Confidence

[Wanzo]

 

I ran ran across this story about James Hahn's last thought before swinging. 

http://thebiglead.com/2016/09/01/james-hahn-tells-himself-hes-the-best-golfer-in-the-world-before-every-tee-shot/

 

(Apologize if this video/story has been posted, I did a quick search and didn't see it.)

This got me thinking about confidence and I've always been intrigued by how confidence seems to breed success.  I grew up with a guy who is now one of the best amateurs in our state and anytime he played he exuded confidence.  One time he was talking about you could put a tee shot anywhere on the first hole of our course and he would make birdie (short par 5), but I think he honestly believed that and it manifested itself a lot.  

I thought of how @iacas said "enjoy pressure". 

 

And how bob Rotella talks about putting and if you make a putt you should think "I'm on a roll and can't miss", and if you miss, the next time you putt you are thinking "I'm due"  and have it both ways.

i need more of that in my game.  Not to be a jerk outwardly, but have a confidence and look forward to competing.

(and James Hahn's swing thought is pretty funny)

 

[JonMA1]

I'm not confident - at least in my full swing - unless I've been playing well for a sustained period of time. That might be because I'm still not a good player. 

Perhaps once you get to a certain level of skill, you can have a bad round and know that it was just that - a bad round. For me, it's kind of the opposite. I now understand that a good round of golf shows my potential, not a change in my average game.

[JxQx]

It's no surprise to me really, confidence/self belief is very important in most things in life. It seems quite evident especially in golf where players constantly think of what not to do instead of focusing on what they should/are gonna do. The prime example is the though of "don't hit it over there" which typically leads to either a shot in said direction or a miss the complete opposite way. 

[chilepepper]

It's something I struggle with from time to time. Some days it's tough not to get discouraged. But.....if I get discouraged I get tense, I try hero shot to try and make up for bad holes.....all things that are game killers. 

  I occasionally play with some hot heads that really have a game. They also have a temper on bad shots, bad to them. Some people would avoid such players. I find it a) amusing and b) it tunes my attitude up. 

[Kalnoky]

It's probably useful to think of the feelings that erode confidence.

Stress, panic, or anger as have the same effect(s). Once the Cortisol sets into your bloodstream, your field of vision narrows, and you lose self-awareness, including the ability to self-diagnose a swing problem. This is an especially bad downward spiral for us bogie golfers.

The antidote is preparedness. In my professional career I like to say that preparedness and nervousness are inversely correlated. The more prepared, the more confident. 

 

[jkelley9]

Confidence is just a neurological way to push out a lot of negative things that can cramp up your game (any sport/competition). That my belief anyways. 

Strangely for me, in almost EVERYTHING I do I enjoy pressure. I work in a relatively high stress job with a lot of responsibility to boot. But when it comes to golf, that pressure is killer! Even when I played tennis and swam I loved pressure. But golf is another animal!

[Patch]

The more confident a person is the more relaxed they are. 

Fear on the other hand, breeds stress, and stress breeds tightness.  

I myself like the pressure golf sometimes affords me. Playing relaxed, while under pressure will  allow the golfer to have fewer mistakes enter their game. A much better combination than playing with fear, while under pressure. 

[Rainmaker]

This is one of my favorite pieces of golf related advice.  Just be confident!  On the one hand, it absolutely helps.  The panic or nervousness you feel over a shot does nothing to help you.  But on the other hand . .it's not like I don't already *know* this.  I'm not sitting here working up a bunch of anxiety because I think it will help me, lol.  I've got the nerves because, statistically speaking, this tee shot has a pretty reasonable chance of being terrible.  

Until a certain skill level is reached, confidence = delusion.  

But the better you get, the more confident you will naturally become and so . .wa-la . .confidence must be key.  

[paininthenuts]

I think we all know that when we are playing well we know we are going to make a good shot before we strike the ball. However, on a bad day we know we are going to make a bad shot regardless of what we do or change. The thing I don't understand is when I am playing well I have good luck, and when I am playing badly I have crap luck ?

 

Confidence is key in any sport, but having it is easier said than done

Edited December 19, 2016 by paininthenuts

[CarlSpackler]

Your confidence should always be in line with your playing ability. A beginner or high handicap should not feel confident about playing to a green with a carry of 200 yards to clear a hazard. A scratch golfer probably could feel somewhat confident though.

The more I practice, the more confident I feel. 

[Hatchman]

Confidence when playing really helps.  Bolstering ones confidence while playing is also beneficial.   Self assessment of ones ability vs being overconfident can be a problem, in any sport.  Set many on the bench who didn't understand or realize this.  

[Club Rat]

Confidence = See it, Feel it, Do it.....

Unless your facing a real dilemma. Can you feel his pain?   

[bkuehn1952]

My confidence level rises and falls.  When playing well, it is easy to be confident. It takes strong self-belief to fail repeatedly and still remain confident of success.

 

[Divotmaker77]

Ask any really good golfer and most if not all will tell you they really do not think about much when they play.  By that, they are not overanalyzing their swings, etc. while playing.  They just see the shot and hit it.   Will not always guarantee a great round but the less you think about the better.  I think that in itself is a form of confidence.