I know you're out there......

[phillygolf]

Ok...

I have a question. This requires ego's checked at the door.

Whom here - and let's be honest - worries while playing? Whether it be about people watching you and embarrassing yourself or missing that 4 footer to tie the nassau on the 17th.

Come on...I know you're out there.

[alex_chung]

I worry about everything from wondering about leaving the iron on to oh noooo the club captain is watching me hit this shot to does my bum look big?
I have to admit it used to be worse but I have realised that everyone is in the same boat and we are all worried about making a mess of things on the course. I am less of a worrier now and whilst I still get nervous I am more in control of it. Still make a mess of it though.......
Alex

[Martee]

I worry. About the shot at hand. Maybe worry isn't quite the right word. Now if I have a couple of bad shots in a row or as what usually happens withmy putting I burn the lip, lip out, etc. Then I become the mental midget on putting.

My last full round I used 42 putts (real putts, not the ones just off the green were not included). My average for the past 20 rounds is just a hair over 36 putts and I wonder why my handicap doesn't drop....

I worry cause the stroke is good, the results are that it just doesn't drop. And then I worry.

[singlecoil]

I think "fear" is a better word. Fear of missing that 4 footer or fear of choking in front of your peers in a tourney or fear of hitting it OB or whatever. Overcoming fear is the hardest mental part of the game. I think that anyone who has ever played in a tournament at any level has let fear, whether in the form of worry or doubt or just nervousness, creep into his or her game. I try to beat it by playing as many tourneys as I can and puting something on the line every time I play so I can trust my swing in any situation. Like they say the hardest shot in golf is 6 inches between the ears

[Matt]

I used to worry...but then I realized that I had no reason to worry. I went through a rather large funk several years ago where I found it very difficult to play tournament golf. This was due to a poor experience in my first Wisconsin State Amateur at age 17.

I shot 76-75 (par 70) the first two rounds to make the cut on the number. Throughout the third round, things just didn't feel right. I remember holing out from a greenside bunker for birdie on the ninth hole, then the trouble started. I hit a good drive down the 10th and...shanked my approach. Shaken up, I go to hit my third from about 60 yards...shank. 11th hole I hit a good drive and shank a wedge under a bush. 12th hole I hit a driver off the heel and into a lake. I started that back nine with scores of 6-7-8. I somewhat got a hold of myself, then shanked one on the par-3 17th. I recall birdieing the par-5 18th - my caddie asks me, "Are you going to lay up?" I said, "Are you kidding? I'm not going to hit two shots with irons into here. Give me my 3-wood." I hit it up there and made birdie to finish off an 86. Shot 83 the final round, scared over each shot.

From then on for several months I was literally frightened in tournament golf. Practice rounds I was fine, but it was always in the back of my mind what had happened and how quickly it could happen again. Now, I'm pretty much over it and try to simply have confidence in my procedure. I think to myself, "Matt, you're a 1-handicap. You can play golf. Now go out there and do it." A lot of this game is mental no doubt, and having confidence in your stroke pattern and ability to play the game will allow you to overcome a good deal of anxiety.

[12 piece bucket]

I'm a golf chicken! I don't get to play enough to develop trust. So I turn into a little girl.

If I go out and just act like a goofball, I play pretty good. But if I "try" look out . . . THE SKY IS FALLING!!!!! Run Forrest! Run!

Bucket (chicken)

[tradekid]

Try giving Pia Nilsson's book "Every Shot Must Have a Purpose" a read. Good stuff there.

[cometgolfer]

Fear - "concern over an outcome that has yet to happen". Based on this definition fear can't exist in the present. Thus the old adage to "stay in the moment".

Wish I could do that more than I do. I understand it, but my mind still has a tendency to wander more than it should. When I'm playing/scoring my best I really do stay in the moment, commited to my shot, my procedure, my decision, etc. When I'm off I can almost always look back and see indecision, concern about results, and so on. And it's always tougher in bigger tournaments for me.

I still love the game even if I do have some have some worries and fears.

[RickPinewild]

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.

[Fred Brattain]

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