McKee

Pitching (standard)- Ball position in the middle of your stance and always end up facing the target. This may feel strange for a short shot but it really works, just takes some getting used to. If you don't turn your hips and face the target the club wants to bottom out in the back of your stance. As a result you are either forced to manipulate your hands and hold your release off so you don't hit it fat, or, you just start putting the ball farther and farther back in you stance. I think back of the stance and firm wrists are good for a buried lie in the rough but not a nice tight lie in the fairway. Hands and wrists with no tension will hold up well under pressure - turning the hips and facing the target helps the club come in shallow so the worst you can do is a little thin or fat. I have seen it way too many times - firm wrist, hinge and hold, no hip turn, CHUNK.

Logan, I too had this problem and am a recovering choker who experienced a substantial amount of tournament anxiety. Unfortunately I didn't have much guidance during my suffering so it took me a long time before I started to perform well in tournaments. I read a lot of mental game books but no amount of forced focus, positive thinking or relaxation could keep me from making a bad move. What finally began to help was when I decided to learn from my mistakes rather than reject them. Instead of trying to erase them from my memory and rush to the next shot with some hope for instant gratification, I would slow down and try to understand what just happened - physically. This was not easy to do when the rest of your group wants to get on with their game and you're hitting the ball sideways and scanning the rough for anything white. It took a lot of effort to not let the myriad of emotions keep me from understanding what I do wrong - physically - under pressure. The only thing mental about this approach was that I was coming to terms with my mistakes and giving bad shots the same positive value as good ones. Other than that I just became consumed with how my body moved differently in performance than it did in practice. I didn't trust the driving range (lying range) any more so I used tournaments to learn about my swing. Two tournaments a year gave me enough information to keep me busy and considering the cost verses what I learned it was a very reasonably priced lesson. Over time this method of analysis during performance gradually made me less result oriented and ultimately more focused and less afraid.

I don't know if it rains much where you live but here in Los Angeles we might only get a couple of really hard days per season. This is a great opportunity to dust off the rain gear and see if I can play with pants over my pants and a noisy jacket over my sweater. For me, who is accustomed to wearing shorts and a shirt, the many layers make it tough. Then there are the wet gloves which are amazing, if your used to wearing two gloves. I think the last time I topped a ball was the first time I wore those things. Don't feel bad, playing in the rain is not easy - it can cause some seriously errant shots.