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Showing results for tags 'mental'.
Found 6 results
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Hi everyone Just seing if other people suffer with similar problem as I currently have. Originally coming down from a high handicap had such enjoyment and no worries on the course. Got down to handicap of 8 and have set myself goals for the future. All of a sudden have this expectation to play good golf and getting frustrated as not playing near what I should be playing. look forward to playing all week and my game has gone to crap over last few months and handicap blown out to 14. Taking more time over the shots, really concentrating seems to be having the opposite effect on my game :( My current skill level should be around 6~8 handicap but my mind has got in the way. Without getting a labotomy anyone have any ideas lol?
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Hey, guys, I just wanted to hear from some of you guys on how you manage to stay competitive while also managing your nerves and emotions. I absolutely love golf, but I also get wayyy to pissed off whenever things go wrong. It seems like the only time I can play golf and enjoy it is when I absolutely do not care about the outcome, but I love the idea of playing competitive golf. I'm signed up in my local amateur golf tour, and I really want to hear of some tactics you guys use to calm your nerves and be "mentally tough" so-to-speak. That is, how do you find the balance between wanting/expecting to play well and just having fun? Thanks guys!
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In the spirit of the new year, resolutions and all that BS, I submit to you a new year's resolution that works, not only for golf, but for ones whole life. Most people have heard of mindfulness, but most of those who have heard of it don't know what it is. Not really. So, this is my contribution to TST and the wider golf universe: Sit down, and be quiet. Follow your breath. Much of the game of golf is played in what is called the most important six inches--between the ears. Everyone has heard of "being in the moment." Most of us have experienced being in the moment, if not for long. Unfortunately that experience is not only fleeting, but seemingly out of the player's control. Unfortunately, too, this seems to most as mystical, hippie stuff. I'm a Buddhist. I've experienced this reaction many times when I explain to people about meditation and mindfulness. You don't have to sit on the floor in a full lotus position, light incense and candles, and chant. Meditation is nearly as easy to do as falling asleep, and often times that's exactly what happens. (Listening to someone snore while everyone else is meditating is interesting, to say the least.) It doesn't take long--20 minutes is perfect--and doesn't take any special talent or equipment. The results, however, are priceless. That quotation is from an article in Psychology Today in 2013 by Michael Bader. None of this happens without one thing: meditation. It's a practice that takes time and effort, self-disclipline to do it, and a desire to get better. There are more benefits to meditation and can be or need to be listed here, but I'll guarantee you will benefit in more ways than you can know now. The only thing you have to believe about meditiation is it works. You have to believe it long enough to prove it to yourself, and it will in time. About three months. If you sit for twenty minutes, and bring your mind back to your breath every time it wanders away, do this many, many times, for 90 days, you will experience something magical. Mindfulness meditation--called Vipassana in my school--is magical. It changes the mind. I could give you scientific studies, or say how this is 2600 years old and has worked for millions of people, but the proof is in your own mind. When it comes to focusing, relaxing, awareness, only vipassana trains the mind to be completely aware of both mind and body. You don't need a coach. You only need to do it. Sit, close your eyes, focus on your breathing. Pick a point--the tip of the nose, the tip of your upper lip, the belly--and concentrate on it as your breath goes in and out. Count breaths, five at first or ten in and out, then up to ten breaths. Start over. This is a good way for the beginner--or anyone doing it, actually--to focus. Tell your mind to relax, settle down. Focus on the breath. The mind will wander away. It does this. That inner voice is not connected to you. Let it go. When it wanders off again, note it. Just see it for what it is, without any judgement of doing it right or wrong. Let it go and go back to your breath. Note it, and let it go. That's all there is. There is nothing else to do. If you want to, make this a New Year's resolution. Just sit for twenty minutes. Until the end of March. Then, again at the end of April, check yourself. It takes awhile for the changes to take place and even longer before you're aware something has happened. People will think you're different. You smile more. Stuff that used to bother you a lot doesn't seem to get to you. Life seems easier. This is the benefit, and the only way to get into that zone, where you "see the ball, be the ball." Yes, it seems mystical and Eastern and weird, but it's about as scientific as one can get. It works for everyone who tries it. It is amazing, and easier than dieting and exercise as a resolution to keep. Just sit and breathe. Trust me, it will make 2017 better. Namasakan, and happy new year. Don--who was once called Ajahn Gatasaro. :)
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Like me, does this sound like you? No matter how hard you work on your game you never see any significant improvement that lasts? You get anxious over shots because you may blade one over the green or miss a three footer? You feel helpless which leads to anger, then self hatred because you feel like a failure? Other family members can't understand why you get so upset over a game that you're supposed to enjoy? Many of you have probably seen this: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/what-is-he-thinking/200904/frustrated-golfer-syndrome-causes-and-cures I really struggle with this. I'm not one to throw clubs or throw a tantrum, but I do get enraged and after 2 or 3 bad holes during a round, usually when I hit a shot that I couldn't hit on the range even if I tried. My biggest problem is putting. I know I have a good stroke (I can drain 50-75% of 12 footers in my garage all day long), but when I'm over a three footer on the course I feel like I'm putting on a knife's edge that will cause the ball to miss unless I hit it right along the edge; like there's an invisible wall blocking the hole. Of course, I get more upset when I see my friends routinely drain 15-20 footers. My head is really preventing me from playing at the level I know I'm capable of. If you've been there and have discovered something that's helped you, I'd love to hear from you. Thanks.
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Hi, I'd like to hear from people who have fallen into this pattern. I've been playing for 30+ yrs. I practice usually twice/week for an hour or so and play once/week on the weekends. I've taken lessons over the past few years from three different teaching pros (several with each pro). I seem to get a bit better for a round or two (high 70s), then everything seems to go haywire and I can't seem to hit the ball solid anymore and I start shooting upper 80s or worse (my short game especially putting isn't good enough to salvage days of bad ball striking despite practicing that as well). Sometimes my putter feels like I'm holding a snake the way it wanders around during my stroke (when I saw Els six putt from 4' I feel like saying "welcome to my world.") I feel like I should be improving considering all the effort I put in. It's very frustrating to have a session with a pro and hit it pretty solid, then 1-2 weeks later can't hit it to save my life. I feel like my problem is I want it (improve, shoot low scores) too badly, but I haven't found anything that works. Thanks for listening. - Ed.
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A missed putt always means at least one more stroke. For me at least, some misses are more mentally injurious than others. I would select the lip out on the high side. For me, the putt looks like it is tracking well, it has the proper speed, my read was spot on, it is going to fall into the hole side door ... and ... then ... gravity deals me a losing hand. Anyone else? Or is a miss a miss for everyone else?
