to freekin' breathe in tight situations. Take deep breaths. Close your eyes for a few seconds & concentrate on the breath (I learned this from yoga)...in thru the nose, out thru the mouth. Get that oxygen flowing thru your muscles.

[awmgolfer]

Aside from the great advice above, eat a couple bananas before you play and have one or two with you during the match. Bananas contain natural beta blockers which help with your nerves. I used to always eat a couple of bananas before a recital in college and it really does help, doesn't completely eliminate them but does help. Also, avoid caffeine, it definitely does not help settle your nerves.

[Beachcomber]

The big thing I would do when I played tournaments regularly, and even find myself doing today is ensure that my mind was clear of everything - no swing thoughts - not thinking of anything - clear your mind.

So you get your distance...

You pick your club...

I stand about 5yds behind the ball... Kind of like a Kegan Bradley pre-shot routine where he picks his line.

But instead of just picking a line... I actually pick a visual target - along that line.  Lets say that I pick my line - and way behind the green is a house on a hill... I will just envision that house in my brain.

This visual target could be 20 to 30ft in the air above that target - pick a mountain, tree, building, telephone pole, cloud in the sky - whatever.  And I just think about that image in my brain as I address the ball, and even when I pull the trigger and make the swing.  I only think of that image.

This keeps me from having negative thoughts race into my brain as I go to hit the shot.  I literally have had negative swing thoughts race into my brain at the top of my swing.  And doing this routine helps prevent that.

[johnclayton1982]

Thank you all very much for the replies and help.  I tried the routine and it seemed to *really* help with the driver and not being confused by mis-aligned tee boxes.  Using this method I hit the fairway for the first time (out of like 100 tries) on our hole 11, which has a tee box that is deceptively pointed right - directly into a lake.  I usually over compensate, aim too far left, then slice the ball into either the lake or the rough by the lake.  However, in picking out a tree in the distance up the cetner of the fairway and watching nothing else, I hit right to it.

I do not have a putting routine.  Does anyone have one that works they can share?  I'm a good putter and I practice it alot, but I don't really have a "routine".  Typically I look from behind the hole, line up the line on my ball, have another look from behind the ball to confirm, take two or three practice strokes for distance, then step up to hit, but nothing set in stone.

i'm trying to get mentally ready but i still am feeling pretty nervous.  I tried to "simulate" a tournament pressure in a round with my friends and it didn't feel all that different so we'll see what happens.  I am very worried given my starting hole - anything left, right or long is very tough to recover from, although short is easy.  One of my buddies who is a 3 handicap and plays in these things told me to consider hitting something really short off the tee and make sure I don't do worse than bogey.  Not sure about not being aggressive, although I could totally see myself being charged up with adreneline and hitting my usual miss - which is a line drive hook that starts straight and moves right to left - and end up right in the water.  I played the hole with gap wedge (puts me about 35 yards short of the green very reliably) 6 times and had 4 par and 2 bogey so maybe there is something to it.  Then again I am probably sounding like a mental case and psyching myself out by doing this much prep / thinking about the first shot.  Right after my first hole is a short par 4 that I can dominate (I can nearly drive the green on it) so I should get off to a good start.

Thanks again for the help.

[GaijinGolfer]

I think the best thing that you can do to prepare mentally is to not go into it expecting to win.  If you do, its just going to put way too much pressure on yourself.  IMO, you should just treat it like any other round.  Go out there, have fun, play the best you can with the swing that you have that day and whatever happens, happens.

Beyond that, work on your short game and putting as much as you can.

[Tomboys]

Originally Posted by johnclayton1982

Thank you all very much for the replies and help.  I tried the routine and it seemed to *really* help with the driver and not being confused by mis-aligned tee boxes.  Using this method I hit the fairway for the first time (out of like 100 tries) on our hole 11, which has a tee box that is deceptively pointed right - directly into a lake.  I usually over compensate, aim too far left, then slice the ball into either the lake or the rough by the lake.  However, in picking out a tree in the distance up the cetner of the fairway and watching nothing else, I hit right to it.

I discovered the same thing; pick a target in the distance and aim for that.  When I tell myself, "There's the tree (or whatever the target is), hit it there", the results tend to be ok more often than not.  However, if I tell myself, "There's the tree, hit it there because I don't want to hit it in the water.", the last thought in my mind is water which is exactly where my ball ends up a majority of the time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnclayton1982

I do not have a putting routine.  Does anyone have one that works they can share?  I'm a good putter and I practice it alot, but I don't really have a "routine".  Typically I look from behind the hole, line up the line on my ball, have another look from behind the ball to confirm, take two or three practice strokes for distance, then step up to hit, but nothing set in stone.

Umm, what you just wrote sounds like a putting routine to me.  You may not be conscious of it (the routine) when you do it, sort of like when we can't remember if we closed the garage door even though we did.  But, overall, you say you're a good putter and you already practice a lot.  So, IMO, you don't need to fix what doesn't appear to be broken.

Originally Posted by johnclayton1982

i'm trying to get mentally ready but i still am feeling pretty nervous.  I tried to "simulate" a tournament pressure in a round with my friends and it didn't feel all that different so we'll see what happens.  I am very worried given my starting hole - anything left, right or long is very tough to recover from, although short is easy.  One of my buddies who is a 3 handicap and plays in these things told me to consider hitting something really short off the tee and make sure I don't do worse than bogey.  Not sure about not being aggressive, although I could totally see myself being charged up with adreneline and hitting my usual miss - which is a line drive hook that starts straight and moves right to left - and end up right in the water.  I played the hole with gap wedge (puts me about 35 yards short of the green very reliably) 6 times and had 4 par and 2 bogey so maybe there is something to it.  Then again I am probably sounding like a mental case and psyching myself out by doing this much prep / thinking about the first shot.  Right after my first hole is a short par 4 that I can dominate (I can nearly drive the green on it) so I should get off to a good start.

Thanks again for the help.

Feeling nervous doesn't always equate to being mentally unprepared.  Given that you're playing in your very first tournament, I would be concerned if you weren't nervous.  Now, if this nervousness is due to you being scared to hit a driver or scared to putt a ball, then that's a different story.  It's difficult to simulate tournament pressure because pressure comes from within.  No matter how hard you try, your mind knows the difference, so, again, don't get too wrapped up in the inability to "up" the pressure you feel during these "fun" rounds.  If anything, try to adopt the same mentality at the tournament as you do during your practice rounds.  We've all witnessed it throughout sports history; the choking of the player/team that "should've" won as well as the come-from-behind win of the player/team that had nothing to lose.  IMO, the key here is to manage the expectations you have for yourself.  By doing that, you should be able to keep the pressure you place on yourself from overwhelming you.

It sounds like you're familiar with the course and will have ample opportunity to play it before the tournament.  I would suggest that you use the next month to script out how you would play each hole.  As far as being aggressive is concerned, there's aggressive/aggressive play and conservative/aggressive play.  The difference is that the former will have an aggressive strategy and an aggressive swing.  The latter adopts a more conservative strategy with an aggressive swing.  Being your first tournament, I would adopt the latter approach.  And, I think that's what your buddy is trying to tell you for that first troublesome hole you'll be up against.

[Hairy Feet]

You will feel nervous, just as the majority of amatuers do on the first tee. You will think people are watching, which many of them will be. But you will be where you want to be... you're not laid in the dentist's chair or sat a your desk at work. Enjoy the adreneline buzz, its what you're there for.

Your expectations of how well you will perform; many people 'expect' to fail the first few times out, or at least hope to not embarrass themselves. First of all, why can't you post a good score? It's the same grass you played off last time, with the same clubs a balls. And as to embarrassing yourself, I've seen Jack Nichlaus totally duff a chip. We all do it, it's no big thing, its part of the game. No one will die, governments won't fall and the sun will still rise the following morning.

Enjoy the game, the company and the buzz.

Good luck.

[inthehole]

Biggest tip I can give is when you approach a shot, don't ask yourself where do I want to hit it, but where do i NOT want to hit it.     Looking at only where you want it to go - you can have blinders on & not see the badness thats  around the landing zone.    Nerves off the first tee in golf is like public speaking ... helps me if I slow things down & take alot of deep breaths in preparation for the tee shot (I never take my 100% full power swing off the first tee - just get it out there and on the fairway, and then get your game face on & play golf).

[WUTiger]

If you have any "problem" holes on the course, go out on a day when it's not too crowded and spend extra time on these holes. Many people are more relaxed during a practice round, and you can try various tee shots (driver vs. 3W), or variations on approaches. I find that some good drives or successful  approaches during a practice round can have "positive imaging" benefits later on when I play for real.

Above all, practice your pre-shot routine, and stick with your routine during the tournament. A solid routine cuts down on distracting mental clutter as you get ready to hit.

[johnclayton1982]

OK, played the tournament this past weekend.  Did about as well as I expected (87-83) but did not make the match play playoffs, in fact missing by one shot.

The first shot went fine - picked 8 iron and landed about 5 feet short of the green.  Chipped up and putted for bogey.  Usually I am a really solid short game player, but that day I couldn't get up and down to save my life - I was just way too conservative.  Most holes were driver, iron near the green, chip/pitch, two putts, bogey.  First day I was so nervous it was hard to think or do anything else.  I played safe, bogey golf most of the round and grabbed a few pars here and there.  Very safe.

After the first, I was mid-bottom of the scores, so at the start of the 2nd day I had no pressure.  For 2nd day, I loosened up a bit, and had one of my best rounds ever going (-1 through 7 holes) which had people grumbling about my handicap in my group (I guess they didn't see the big board and my 87 the day before...?).  I parred every hole except a very short par 4, where a huge driver (about 280 - the book that added 60 yards to my driver will be subject of an upcoming glowing review on ST - its "Fix your body fix your swing") - LW from 30 yards gave me a 5 footer for birdie which I hit.

Then the wheels came flying off.

The 8th hole is a long par 4 with trees up the right side and water on the left.  The fairway is big, but only opens up past a big bunker on the right side (just infront of the trees) about 260.  The player's play is to take dead aim at the bunker and carry it, cutting off the dogleg around that bunker.  If you can carry that bunker, its a birdie hole.  However, if you can't, or you try and fail, a huge tree branch makes it impossible to advance the ball forward.

So, I'm feeling really good after a bomb off the last tee.  Usually, I hit a punch hybrid off the tee out left, coming to rest about 40 yards short of the bunker and left, then hit a high hybrid at the green.  When I do that, I'm looking at worst bogey, and sometimes I'll get a par or a birdie putt.

I don't know what went through my head.  It was like some insane person had taken over my body.  I said "I'm going to clear this thing".  Stepped up to the tee, and swung *hard* - completely over the top, everything flying everywhere, the usual disaster when you say "I'm hitting this hard" in your head.  Ball comes out with a vicious fade, line drive and buries itself in the bunker.  Uh oh.  So I get up to the ball and usually I would just pitch out low and forward, under the tree branch, to about a 7 iron and eat my probably bogey or double.  However, I don't really know what happened, I remember thinking "i am -1, I can't take a bogey", and pulled my four iron, trying to hit a high long iron out of a bunker over the tree branch to the green.  I caught it really well, but not nearly high enough, a huge THWACK and the ball is running dead right into another fairway.  By the time I get to it I'm now about 240 from the green.  I hit 3 wood, and hit a decent one, slicing out to the right and I think I might get out with double.  When I got up to my ball, it had come to rest directly under a canopy of branches.  I, again, in retrospect, should have just punched out with a gap wedge or something and rolled it up close to the green.  Instead, i was fuming mad at this bad luck (it rested under the one branch by the green!) after hitting a nice 3w and, determined not to loose the stroke, I tried to hit a SW around the branch.  Another sickening THWACK and the ball is rolling behind me again, down the other fairway I had just come from.  This time I was so angry my face was just burning up.  I mumbled "sorry" to the other players already on the green, turned around, trudged after my ball, pulled an 8 iron, and hit it over the green.  After chipping up and putting, I had about a 2 footer.  I was so angry at my triple I didn't go through my routine and just banged it at the hole, expecting it to drop.  It rimmed out!  Now, I'm just so angry I can't think, and luckily hit the 4 footer I had left for a round-killing 8.  Now, here is where it is juts crazy - I remember I was so angry, thinking I was out of it, calling myself every name in the book and... I was +3 heading to the ninth tee!  Thats *still* close to as good as I can play, and if you had told me that morning I'd be +3 after eight I'd've been ecstatic.  However, because of the way it happened, I was so angry with myself.  It is crazy looking back, but felt totally justified in the tournament moment.

Now here is where it gets even more messed up.  The next hole is a par 4, short, a par hole for me, with water about 265 down the fairway.  I don't remember what I was thinking, just that I couldn't wait to hit the ball again.  Pulled driver (what was I doing?) and hit it as hard as I could again, hitting a screaming hook into the fairway bunker to the left.  I cursed (for the first time probably in playing golf) and pulled 5 iron.  What I should have done (and what I would have done in an afternoon round) is pull PW and hit to the fat part of the fairway then hit a second wedge to the green.  A bogey there and I am +4 for the first nine, which is fantastic!  However, all I could think of was that I ruined my -1 start and had to make up for it.  I hit the 5i thin, it hit the bunker lip, flew up in the air, and splashed into the water I had narrowly missed from the tee.  After dropping, I chunked a six iron, hit a nice wedge, and putted out for a 7.

Luckily that was the turn, and we had 30 minutes or so to wait (b/c of the shotgun start, things really piled up on the 10th tee, a par 5, for some reason).  I was able to compose my emotions enough to have a good back nine and shoot 83 for the day.  However, if I had been able to just swallow my pride and take bogey or even double on those two holes I would have advanced.  The thing about it that was really wierd is that has never happened to me on a golf course.  It was like I was seeing red.  At the time, everything made sense, but looking back on it I was just like on tilt or something.  I was so upset and playing so fast it all just fell apart in about 8 minutes.

So, obviously I need to get my mental game better.  I ordered "Golf is not a game of perfect" and have started to read it, and it is a good book.  I am not a player who I would think would have done something like this, but it was like a runaway train - I KNEW what i was doing was wrong, but I was so mad at myself I did it anyway.

Anyway, thought I'd post up what happened.  Playing in another tourrnament in late March and will make it a goal to think about every shot.  It was a good experience and I recommend anyone to try tournament golf.  I thought I was pretty strong mentally but I had a total breakdown on those two holes.

[Beachcomber]

This is why I love golf. It is a true testament to ones self... Having the right mental attitude is critical. And it is so easy to slip up when you're in a pressure situation. They talk about it a lot on Sundays when the tour players are battling their emotions. I think you really gotta slow your breathing down, and get your mind focused on the shot at hand. Have a solid grasp on what kind of shot you're capable of pulling off... And stay inside yourself. Great to see you pulled it together and didn't let it spoil your entire round. Take the positives out of your round. And find ways to replicate those thoughts and routines you were following when you were on cruise control. Forget about the bad. And stick to a pre-shot routine.