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

[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

[12 piece bucket]

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 . . .

And for that thank you!

Bucket

[Fred Brattain]

Thank you for your kind words. However, I was not a hero, but I served with many.



WRT standing on my head with my pants down on the first tee, do you think that would help?????????? I'm kinda new to this TGM thing......

Obi WunPutt

[phillygolf]

THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!!!

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.

[Fred Brattain]

THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!!!

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