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Are you an Angry Golfer?

I will get mad at myself for 3 putting but other than that I'm pretty calm.
Never thrown a club or broken one intentionally.
 
I hate when people hit into me while playing. If their ball comes anywhere near me, regardless if I'm playing the best round of my life or the worst, I usually pick their ball up. I also hate when I'm playing with people who aren't very good and get mad when they shank a shot.
 
I used to be an angry golfer but now I just literally go out to relax and have fun. I know I will never be a pro golfer so that ship has sailed. Of course there are times where I get frustrated but times like that I just relax and remember I am out on a golf course having fun and not being bothered by work or anything for that matter. It is like my therapy.
 
Life is to short to get upset over a game. I'm also pretty forgiving. So as long as people are not intentionally trying to hurt anyone or being stupid I'll let things slide. I have the occasional club to ground in frustration but only once in awhile.


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If you are angry playing golf, then you need to find another pastime. There are others where anger is a better fit. Demolition may be a good one. I've played with so many even tempered, humorous, relaxed great players playing both well and terribly to understand that a regular round of golf is for nothing other than enjoyment of the game.
If you are playing bad then instead of being angry turn your hat around backwards, put your shirt on backwards, put your underwear on the outside, put your shoes on the wrong foot, hit wedge off the tee on a par five and carry your clubs like a suitcase. Either playing this way, or angry, you still look awfully silly.
 
I think that there is a fine line between anger and competitiveness. Some people have different levels of both. For instance, to one person it might look like I'm getting extremely angry, but to me maybe that is just me being competitive and demanding a certain quality of performance. I don't necessarily believe that that is a bad thing.

Everyone sees Tiger Woods or any other player out there get very angry about poor shots and they try to connect that to poor performance (easy to do now with Tiger, but he has always been this way - even when he was winning Majors). I believe that knowing where the line is between anger and competitiveness is essential to pushing yourself to realize your potential performance and to making yourself confident in your abilities once you reach that point, whether the peak of your potential is a 20 handicap or a 2 handicap.

It is easy for many people here to take the "high road" and suggest that Golf isn't your sport if you get angry... but maybe you should consider that Golf isn't your sport if you don't get angry. And maybe you could apply this to other things in life; if you don't feel upset about not doing your best at something then why are you even doing it? No one ever wants to be 75% of what they could be..

(All with regards to a rational, competitive anger, disappointment, or whatever word you want to use..)
 
I am good at hockey and not so good (bogey golfer) at golf. I realized a long time ago that you cannot play competitive hockey as a goalie and be pissed off all the time. Well, you can, but you'll lose a lot.

Other than people hitting into me in a dangerous fashion, I don't bother with anything more than a curse word or a laugh at how crappy my shot was. Erase it from your memory and move on.....
 
I have gone from an "angry" golfer to a "composed" golfer and back.
I find the competitive side fuels me and sometimes the emotions churn a bit upwards.
I dont throw, just curse at myself. I dont struggle with others interferring in my game, but I do want to set my expectations when I tee it up.
I do not find this as a bad thing as some do.
 
mngolferguy said:
I have gone from an "angry" golfer to a "composed" golfer and back.
I find the competitive side fuels me and sometimes the emotions churn a bit upwards.
I dont throw, just curse at myself. I dont struggle with others interferring in my game, but I do want to set my expectations when I tee it up.
I do not find this as a bad thing as some do.
Click to expand...

That is not anger, that if focus. As I get older, I find that, in order to remain competitive as a goalie, I have to really, really, care about being scored on. Letting in goals does not make me happy. Letting in soft goals REALLY doesn't make me happy.

But, I don't let that get me mad. I don't lose control of my emotions. I use that emotion to increase my focus on the game and the puck. I do not channel that emotion into childish outbursts of stick-throwing or yelling. No matter how pissed I get at something that happens on the ice, I turn around, grab my water bottle, take a sip, and tap off on the posts. Then I stop the next 20 shots or so......

Focus good. Tantrums bad. YMMV

(FWIW, like I said, I am not a good golfer, but I play goalie for the Minnesota NHL Alumni. We have a charity game Oct 1st in Maple Grove. It will be a mix of NHL guys and ankle-beaters who paid to play. That should really test my focus.)
 
jeremyheslop said:
Life is to short to get upset over a game. I'm also pretty forgiving. So as long as people are not intentionally trying to hurt anyone or being stupid I'll let things slide. I have the occasional club to ground in frustration but only once in awhile.


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Click to expand...

+1. Couldn't say it any better.
 
As for anger, I only allow myself anger until the club is back in the bag. No whacking stuff, no yelling, mabey a little quiet cussing, until the club is back in the bag. Then its time to move on. The previous shot is done and over and there's nothing you can do about it. Then its time to get back moving to my ball and prepare for the next shot.
I am reading "Your 15th Club" by Dr. Bob Rotella and he talks about your self image and confidence and its effects n golf. In golf esspecially you need to focus on a target and remember the best shot you ever hit. If all you think about is the mistake you made on the last shot you are programming yourself to make the same mistake on the next shot.

Wow, I must be lucky. Not much slow play around here. Had a 3:30 pm round with a buddy and got done in 3 1/2 hr in a power cart. My last weekly game was 4 hours, walking. Most courses are pretty busy during our short season and are well marshaled. They all finally figured out pace of play is $$$ in the till.
 
If ever there was a day that I could have gotten angry on the course... Today was IT!!! I stunk up that course so badly, they won't need to fertilize until 2013. Angry? No. Embarrased? Beyond words. I shot something like a 115 or so today, and I can count on one hand the number of decent shots I hit. The only saving grace was the company I was with. As the round ended I felt bad for bringing the group down with my poor play, but I don't believe even once I displayed a poor attitude.
 
No but I'm becoming an angry non- golfer when the weather doesn't cooperate!!!:at-wits-end:
 
Sometimes I mutter "fake" explecitives under my breath (No swearing on the golf course!) and don't clean my club after a horrible shot, but that's it. A while ago I got so frustrated I threw my old putter in the woods and never found it (it was like 10 bucks at dunhams) but I've matured a bit and never do that anymore.
 
Golf pisses me off. It pisses everybody off and that's a fact but you can not let it ruin your day. Some days you get bad breaks and your fuse is short but I have learned to take it one hole at a time. I don't dwell on the past and my scores have been better and better by moving forward. It's a hard game but you got to play in the moment. One hole at a time and never ever think of your score or you will be cooked.
 
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