I can’t decide which it is.
Over the years, I’ve read a lot of books on the mental game of golf. Dr. Bob Rotella has written a few books that I have thoroughly enjoyed. Not only that, but I feel like they’ve given me great insight into something which I believe is important to play great golf.
This year, aside from playing my normal casual rounds, I decided to join a league. I’ve played a few times this season so far, and I must say, I’ve really been stinking up the joint. Don’t get me wrong, it’s been great and the guys I’ve met are a lot of fun.
But when it comes to playing my best, I’m just not doing it. I’m getting killed out there. My typical 9-hole score for casual rounds since the beginning of the season has been in the 40-42 range, which isn’t great, but represents a huge early-season improvement over previous years.
When I get out there in league matches, though, I’m lucky to break 50. I had a similar experience in the club championship last year, shooting probably 5 or 6 strokes over where I was at during casual rounds at that time.
Now, I know, the first thing that comes to mind is that I’m wilting under the pressure. Believe me, the thought has been swirling around my mind for a while now. And, in fairness, I’ve been suffering from intermittent back spasms for several weeks. It’s caused me some trouble, especially being able to practice as much as I want, but I just don’t think that’s the explanation for my problems in competition.
In fact, it occurred to me today that maybe my mental game is right where it needs to be.
Let’s roll back for a minute and think about some of the common aspects of the mental game teachings of those like Dr. Bob Rotella and others.
First and foremost, there is a component of trust. It’s trust in the swing that you have worked hard to build. As you stand there, ready to hit a particular shot, you need to have trust in your preparation and trust in the shot you have chosen to hit in that moment, and trust that your body will execute that shot at that moment. There’s no room for consciously thinking about mechanics.
Beyond that, there is the ability to accept the result of each shot. When it’s time to hit a shot, we need to be able to put the previous shot out of mind, no matter how bad it was. We need to be able to live in that moment and to plan and visualize that shot, and to have the proper trust in place without being fixated on the ball that was just jacked into the woods.
On the swing mechanics, I’ve been working on a few items. First, I’ve been working on making a fuller shoulder turn. I’ve been kind of letting my core quit on the back swing and trying to get all the way back with more of my arms, which causes me to get in bad position at the top. That keeps my weight a little to centered and on the down swing, trying to then shift onto my left side causes all sorts of problems. Aside from these things, my pro has me playing the ball just a little further forward because my ball position had sort of crept back in my stance a little. And, of course, I’m always fighting to keep my tempo even because I tend to get a little quick, especially with longer clubs.
Why do I bring that up? Well, for one, these changes are relatively new, and not ingrained yet. I can stand on the range and find each of these things (and a few others) and start to reliably hit shots.
What I can’t do, though is stand over a shot on the course and revert to trusting that my swing will perform. It’s not so much that I don’t believe it will perform, it’s that it can’t. I haven’t made these various changes permanent. When I stop consciously thinking about what I want to do with my swing, it reverts to old habits all by itself.
It’s not a conscious lack of trust, so much. I will admit that at the beginning of a match or a competitive round, I’m a little nervous, but after a few holes I settle in and mentally, I don’t feel much anxiety or any other negative feelings that might make me think I’m just wilting under pressure.
I’ve noticed lately that during casual rounds, I’m still sort of playing in driving range mode. I’m thinking about swing thoughts. I’m reminding myself to do a full shoulder turn and to not break down at the top and to get my weight left on the down swing and to keep my tempo in check.
When it comes to competitive rounds though, I find myself playing a lot more on auto pilot, just visualizing the shots and letting my body try to perform the correct swing, and above all, not dwelling on previous shots. Those are some of the hallmarks of a strong mental game. I just haven’t developed the swing to back it up yet.
It kind of leaves me with the dilemma of not knowing which player I am. Am I the guy that can go out and shoot a 40 in a casual round and hit a lot of nice shots on the range, or am I the guy that gets in the competitive situation and struggles?
I tend to think it’s the latter. I think the driving range and casual rounds show my current potential, but the league rounds show where I’m at as a competitor.
But the real question was: what’s the state of my mental game? I honestly think I’m on the right track and my results are showing that I’m not physically prepared yet to be a solid competitor.
What do you think? Am I on to something or am I just wilting under pressure? Or are they really different faces of the same beast?
Loading ...
You know, I think if you can have a good round casually, then your swing is in a place where it should be good enough competitively… which means the mental problem is exactly that, a mental problem!
Whether your lack of trust is conscious, or unconscious, I think it affects your game. It might be a case of not so much of trusting your swing, but worrying about what might go wrong, consciously or unconsciously – both of which is likely to happen when playing in competition.
When you know that you’re going to hit a certain type of shot and the thought of something going wrong doesn’t enter your mind – I think that’s when you’ve got your mental game sorted out, which is where we would all like to be I suspect!
You’ve proven to yourself that you can trust your swing and the changes in every situation but competition, so to me the question is how did you get to that point in those situations? Odds are it was through the number reps you put in in those two venues so it seems that what you really need is more reps in competitive situations. I realize it’s a little more complicated than that, but from what little experience I have with it, true competition really is a different animal entirely. That you’re even acknowledging it shows you have your head in the right place and know what to expect during competition which is more than half the battle.
Good points. I definitely think it’s not a situation where it’s a conscious lack of trust (except maybe a shot here or there), but it could certainly be a subconscious lack of trust.
Also, it’s not so much that I have the trust in non-competitive rounds. I’m working through half a dozen conscious swing thoughts before and during a swing. Trust is kind of not even a thought because I seem to be actively problem-solving. It’s in competition when I let those thoughts go, that my body seems to want to slip into old habits.
Still, trust in a swing is a tricky beast to understand. I can’t even say for sure that I actually understand what’s going on in my head during a shot as I sit here and think about it hours or days later. I’m going to start playing closer attention in the moment, though, because if my mental game needs refining, I want to make sure I’m doing it.
Seems like a simple test would be to go play a casual nine in loosey goosey fashion. Don’t really think swing thoughts and just play. With the pressure gone and just letting things happens I think you might see that maybe you need the mental structure of swing thoughts and that things just aren’t grooved yet. If you hit the ball well, then you know that you are in poker terms ‘the fish’.
With that said, mental game and competition takes practice and you just haven’t had much of it in the last few years.
I’m with The Happy Rock. After you play a dozen or so league rounds you’ll probably loosen up and have better command of your ability to focus on executing shots. You are right about Bob Rotella, though. ‘Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect’ is, without question, the best golf book I’ve ever read. Before reading it, I had no idea whether I was thinking too much about my shots or not thinking enough. Rotella’s book cleared that up for me and I dropped from a 14 handicap to a 7 in less than a month. (This may sound like an advertisement, but I swear I’m not paid to say this.)
Jim Dauer
Co-Founder, FullForesome.com
I’m in my second year of League play. I joined a league to expand my horizons. Prior to that, my competitive play was the constant skins games I play with my friends. I was a bit nervous at the start of the 20-week league, but by the end it was way less pressure than skins. I took the points lead by week five, fell a bit thru mid season, and won by a good margin at the end. There were 125 people in the league.
I’m off to a slow start this year. I think it’s mostly because I feel like I expect to be at the top of the leaderboard. Of course I’m kidding myself and I just need to loosen up and relax a bit. I know I’m tight out there but I’m just having a hard time relaxing.
My best advice is to just have fun and try not to take it too seriously.
Great feedback, everyone.
Greg, I think I’m doing well in the not taking it too seriously category, but sometimes it’s hard to know because I’m usually pretty competitive. Maybe I’m actually not taking it seriously enough. There’s some food for thought that I hadn’t even considered.
Or maybe you’re over analyzing your shot. Trust, confidence and have fun.
It is not possible to “trust” anything you cannot do well. The first step in getting trust in your swing is the practice tee. Work on the getting your swing proficient to the point of hitting more good shots than bad. One of the things I teach my students at my school is to “practic the way that you play” and “play the way that you practice” In other words both the routine on the range and the routine on the course should be exactly the same. Most people practice the “rake and hit method” – rake up a ball and hit it. But that is not what we do on the course. On the course we walk into the ball and hit it. So start on the range in order to bulid trust on the course.
I completely agree, Mel. I spend an awful lot of time on the practice tee, to the point where I probably should be spending some of that time playing instead. But, I know that I need to be able to trust my swing if I expect to play good golf, and that’s where that trust is going to be built.
On the other hand, I also tend to stay on the range longer than I should, at times. When I find myself getting worn down or when I mentally lose focus, I need to be able to just leave and go to the practice green or do something else, because that’s when the confidence I built in the early part of a range session is damaged because I’m then starting to hit more bad shots because my focus isn’t there or because I’m exhausted.
I noticed that yesterday. I was practicing late in the day and I was already a little worn out. On top of that, it was hot and I was getting a little dehydrated. Early on, I was hitting great shots, but I was resolved to grind through and by the end, I was making all kinds of mistakes and awful shots. I should have just committed to a brief practice session so I could just bank all those good shots in my mental vault, but I pushed it too long and my confidence started to erode.
Yes, 15 minutes of good practice is better than 30 minutes of slogging it out. Especially when it is hot, carry a big jug of water with you onto the tee and take frequent breaks and a few gulps of water. A well ventilated hat is also an asset.
In the summer I limit my full swing practice to 30 mins at the most, so I quit even while I am still hitting the ball well, knowing full well that as I tire the swing will start to degrade. I then go and do some short game work for another 30 mins and then I’m done.
Keep up the good work. I enjoy reading your blogs.
Mel.