Need help with the mental game

[saevel25]

5 minutes ago, dave s said:

Reading your post sounded to me like you show up to a course without a plan and just 'wing it.'  On the way to a familiar a course, I'm thinking about where birdies and pars can be had, holes that don't setup well for me and having a plan to limit damage.

A pretty good quote a military strategist,

Quote

“No battle plan,” he sagely noted, “survives contact with the enemy.”

If the enemy is the course then no plan survives the course. I think in golf this is absolutely true. You can go in thinking, "I am going to bride this hole, par that one, survive that one." Then you go out and double bogey the easiest hole and birdie the hardest. 

This is why I think LSW is such a great asset because it gives you a great visual on how to manage your way around the course by giving you a tool that is used with each shot at hand with the ultimate goal of getting the ball closer to the hole on each shot. 

I never look at a course and thing, this stretch I should be this or that. I look at each shot and know that with 80% of my shots I should be in this area of the course and this distance away from the hole. I know 20% of the time I might not be in the a good place but I will not be dead (water, OB, ect...)

 

 

[Big Lex]

I know you didn't start the thread to have your premise questioned. You want help with the mental game, not someone questioning whether or not that is really the problem. But it's tough NOT to scrutinize the question. That said, I still think you have the possibility of learning more by questioning your premise and really testing yourself first. At risk of sounding like a broken record and rehashing what's already been said, I want to offer one more suggestion.

I think another thing you could do is make about 100 swings with one of those on-the-club analyzers. Swingtalk or Swingsmart or ThreeBays or whatever. Twenty swings a day for 5 days straight. No hitting a ball, so that results and outcome and on-course issues are non-existent.

Without getting too much into specifics, I think mental things are extremely important to being a good golfer. But the problem is that it is so easy to be fooled or distracted by the game that you can get a warped sense of what your game really is.

It's easy to have a bad round in the 90s today and lament that last week you shot 78; but unless you are extremely precise in looking at the two rounds, you can't be sure how much different your ball striking was in those two days. Maybe the day you shot 78, your bad shots just happened to be harmless ones, whereas on the 90s day, the bad ones cost you....and the same thing can happen with good strikes. On some days, your best strikes lead to bad results (wrong club, wrong aim, bad luck, etc.).

The bottom line is, if the "mental game" is really your problem, then by definition your "physical" game must be sound. Prove that to yourself. Prove it, prospectively, by testing, not by relying on your memories or impressions of the past. For good golfers, swings on a swing analyzer should all be pretty much the same. Like REALLY consistent. And you can't judge this on 5 swings. You need many, many, many swings, approximating a month or so of golf. And don't judge for yourself, submit your results for peer review.

I probably sound like a broken record but I think that your physical game is probably less grooved than you think it is.

Edited April 5, 2016 by Big Lex

[MrQster]

On 3/31/2016 at 5:50 AM, Pete said:

I think you should post a Member Swing thread as the guys suggest as there will no doubt be improvements to be made that will reduce the likelihood of you getting the 'yip'.

If you are like me (sounds likely) you are focused more on hitting the shot you want to when playing with strangers, compared to focusing on results when playing with regular playing partners. I think it is an ego thing where. You want to impress the new players and you think only of hitting a great shot rather then worrying about hitting bad shots or the OB right, water left etc when you really want to win.

I am very nervous teeing off in the club championship because the result is so important to me. But if there were 100 people watching that first tee shot, I would be very confident that I would stripe it down the middle.

Does that sound familiar?

Definitely sounds familiar, it's seems to be the ego thing.

I usually played my worse games when I really want to win and especially when there's a bet is on the line, mind you that our bets are quite small (just a few bucks for fun, we're not gamblers), but I just wanted to win so badly (again, ego thing) that caused my game to go from bad to worse.  

However lately I noticed that I played fairly consistent and haven't got the Yip in quite awhile, all because winning the game is not important any more, I'm just happy to be out there golfing (still recovering from golf elbow).

[zero]

I just saw a McIlry interview for The Open, he said and I quote "my game is 75% mental". This from a guy that spends more time in the gym and with trainers, dietitians, etc. than I spend online. For me, it's about being "in the moment" or in "the zone". Nothing matters, just the swing, the end-to-end performance of the swing. Even where the ball goes doesn't matter, just the most perfect swing I can muster. This has helped me in all situations, and my score has definitely improved. When my mind is busy, my game sucks, period. The mind is part of the body, they are one system.

Edited July 13, 2016 by zero

[Piz]

You are an optimist: you regard your best performances as average and your average performances as sub par.  You are skilled enough to wonder why you do not exhibit your skill with greater consistency.  I do not know anyone who gives a rat's ass about the game who has not expressed the same, or similar, thoughts.  Golf is, or can be, a harsh mistress.  There are no decimals.  You cannot lip out and say "give me a 4 and a half".  The better you get...the more difficult it is to get better.  You need help with the mental side?  I hear you brother...split that fairway, stick that pin, and jar that putt!  If that doesn't work...try something else...knitting perhaps...although I wouldn't recommend it...seems like way tedious despite the people who are into it seeming like really calm...on the surface...who knows what they are really thinking.  I don't know what the knitting equivalent of missing a two foot putt would be; but it probably isn't pleasant.  Anyway...your woes are familiar.  Try not keeping score.  If anyone needs to know...they can keep it their damned self and fill you in later(and you know they will).  It is quite possible you are suffering from ASA (aggregate score anxiety) and the only known cure is to forget about it and play golf instead...at night...with one club...clothed...and unafraid.

[DutchLeon]

@MrQster, I'm still a beginner and very inconsistent, but based on what you describe: do you train on tempo at all? A really good coach told me that always swinging in the same tempo makes a huge difference in consistency. In my opinion, that could be the difference between high 70 and over 100. Especially because you get into a cycle of wanting to do better, often leading to not swinging easy anymore. 

Focusing on tempo is helping me tremendously at the moment. I'm not talking about swing speed, but swing tempo!

[MrQster]

7 hours ago, zero said:

I just saw a McIlry interview for The Open, he said and I quote "my game is 75% mental". This from a guy that spends more time in the gym and with trainers, dietitians, etc. than I spend online. For me, it's about being "in the moment" or in "the zone". Nothing matters, just the swing, the end-to-end performance of the swing. Even where the ball goes doesn't matter, just the most perfect swing I can muster. This has helped me in all situations, and my score has definitely improved. When my mind is busy, my game sucks, period. The mind is part of the body, they are one system.

Golf is definitely a mental game for me, more for some than others.  And I've seen it in a lot of golfers I played with, some are like me, can shoot 80 one day with GIR on almost every hole, then the next round posting 95, can't hit 1 decent shot. However, I have tried focusing just on the swing in the past, didn't help me, will try again when I get the Yip.  

[MrQster]

6 hours ago, DutchLeon said:

@MrQster, I'm still a beginner and very inconsistent, but based on what you describe: do you train on tempo at all? A really good coach told me that always swinging in the same tempo makes a huge difference in consistency. In my opinion, that could be the difference between high 70 and over 100. Especially because you get into a cycle of wanting to do better, often leading to not swinging easy anymore. 

Focusing on tempo is helping me tremendously at the moment. I'm not talking about swing speed, but swing tempo!

Thanks for your response DutchLeon, but my issue is definitely the mental game. I've developed a fairly consistent tempo swing over 20 years, so it's not the same kind of issue as a beginner.  I don't mean to be rude, but I don't think a beginner would understand this kind of mental issue.  A few years ago, a Pro named Michael Bembenick got a spot in a web.com tour and posted scores of 89 & 103, I'm sure he would normally shoots in the 70s, but the pressure probably gave him the Yip.  Furthermore, I'm not "into the cycle of wanting to do better", I'm quite happy with my game shooting average low to mid 80.  The only time I'm not happy is when I get the Yip and can't hit 1 decent shot.  But thanks for the post anyway, appreciate that you're trying to help.

[DutchLeon]

1 hour ago, MrQster said:

Thanks for your response DutchLeon, but my issue is definitely the mental game. I've developed a fairly consistent tempo swing over 20 years, so it's not the same kind of issue as a beginner.  I don't mean to be rude, but I don't think a beginner would understand this kind of mental issue.  A few years ago, a Pro named Michael Bembenick got a spot in a web.com tour and posted scores of 89 & 103, I'm sure he would normally shoots in the 70s, but the pressure probably gave him the Yip.  Furthermore, I'm not "into the cycle of wanting to do better", I'm quite happy with my game shooting average low to mid 80.  The only time I'm not happy is when I get the Yip and can't hit 1 decent shot.  But thanks for the post anyway, appreciate that you're trying to help.

Let's agree to disagree. I've often been playing with people in the handicap range from 10-15, and when they blow up their mental game it's exactly the same as what happens to me. I don't think it's a different issue for beginners at all. 

I'd fully understand it if your mental game would be the difference between 30 or 40 putts per round at times, but as you describe it I also cannot fathom how such blow ups would be purely mental. On the other hand, obviously, your mental state heavily influences the trust you have in your swing. Giving it a name and debating where it comes from unfortunately doesn't magically make the issue go away. 

Whatever turns out to be the solution, I really hope you'll find it soon!

[zero]

On July 13, 2016 at 9:29 AM, MrQster said:

Golf is definitely a mental game for me, more for some than others.  And I've seen it in a lot of golfers I played with, some are like me, can shoot 80 one day with GIR on almost every hole, then the next round posting 95, can't hit 1 decent shot. However, I have tried focusing just on the swing in the past, didn't help me, will try again when I get the Yip.  

For my, it's the end-to-end swing, but for you it may be something else. Whatever it is that helps your mind clear and be present to now. Not the last shot, nor the next shot, nor the score, nor the person/people with you, etc. Have you checked out any sports psychology books?

[DrvFrShow]

I find that I take the game way too seriously when I'm playing. I need to relax more. Smell the flowers. 

See what happens is that when I get too focused, I start caring, and then things start going wrong. Then I get mad. When that happens, I stop having fun. Then you need to cover your ears. 

But my new playing partner has it figured out. When this happens she get me focused on something totally unrelated to golf. Get me talking about it. Something fun. At this point I could slice a ball into the next fairway and think "that's golf." When I'm relaxed and don't care I hit my best shots. Golf becomes fun, and I still don't care because I'm thinking about other things.

Then we do stupid things like on the water hazard par 3 hole on the back 9: closest to the pin contest for the invisible Lamborghini that's floating in the water hazard.

I'm not worried too much about what happens with my hips as far as hip turn and angles and all that crap. I just need to focus on swing tempo. I know my best tempo is around 2.9:1. That's where the swing analyzers measured it. If I get too quick it falls apart. If I get too slow it falls apart. Tempo affects timing of everything. If the tempo is off, compensations get introduced and well... things go to hell. 

[zero]

I think there are some common things pros do we can use, there must be a cheat-sheet somewhere. i.e Jason Day before every shot: closes eyes, deep breath, etc. Positive thinking, shot visualization, breathing, intermediate target, etc.