I think that everything we do in life can be broken down into two categories. Want To's and Have To's. Fear is a HAVE TO. Think about it. Most people view their job as a HAVE TO. I have to go to work today or I'll loose my job. Or, I have to work to pay the bills. School: I have to get this paper done or I'll fail this course. Golf: I have to make this putt to break 80. The secret is to learn to turn have to's into want to's. Imagine the life we could lead, the success we could enjoy if we wanted to, not had to. Keep your mind working toward what to want to achieve, not what you are trying to avoid. BTW no one really cares how you are playing, they are all worrying about their own games. Make Golf and Life an Adventure in Achievement.
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A mile from the place that golf calls home
EVERYONE feels it. It's how we deal with it that matters. I hunted North Vietnamese snipers for 3 years between 1969 and 1972. THAT is stress It has made me crazy for YEARS that I could handle that and still get wrapped around the axle standing on the first tee in front of a group of complete strangers. I am a student at The Professional Golfer's Career College in CA, and in my final semester. I play with a lot of scratch playing young kids who can hit it a mile (one of my playing buddies routinely drives a 320 yard slightly downhill par 4 with a 3 wood). I am older (56) and do NOT have a "traditional" golf swing due to some major physical limitations. When I started on the quest to find a swing that would allow me to play with my ruptured back and bad knees, I found parts of it. However, I found myself EXTREMELY concerned with what others would think of my form. Never mind the fact that it works for me, and I can usually play with most of these guys provided I get 3 or 4 a side. Never mind the fact that my short game tends to be excellent, and my putting is ALWAYS superb I step up to the first tee and think "I wonder what Joe thinks about my patched together, half back and awkward golf swing". It has plagued me the entire time I have been in school (I have also failed to pass the PAT 3 times because of this). Our "History Of Golf" teacher said something that has helped me tremendously. "We are going to study the greatest players in the game. NONE of them ever worried about what someone else thought about their swing. They found what worked for them and the heck with what anybody thought." Now, when I step on the tee in front of other people (always there are others there), the thought the calms me is "Great players don't give a DAMN what anyone else thinks"... it really helps. My swing trigger has become "Trust" as the last thought in me head before I take the club back.
The other thing that has helped me tremendously is Pia Lindstrom's book "Every Shot Must Have a Purpose". BUY IT. it is worth about 100 times the cover price.
For those of you who have trouble over short putts, I would recommend reading the putting forum stuff, including my humble post about how to learn to putt .
The thought that will help a lot of you standing over a short putt is 'Where else COULD it go, except in the hole????"
Walk in Beauty,
Obi WunPutt
__________________
Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside a dog it's too dark to read... G. Marx
EVERYONE feels it. It's how we deal with it that matters. I hunted North Vietnamese snipers for 3 years between 1969 and 1972. THAT is stress It has made me crazy for YEARS that I could handle that and still get wrapped around the axle standing on the first tee in front of a group of complete strangers. I am a student at The Professional Golfer's Career College in CA, and in my final semester. I play with a lot of scratch playing young kids who can hit it a mile (one of my playing buddies routinely drives a 320 yard slightly downhill par 4 with a 3 wood). I am older (56) and do NOT have a "traditional" golf swing due to some major physical limitations. When I started on the quest to find a swing that would allow me to play with my ruptured back and bad knees, I found parts of it. However, I found myself EXTREMELY concerned with what others would think of my form. Never mind the fact that it works for me, and I can usually play with most of these guys provided I get 3 or 4 a side. Never mind the fact that my short game tends to be excellent, and my putting is ALWAYS superb I step up to the first tee and think "I wonder what Joe thinks about my patched together, half back and awkward golf swing". It has plagued me the entire time I have been in school (I have also failed to pass the PAT 3 times because of this). Our "History Of Golf" teacher said something that has helped me tremendously. "We are going to study the greatest players in the game. NONE of them ever worried about what someone else thought about their swing. They found what worked for them and the heck with what anybody thought." Now, when I step on the tee in front of other people (always there are others there), the thought the calms me is "Great players don't give a DAMN what anyone else thinks"... it really helps. My swing trigger has become "Trust" as the last thought in me head before I take the club back.
The other thing that has helped me tremendously is Pia Lindstrom's book "Every Shot Must Have a Purpose". BUY IT. it is worth about 100 times the cover price.
For those of you who have trouble over short putts, I would recommend reading the putting forum stuff, including my humble post about how to learn to putt .
The thought that will help a lot of you standing over a short putt is 'Where else COULD it go, except in the hole????"
Walk in Beauty,
Obi WunPutt
You are a CREDIT to this FORUM! For your dedication and service to our great country I am truly grateful. Doesn't matter if you stand on your head with your pants down on the first tee . . . YOU ARE A HERO!!!!
The heck with those young bucks! The ball don't care how you look when you hit. Homer gave us the Imperatives. You have given us MUCH MUCH more . . .
For being Honest and sharing your experiences, failures, triumphs and hopes....
Me? I have what I have identified as an anxiety issue. I am a perfectionist. When I get mad, I fear nothing. But....
I sure as hell fear hitting a bad shot - even by myself on the range. No one watching. Just me. Only me. Shank. I suck. Dont do it again. Dammit, dont! Release!!!!! Shank. Push. Pull. Fade. Hook. Top. Fat, Thin.
Point is...I can tell myself to stay in the moment as much as I want. But you, as well as I, know....especially in a tournament...my worst nightmare...isnt topping it. Its worrying.
So....how do we conquer it?
I have the answer. Anyone else?
And lastly - fo FRED. Thank you. My father was in Nam, as my cousin in Baghdad (recon). I appreciate all you have done - no - sacrificed. I truely do. I hope one day we can meet - only for me to say thank you - and a quick hug. And I am not messing. Anytime you want to talk - 302-299-9466. Anytime - night, day, whenever. My name is Patrick, and I owe you -and gentlemen like you - my freedom. Thank you sir. Sincerely.
Last edited by phillygolf : 01-10-2006 at 03:14 AM.
For being Honest and sharing your experiences, failures, triumphs and hopes....
Me? I have what I have identified as an anxiety issue. I am a perfectionist. When I get mad, I fear nothing. But....
I sure as hell fear hitting a bad shot - even by myself on the range. No one watching. Just me. Only me. Shank. I suck. Dont do it again. Dammit, dont! Release!!!!! Shank. Push. Pull. Fade. Hook. Top. Fat, Thin.
Point is...I can tell myself to stay in the moment as much as I want. But you, as well as I, know....especially in a tournament...my worst nightmare...isnt topping it. Its worrying.
So....how do we conquer it?
I have the answer. Anyone else?
And lastly - fo FRED. Thank you. My father was in Nam, as my cousin in Baghdad (recon). I appreciate all you have done - no - sacrificed. I truely do. I hope one day we can meet - only for me to say thank you - and a quick hug. And I am not messing. Anytime you want to talk - 302-299-9466. Anytime - night, day, whenever. My name is Patrick, and I owe you -and gentlemen like you - my freedom. Thank you sir. Sincerely.
Hi Patrick,
Thanks for the thanks. You are WELCOME.
Now, on to the rest. It is CRITICAL that you read Pia Lindstrom's Every Shot Must Have a Purpose. It is also critical that you understand the source of your worry. I suggest (I am not a shrink), that your issue is one of self-image. You are perhaps attaching too much importance to your performance on the golf course or the range. Performance anxiety can cause you to wilt under pressure (sorry couldn't resist)...
Anyway, If you continue to associate your self worth with whether or not you made a good shot or a bad shot, it isn't going to get any better. You need to practice this, and perhaps the way to practice is to practice NOT CARING. Go to the range with a large bucket and play your favorite course in your mind. Hit each shot with full attention and then forget it. Go to a golf course and play 18 holes without every writing down a score. Go to the putting green and hit putts at imaginary holes and don't pay anything more than the slightest attention to whether you even got close or not,.
You are NOT playing for the freedom of the Western World. A week from now no one, including you will ever care what you shot today, or whether you hit one in the water on 15 or whether you topped two drives in a row last Saturday to lose the match by one stroke. NO ONE GIVES A DARN, so why should you?
THE GREAT PLAYERS NEVER WORRY ABOUT WHAT OTHERS THINK OF THEM, THEIR GOLF SWING OR THEIR SCORE. That is the truth of the matter.
YOU ARE NOT YOUR GOLF SWING, AND YOU ARE NOT YOUR GOLF SCORE. You are a human being with feelings and value far beyond whatever happens with that damn little white ball.
Try hitting balls blindfolded. Have a friend tee them up for you on a mat (so there is some consistency of set up) and hit a large bucket without ever getting to look where the ball goes. Get yourself to the point that you not only can't look at it, but can't possibly be concerned with how it looks, because you aren't going to get to look at it anyway. If you can do that for an hour without ever asking where it went, or taking off the blindfold, you will be on your way to getting past this.
EVERYONE, and I mean EVERYONE hits it sideways once in a while. I stood at the 17th green at Pebble Beach and watched Jack Nicklaus hit two chip shots from 5 feet off the green because he muffed the first one so badly it barely left its spot. It wasn't a tough shot, he just screwed it up. Walter Hagen (the BEST match play player EVER) said he expected to hit 7 bad shots in every round. So when he hit one, it was just one of those 7.
EVERYONE plays BAD GOLF. Jimmy Demaret, when told that Jack Nicklaus played great golf said, "Don't be stupid, Jack just plays bad golf better than the rest of us."
Take care and quit attaching WHO you are to WHAT your last shot looks like.
Walk In Beauty,
Obi WunPutt
__________________
Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside a dog it's too dark to read... G. Marx
Hi Patrick,
Thanks for the thanks. You are WELCOME.
don't pay anything more than the slightest attention to whether you even got close or not.
You are NOT playing for the freedom of the Western World. A week from now no one, including you will ever care what you shot today, or whether you hit one in the water on 15 or whether you topped two drives in a row last Saturday to lose the match by one stroke. NO ONE GIVES A DARN, so why should you?
THE GREAT PLAYERS NEVER WORRY ABOUT WHAT OTHERS THINK OF THEM, THEIR GOLF SWING OR THEIR SCORE. That is the truth of the matter.
Obi WunPutt
You are on to something here. I read you should "TRY EASY not TRY HARD." It is tough though to not give a crap. We end up WORKING the game instead of PLAYING.
To me getting out of your on way is huge . . . but how do you do it and do it more often?
I've read all the books man and I still get up in the fetal position like a little girl.
Another "solution" that I found interesting was . . . stand behind the shot and ask yourself "How many times out of 10 can I hit hit an acceptible shot in this situation?" Self answers "7 out of 10 times 70%." So why am I nervous about a shot I can execute at an acceptible level 70% of the time? Shouldn't I be just 30% nervous?
Bucket is full of chicken . . . among other stuff.
__________________
Aloha Mr. Hand
Behold my hands; reach hither thy hand
Last edited by 12 piece bucket : 01-10-2006 at 11:03 AM.
You are on to something here. I read you should "TRY EASY not TRY HARD." It is tough though to not give a crap. We end up WORKING the game instead of PLAYING.
To me getting out of your on way is huge . . . but how do you do it and do it more often?
I've read all the books man and I still get up in the fetal position like a little girl.
Another "solution" that I found interesting was . . . stand behind the shot and ask yourself "How many times out of 10 can I hit hit an acceptible shot in this situation?" Self answers "7 out of 10 times 70%." So why am I nervous about a shot I can execute at an acceptible level 70% of the time? Shouldn't I be just 30% nervous?
Bucket is full of chicken . . . among other stuff.
Worrying 30% is still worrying. In the world of shooting and in agility training (and soon skydiving) I teach a class called "The Art of Getting Out of Your Own Way". When you do that, the RESULT means NOTHING. |The PROCESS is everything. Furthermore, the very existance of worry is the absence of trust. I use "trust" as the swing trigger when I am playing well. Do I ALWAYS remember to do that? No, but when I do, the results are sometimes staggeringly beautiful.
A couple of "tricks" if you will. Have someone else keep score, announce your score to that person when you pick your ball out of the hole and then let it go. If you aren't sitting in a cart staring at the score card, it's easier to forget. Second, go out and play a round of golf from the forward tees with your 5 iron and your putter. There are certain things you simply CANNOT do with those two clubs (like hit is 275 over the lake off a hanging lie) so you don't try. You might find you have a LOT of fun doing this, and what's more, you will learn to trust your decision making process more, because you will HAVE to play by feel.
Obi WunPutt
__________________
Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside a dog it's too dark to read... G. Marx
It has made me crazy for YEARS that I could handle that and still get wrapped around the axle standing on the first tee in front of a group of complete strangers. I am a student at The Professional Golfer's Career College in CA, and in my final semester. I play with a lot of scratch playing young kids who can hit it a mile (one of my playing buddies routinely drives a 320 yard slightly downhill par 4 with a 3 wood). I am older (56) and do NOT have a "traditional" golf swing due to some major physical limitations. When I started on the quest to find a swing that would allow me to play with my ruptured back and bad knees, I found parts of it. However, I found myself EXTREMELY concerned with what others would think of my form. Never mind the fact that it works for me, and I can usually play with most of these guys provided I get 3 or 4 a side. Never mind the fact that my short game tends to be excellent, and my putting is ALWAYS superb 
I step up to the first tee and think "I wonder what Joe thinks about my patched together, half back and awkward golf swing". It has plagued me the entire time I have been in school (I have also failed to pass the PAT 3 times because of this). Our "History Of Golf" teacher said something that has helped me tremendously. "We are going to study the greatest players in the game. NONE of them ever worried about what someone else thought about their swing. They found what worked for them and the heck with what anybody thought." Now, when I step on the tee in front of other people (always there are others there), the thought the calms me is "Great players don't give a DAMN what anyone else thinks"... it really helps. My swing trigger has become "Trust" as the last thought in me head before I take the club back.
Hybrid Mode
