I am a choker - Help

Not sure where to put this but thinking maybe this is appropriate.

I am a 9 handicap who plays a lot, generally high 70s low 80s golf depending on the course. Pretty consistent swing and approach. Not a lot of big numbers. Good iron game, struggle with long game, decent driver.

And then tournaments. Looking at my scores this year, I have only shot 8 rounds in the 90's all year and 7 of them were under the stress of tournament play. I only broke 90 in a tournament once all year.

Today I developed a nasty hitch in my swing that was causing me to snap hook everything. I would take a practice swing, perfect, and then address the ball, and snap it. The guys I was playing with said they couldn't recognize the guy swinging at the ball from the guy taking the practice swing. And this has now happened enough times over several years that I know it's a pattern and not a one off. I realize I need to get more lessons and bulletproof my swing more, but I need to deal with the fact that I am a choke artist and that I can't recreate the pressure until I get back into tournaments. And since those are few and far between Im curious if anyone here has dealt with it and what you've all done.

Any help appreciated. I'm gutted, as I have to come to realize I can't compete in the type of events I love to play in, and I can't really recreate the issue...shot 81 yesterday in the practice round and didn't really hit it very well..I have the winter now to work through things, take abreak from golf and work on the mental side, so curious if anyone has dealt with this or not.

Thank you.

It just comes with experience. You seem to have dispositioned you mind unconsciously to know you will perform bad under the pressure. Do you have someone that you can play with that is better or much better than you? That is how I overcame the nerves, they still hit me but much less. You may never be totally conformable with the situation but it will get better the more you play, don't stop because of it.

... The only way to play golf successfully is not caring where the ball ends up. Sounds crazy I know. The reason a practice swing is so much better than an actual shot is you swing freely with a practice swing and not "at" anything or try and make the ball go anywhere. Two habits many golfers never break is swinging "at" the ball, not through it. And the other is trying to make the ball go where you want it to go. I had many students try and lift the ball in the air after taking excellent practice swings with no lifting motion at all. But once the ball is in front of them, everything changes and their brain tells them in order to get the ball in the air they must scoop it and help lift it in the air. Golf is a game of complete trust and if you concentrate on the process, swinging freely just like your practice swing, you will get better results. Or at least as good as your swing dictates.

... When I taught full time at an executive course, many of my members said their second shot was alway better because they learned from the first one. I tried to tell them their second shot was better because it didn't count and that freed them up to make a tensionless swing. I staged a Second Chance Tournament and they played 9 holes with regular stroke play. Then they played the same 9 holes again and took a second shot on everything but putting BUT they had to add a penalty stroke if their second shot was not as good as their first shot and they had to play the second shot, even if it ended up in a hazard. This added a ton of pressure and out of a field of 32, only 1 player shot better the second 9. The pressure of a penalty shot made their second shot much more pressure packed than their first. It was a real eye opener for most of them. So my advice is simply do not care where the ball goes. Just line up your shot, pick your target then forget everything but making a tensionless practice swing thru the ball. You might be surprised at your results.

I think calling yourself that is, firstly - Harsh and secondly - Counterproductive.

I know where you are coming from, I’m as harsh on myself as anyone. Just reading a book ‘The art of putting’. Interesting bits in there about you are what you think you are, and how changing your way of thinking can change your reality.

Great story about Nicklaus telling people he’d never missed from inside 3ft on the back 9 of a major on Sunday.

Chirag said:

... The only way to play golf successfully is not caring where the ball ends up. Sounds crazy I know. The reason a practice swing is so much better than an actual shot is you swing freely with a practice swing and not "at" anything or try and make the ball go anywhere. Two habits many golfers never break is swinging "at" the ball, not through it. And the other is trying to make the ball go where you want it to go. I had many students try and lift the ball in the air after taking excellent practice swings with no lifting motion at all. But once the ball is in front of them, everything changes and their brain tells them in order to get the ball in the air they must scoop it and help lift it in the air. Golf is a game of complete trust and if you concentrate on the process, swinging freely just like your practice swing, you will get better results. Or at least as good as your swing dictates.

... When I taught full time at an executive course, many of my members said their second shot was alway better because they learned from the first one. I tried to tell them their second shot was better because it didn't count and that freed them up to make a tensionless swing. I staged a Second Chance Tournament and they played 9 holes with regular stroke play. Then they played the same 9 holes again and took a second shot on everything but putting BUT they had to add a penalty stroke if their second shot was not as good as their first shot and they had to play the second shot, even if it ended up in a hazard. This added a ton of pressure and out of a field of 32, only 1 player shot better the second 9. The pressure of a penalty shot made their second shot much more pressure packed than their first. It was a real eye opener for most of them. So my advice is simply do not care where the ball goes. Just line up your shot, pick your target then forget everything but making a tensionless practice swing thru the ball. You might be surprised at your results.

Click to expand...

This all day, love it ^^

When I stopped worrying about where the ball went I felt the pressure release from my game. I also accepted the level I will get too and not to chase something I will never be.

And while I can still compete if I choose to that worry free feeling has made for a much more relaxing round.

The guy in this video is alluding to what Chirag saying about being free to swing with trust.

This video discusses the same concept.



While I'm not a terribly experienced tournament player, the other thing I've seen lots of high level players say is you will play your best when you focus on making your best swing at this shot. Not the one before it, not the one that's going to come after it. You can't think about what you need to do the last 5 holes to break 80, and you can't get excited that you're 4 under after 4. You just have to focus on this shot, and of course, make sure that you're making the right play with this shot.

Thornton Melon said:

Today I developed a nasty hitch in my swing that was causing me to snap hook everything. I would take a practice swing, perfect, and then address the ball, and snap it. The guys I was playing with said they couldn't recognize the guy swinging at the ball from the guy taking the practice swing. And this has now happened enough times over several years that I know it's a pattern and not a one off.

Click to expand...

You've got some really good advice. I appreciated the details you added above and would like to focus on that for a minute.

In your situation, you are having trouble performing because of the importance you put on the result. Several others have said the same using different words. I think you would benefit by changing your focus. Starting with your next tournament go in deciding you aren't going to give a whit what you score. Instead, put all your focus on replicating the tempo and motion of your practice swing. I'm not kidding. Program yourself that if you make a swing with your expected tempo and motion you've met your goal, even if you skull the ball 50 yards left into the rough. Hey, you are already posting terrible scores in tournament play, so it's not like another high score is going to matter. Just focus on making your regular swing and nothing else.

Here is what will happen.

If you really commit to doing this it will slow things down and make you more aware of your pace and movements throughout your swing. You'll recognize what is NOT like your practice swing and focus on changing that to match your practice swing. At some point, you are going to start replicating your normal swing. With some success, you'll have a tendency to shift your focus back to scoring, and you'll regress. Fight this tendency and keep it on replicating your practice swing.

I haven't seen your swing. But most people, when they get anxious, get quick and manipulative with their swing. Instructor comments like:
"You didn't complete your backswing."
"You jumped at the ball" (pulled down hard from the top).
"Loosen that death grip."
"You really came over the top on that one."
"Never got your weight off your back foot."
...are typical faults when we feel pressure. BTW, this is different than what your buddies will tell you, because your buddies, while well intentioned, aren't instructors.

If any of those sound like they describe your swing under pressure, this gives you something even more specific to do to match your tournament swing to your practice swing.

Sometimes keywords help too. For example, the words smooth and languid have helped me. I have a tendency to get quick or jump at the ball.

Thru and after impact pull the handle/grip left, just like your holding it off a bit. Irons 5y less and higher ball flight, Also feel like your take a away is out in front a tad but not too much. Get in a good posture eyes over the ball, thus try not to back swing inside. Swing normal...these slight adjustments should not mess with the flo of the swing.

So the follow up. Day 2 of the tourney. I played ever so slightly better. But I'd say 75% of the time I took the club back I would get that hitchy thing where the club would go straight back inside and I'd feel my arms all out of whack and my partner would say it looked totally different than the practice swing.

As soon as the round ended I went to the range. I hit exactly 50 balls. Mind you this morning when I warmed up at the range I had the same yips. Post round I hit 50 balls. Every single one was on line or somewhere around it, on none did I have the hitch. It was a feeling I don't even know how to explain, to realize all of this is completely 100% in my head. So now I just need to work through how to deal with it and use this as a learning experience. I am a choker. It doesn't mean I am condemned to that fate for life, but as for now, I let the pressure of events cause me to do things I'd never do in a casual round.

Time to go to the drawing board.

As Chisag said, "dont care..."

The result really doesn't matter in the big scheme of things, does it? World peace does not depend on the results of your swing, so why care so much?

My instructor says - "Make a swing without a ball" I do. He puts a ball down. "Make another swing." I do. "Now what happened to that first guy?"

Yes, I know the feeling. I don't know your trigger for not caring - whether it's a smile, a not caring feeling, maybe you need a tempo/timing focus so you don't think about the ball, or maybe you just need to look in front of the ball so you're not ball bound.

Hit through the ball without caring - just have fun.

And the result is the result - forget it, because the past does not matter. Learn and go plan the next shot.

And don't call yourself a ... whatever ... that doesn't help.

I appreciate all the thoughts. Went to range today. Striped everything. Wasn't planning on playing but wanted to just rid myself of the bad thoughts since I'd "fixed" the issue.

Proceeded to snap hook every ball on the course as soon as I stepped onto one tee. My takeaway was so inside that it was almost parallel to the ground. I'd take three practice swings... Perfect and then proceed to go back to the take away.

My instinct I think was correct to take a long break and see if I can forget the choking before it gets ingrained in muscle memory. From there who knows. I'm heartbroken, I can say that.

Hmmmm... don't know if doing nothing will ultimately help. Maybe ...

video

sports psychologist, because it

sounds like the body is tightening up in the backswing.

We go on a memorial trip every year to Portugal (started in Norwich, England, moved to Spain, then Portugal, but I digress)

We have two teams, two rounds of pairs then the last round singles. In fairness we drink far too much all week and the golf gets gradually worse. We have what we call the Portugal chips, in which anything within 10ft is pretty much applauded (although you know you can’t hole the putt)
Anyway, we were going down 17 in the singles in the last group with the team event in the balance and my mate and team member was struggling badly - He was simply trying too much.

My advice to him, bearing in mind we were both basically dying from hangovers, too little sleep, too little food and too much golf ?

“Mate, just stop trying so f*****g hard”

I'm not going to discuss your swing with you, there's been plenty of competent advice on that. I too went through the same thing. At the Colorado Open this year I played two practice rounds, shot 67 and 65. Both effortless and solid. My 20 YO son ( college baseball pitcher) was my caddy. When tourney started, I shoot a stellar 79-79. My son said "Dad, you don't even look like the same guy". I was ready to just give up. I 've only been back playing since Dec of '17 but i have worked so, so hard. Then I started to look for help. Went to see a guy (James Sieckmann) on short game, but that turned into a mental game lesson after 30 min. The next 3 1/2 hours were an exhaustive and sometimes VERY PAINFUL self exam. Best thing I ever did. What he told me was nothing but truth. He was the first person who could describe "being in the zone" to me. I'm quite literal, so when people said I needed to get my head right, i had no idea what that meant, nor how to do it.
I was a compulsive practicer. When I was at hotel, I would get anxiety so bad that I couldn't sleep so I'd get up and putt or swing in mirror, I worried that every time I didn't practice, someone else was, and they were getting better. I hit balls till my hands bled every day, I changed grips every 30 days. I had a bucket full of worn out Mizuno blades and various sand wedges. I putted and putted for hours on end. Finished every day by making 100 3 footers in a row, never putting the same putt 2 times in a row. If I missed, start over from 1. All this and I still couldnt play dead in a western when it was a tournament. He defined that as " being on a hamster wheel". He completely changed my practice routines. Now I hit 15 chip shots a session, and 17 putts a session, and am tired after these sessions, mentally tired. I don't hit a shot unless I've completely gone through my routine, and have made this shot mean something. Because I have 1 chance to hit said shot, and I evaluate the results, not berating myself for a bad shot, but trying to figure out if I a) chose correct shot. b) hit it with correct pace and landing spot. I Hit no more than 50 balls per session, unless I have something to work on then I isolate exactly what I'm trying to fix and work ONLY on that. I play 5 days a week. I have a putting, chipping and ball striking session before, and 3 days a week after I play. Spend much more time on fitness, 8 hours a week ( trying to get to 15).

What are the Results? Last couple of tournaments were 69 won by 3 w/ rain out second day, Then next one shot 70-70 to win by one. Was -4 on front side second day and got too conservative coming in. But learning. All because I quit trying so hard.

Now I'm going to define trying to hard.
1. Just because you can see the pin, doesn't mean you should aim at it. If you play for the middle of the green and have 18 twenty foot putts a round your going to shoot under par, even if you're an average putter. Because by the 3rd hole, you are comfortable with speed and break of greens. And everytime you aim for the correct part of green you reduce the amount of pressure you feel, freeing up yourself mentally to make a better swing. Then when you do "take dead aim" you have a tremendous amount of confidence because you've not beaten yourself up trying to make impossible up and downs on every hole.

2. Just because you can hit driver, doesn't mean you should. My driver is a weapon, I carry it 288 and hit it really straight with a one way miss. BUT, it was amazing how many fairways I missed because I hit it in situations where I had too little to gain and too much to loose. I hit driver on places where I have a huge chance to hit fairway even if I miss. Same with irons, when I'm not aiming at sucker pins I did'nt miss the green in an impossible up and down which MOST IMPORTANTLY DID'NT JUST MAKE MY SCORE GO UP, IT SLOWLY ATE AWAY MY CONFIDENCE.

Simple rules I used for these last few tournaments: aim for fat part of green, take 20 footers all day (unless it was a wedge ) and no drivers unless it was absolutely necessary. Hit whatever club was necessary to ensure ball stays in fairway.

Hope this helps you as it did me. Most of you are probably a lot smarter than I am and already know this stuff. I knew it, but never realized I did'nt do it.
Look at yourself and your game like a business that you are going to invest in. Then how would you change it to get more from your investment. This attitude will help you no matter your handicap. Sorry for the long post, but I just sincerely wanted someone to benefit from this.

Thanks for this post. I don't play tournament golf - but I really seem lost with my iron play this year when it comes to G.I.R. I just can't seem to let it happen some days and concentrate on mechanics way too much.

Desmond said:

Hmmmm... don't know if doing nothing will ultimately help. Maybe ...

video

sports psychologist, because it

sounds like the body is tightening up in the backswing.

Click to expand...

This^^! I went through a time for about 2 years where breaking 90 was a struggle because nearly every shot was a shank. The fix? Consciously relax my WHOLE body and focus on feeling the club head. Pick a target and swing. Soon the surprise of hitting a good shot will go away. I feel your pain.

Snickerdog said:

It just comes with experience. You seem to have dispositioned you mind unconsciously to know you will perform bad under the pressure. Do you have someone that you can play with that is better or much better than you? That is how I overcame the nerves, they still hit me but much less. You may never be totally conformable with the situation but it will get better the more you play, don't stop because of it.

Click to expand...

Sounds right to me!