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Under pressure, game not there - what do you do?

GoldenBuff

GoldenBuff

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Pressure is on. You are playing a round with some extra meaning/pressure to you (THP event, competition. playing with the boss). Your game is not there and you feel like your are flailing. Thinking one shot or hole at a time is not bringing you back. Do you have a special shot or new approach that you employ, or do you keep trying to play your standard game, hoping things improve?

I have been in these situtaitons (e.g., THP event) and didn't have a go-to alternative. I just kept grinding and hoped my game would come back around. In one case I recall a swig from a partner's flask. Unsurprisingly, that didn't help although I was a little more calm. In retrospect, trying something different with my game probably would have helped. 6 iron off the tee. Hit half or 3/4 punch shots. Start putting from 100 yards away. Something.

What do you do? Has it worked for you?
 
Kind of what you're asking about. I was playing with an old friend who actually got me into golf. His life took him further and further away from golf and mine was the opposite. I ended up joining a club and improved greatly. Played with him at my club and he was all over the place; he was swinging way too hard and much too long of a swing. Told him he needed to swing within himself not swing for the fences, let the club do the work, etc. He still couldn't get himself to ease up. Eventually I felt I had to prove my point, so from hole 5 to the end of the round, I took only half swings while clubbing up. Ended up shooting 86 that day and it helped him realize golf is not a game of strength!
 
If I get to point I just stop caring and trying as hard. Usually it allows my game to turn around and come back to me. I have used it several times this summer and it works for me, not always but more times than not.
 
I’d pull 5w off the tee and try to play to comfortable distances into the green.
 
Start in on the booze......
 
Tested this today. Purposely added pressure to my play. Didn't hit the ball very well. Not bad, but missed a lot of shots I usually make. Tried hitting a couple of 3/4 punchy irons. Probably kept me out of more trouble. Biggest thought for the day was to trust my wedge game. I knew I had a shot even if an approach was missed. Pulled out an OK round for me.

I've been thinking about golf as a pressure-driven sport. And scoring is as much about resilience to that pressure as it is about absolute skill level at the moment. For me, at least, this is an interesting topic to think about.
 
Stomp around cursing and just generally making a jackass out of myself.

Then I usually get over it in time to smile, shake hands and thank my opponent for the game.
 
Play my 8-iron. Doesn't matter what the distance or situation is. It's my fallback position when everything else goes to crap. No matter how ugly my swing is on a particular day, I can always get something at least halfway decent out of it.
 
I generally just get every swing thought out of my head, make sure my alignment is good, and start taking good hard swings focused on the back of the ball. I usually get back in a groove pretty quick. The best way for me to handle pressure is to turn my brain off. I meditate a couple of times a week just to practice turning that dialogue off. It comes in handy in a lot of life.
 
3/4 swings all the way! And irons off the tee. It may mean scoring goes up a bit but it will keep those really silly numbers to a minimum
 
You don't rise to the occasion, you default to your level of training.

If you're not mentally prepared to stop the bleeding when the wheels come off, or you don't have the basic physical skills to stop the bleeding, well, you're gonna bleed.

Then it becomes a matter of whether you deal with it like an adult, or embarrass yourself on the course.

Edit: unfortunately, hockey was the only sport where I could stop the bleeding at a high level. Without the skills to do so golfing, I try not to be a miserable person to be around when the wheels come off.
 
Defaulting to level of training is interesting. I think I am at a point where I can start to rely more on my training. For a few years I was in a trap of just training more. Grind range balls until exhausted. I've started to train differently. I game the range, so to speak. If I am hitting poorly, I ask myself what would I do on a course with this swing? Lately the answer is find a strength and build around that rather than get stuck try to fix something on the fly. Then I switch to whatever feels good. I think of poor practice sessions as better training than those days where I'm in a groove.
 
I tend to play better when the pressure is on. If I can't stop spraying it though, I'll definitely just take a little off and punch a drive or two down the middle to get out of a rough patch of play. 4-iron off the tee even if need be. Ease off, stay back and, don't worry past the back of the ball.
 
Try my darndest to forget the previous shot regardless wether it was good or bad. Because thinking about the last shot can really be detrimental to the current one.
 
This is why I bought a Utility Iron. All you need is 200 yds off the tee most of the time and if its in the middle of the fairway....
 
Molten said:
3/4 swings all the way! And irons off the tee. It may mean scoring goes up a bit but it will keep those really silly numbers to a minimum
Click to expand...
This but hybrids off the tee. Nice easy 3/4 swings helps turn things around. When I'm in this place I don't care how far I hit it, which usually results in good contact with decent ball flight.
 
Snickerdog said:
If I get to point I just stop caring and trying as hard. Usually it allows my game to turn around and come back to me. I have used it several times this summer and it works for me, not always but more times than not.
Click to expand...

This and lowering expectations will often free you up to put better swings / strokes on the ball.
 
goalie said:
You don't rise to the occasion, you default to your level of training.

If you're not mentally prepared to stop the bleeding when the wheels come off, or you don't have the basic physical skills to stop the bleeding, well, you're gonna bleed.

Then it becomes a matter of whether you deal with it like an adult, or embarrass yourself on the course.

Edit: unfortunately, hockey was the only sport where I could stop the bleeding at a high level. Without the skills to do so golfing, I try not to be a miserable person to be around when the wheels come off.
Click to expand...

Very well stated.

I’m not an athlete; never have been. Any success I’ve had on the golf course has been hard fought and harder to maintain.

When things go sideways, my main goal is to have a good attitude and carry on in a way that doesn’t raise the tension level for the other players in the group. Enjoy the day, enjoy the company, cheer on the other players, focus on making the day a good experience for them. I try to laugh at the bad shots and remember that golf is a game, to be PLAYED, not worked.

There are a few small things I’ll do to try to stop the bleeding, such as checking my grip and posture, or taking it down to 7i or shorter until I’m making crisp contact again.

I heard a guy say (I forgot who) that one must play the game they brought with them that day, and I’ve found that to be great advice. Pushing everything? Line up accordingly. Low draws or pulls? Choose a target out to the right and don’t give yourself any lines with forced carries.
 
I teach my HS kids the same thing I employ in those moments.

First, swing what you bring. Adjust for the day, don’t try to change things and fix things on the course as that just compounds problems 9/10 times.

Second, this is why I DEMAND they all find what they call their “happy club”. It’s the one that when things are upside down, gives them the most positive thoughts that they can hit a shot. It may mean from that point because of distance we are thinking bogey IS par the rest of the round, but it’s something that has always worked for helping them, and me, slap duct tape on it and finish.

It’s one of the hardest lessons in competitive golf imo, the ability when things are all going sideways, to limp that sucker back around to the clubhouse. Exhausting, but rewarding when you’ve done it.
 
I've had mixed success with it but I've played enough competitive golf that I've been in these situations too often.

Off the tee, run what you brung. If you cant shake the slice, aim way left. Dont start changing grip and swing plane on the 4th tee box.

For the rest I have an ugly little punch shot where I smother the ball from the inside that I seem to be quite good at when under pressure. Leads to low spinny draws that are pretty unpredictable, but contact is there. At that point the idea is to get somewhere near the green and let short game take over.
 
mtcowdog said:
Pressure is on. You are playing a round with some extra meaning/pressure to you (THP event, competition. playing with the boss). Your game is not there and you feel like your are flailing. Thinking one shot or hole at a time is not bringing you back. Do you have a special shot or new approach that you employ, or do you keep trying to play your standard game, hoping things improve?

I have been in these situtaitons (e.g., THP event) and didn't have a go-to alternative. I just kept grinding and hoped my game would come back around. In one case I recall a swig from a partner's flask. Unsurprisingly, that didn't help although I was a little more calm. In retrospect, trying something different with my game probably would have helped. 6 iron off the tee. Hit half or 3/4 punch shots. Start putting from 100 yards away. Something.

What do you do? Has it worked for you?
Click to expand...

Like you I learned to deal with it a little better after my first THP event which I sucked so bad we were 16 shots clear of the lead after day one, and my partner was playing ok. I should have put myself into alternate shot mode. I didn’t play lights out there but I stopped the bleeding and I don’t have any stats to back it up but I think our 9 hole of alt shot was one of the better posted.

What I did was hit everything as safely as humanly possible. Punch a hybrid 200 off the tee instead of flailing away to another ob tee ball. Better to have a mid iron in the FW than to be hitting 4 a 100 yards up with a wedge. Leave the ball below the hole, even if it meant having no chance of making it. I felt like I did ok with that format because I already felt so much shame for having completely crapped the bed in the other formats. If I took that strategy and played it all the time when the game wasn’t there I’d make a lot of bogeys, maybe even an occasional double, but very few “others”. Maybe a par or two thrown in as well.

Not my style of golf but if nothings going right just play as safe as possible. Even if that means a 7i and 2 PW’s on a par 4.
 
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