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High Pressure Situations???

RNG

RNG

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You have an important match (to you)!! How do you deal with the pressure? Any thing you can teach others to help calm down?

I learned a long time ago that when dealing with pressure / nerves everyone is different but there some methods to assist with your nerves. My best best advice, to myself, is to remember that the person you are playing is just as nervous as you which helps me.

What do you do????
 
Step back, take a deep breath in through my nose and out of my mouth and remember that I'm on a golf course playing a game I love and if this is the most pressure I deal with, I have it pretty damn good.
 
Have 1-2 focused swing thoughts which you know very well, keep it simple.

Laugh - always laugh, have fun.
 
Mizunofan99 said:
You have an important match (to you)!! How do you deal with the pressure? Any thing you can teach others to help calm down?

I learned a long time ago that when dealing with pressure / nerves everyone is different but there some methods to assist with your nerves. My best best advice, to myself, is to remember that the person you are playing is just as nervous as you which helps me.

What do you do????
Click to expand...
My first career was as a clinical laboratory scientist. Pressure is when 150 samples come into your lab, the machine is down for maintenance, and you have doctors and nurses screaming for results minutes before the samples even arrive. Golf isn't life and death ...

It's all about perspective ... but the one thing I learned is that you can't allow yourself to get flustered. Once you panic, it compounds the problem. Slow things down, remind yourself that you have prepared for this moment, and just get it done. Can't begin to go through story after story about where people - who were eminently qualified - panic'd, forgot all of their training and became blubbering idiots.
 
Golf is relaxing to me no matter what.

My job is where the pressure lies. I make a mistake and it can impact the public safety of thousands. I enjoy knowing this though and it makes me strive to be perfect (or as perfect as a person can be) everyday.

Golf is a game for fun and I try and keep that in perspective.

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I just try to relax because golf isn't where my money is made. I take a couple deep breaths and go about the shot
 
I remind myself that it's just a game... I'm outdoors, having fun, enjoying nature, maybe a cool beer or two... no pressure.

I got paired with a threesome last week. One of the guys got so mad after an OB pull hook on 11 that he chucked his driver - unfortunately right at my bag, which (fortunately) was on a pull cart. The pull car handle snapped his driver in half and kept it from damaging my clubs.

By the time we got to 18 he had calmed down a bit. I thanked them for allowing me to join as I really needed the diversion that day. I had a loved one in the hospital who was contemplating suicide and wasn't able to go visit them until that evening so I was passing the time w/ a round of golf to keep my mind from spinning all day.

He looked a bit ashamed of himself for his antics, apologized and thanked me for the reality check.

So, again... yeah... it's just a game.
 
I just try and smile and have a good time. If I try to get too serious for the whole round, I will be so uptight I won't be able to swing. I like to joke around during a round but when its time for my shot, I focus on the shot I want to make, swing, and go find my ball. When I was competing in Cowboy Mounted Shooting, I was really nervous before one of my runs, they usually last 15-20 seconds, an old man came up to me and told me quit worrying and focus on what I had to do. He said " Hell if you can't focus for 20 seconds at a time, you probably don't need to be doing it anyway! It got a chuckle out of me and I've always remembered that in anything I've done.
 
I fold like a lawn chair.
 
I haven't felt any real pressure on the golf course in over 20 years so I really don't know how I would handle it anymore. Hopefully what I used to do when playing competitive golf would still work - just take a few deep breaths and focus on the details of the shot at hand. Maybe when my 2nd child is off to college in a couple years I can make it to some THP events and feel the pressure again!
 
On the drive to the course I just tell my self to relax and take in the scenery of the countryside. I don't ponder the match.
 
A couple of deep breaths, then I think about how my life will not change win or lose. It's just a game.
 
I agree that its all about perspective and I try not to let anything really bother me. I just do the best I can. I kind of think about pressure in golf like I think about pressure for work. I like to think that everything can be fixed. If something gets built wrong on the job site you can always fix it. Nothing is permanent in my line of work. Same with golf, if you make a mistake you usually have a chance to fix it. You can always make a great shot to fix a mistake. The point is, its better to try and do your best then not do anything at all.
 
alcohol...

just laugh and have a good time. golf is my getaway from real life anyway, can't get mad or stressed on the course.
 
Pressure is a funny thing and is ALWAYS self inflicted. It's a mindset. I know it's easy for me to say that, but, I firmly believe it. I'm not saying I haven't felt, and even succumbed, to pressure. But, one thing I'm absolutely certain of: If you're feeling the pressure, you're not thinking about the current shot/putt. In a big match, or one that is very important to me (like the Morgan Cup), I try to "lose myself" in my game, thinking only about the shot at hand. Does it always work? Of course not, and I did lose focus a few times that weekend. But, overall, I was pretty proud of what I accomplished with my game, given how monumental the weekend was for me.
 
I don't know man. I just try to embrace it. I love those situations


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I know it's not the exact same thing as a match but while purchasing a new putter at the taylormade outlet in St. Augustine I had the chance to make a 10 foot putt for 15% off. I didn't care about making it because I really didn't care about paying full price. Drained it. When I don't care I play better.


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I take a deep breath, accept the pressure and think of a song. Music always puts me in a good mood and calms me.
 
I think about how awesome it is going to be when I pull off the shot I have at hand. If I am feeling pressure then I know my opponent is feeling it to, so the look on there face or the reaction they are going to have to me converting is all the motivation I need to put a stress to rest. That being said I think putting is the worst for pressure for me, I much rather have a pressure packed full swing.
 
When I figure it out I'll let you guys know. I just try to embrace it, works better sometimes than others.
 
Nerves happen. If you're not nervous to some degree, then you're not alive. It's all about slowing down everything you can. Slow you thinking, slow you steps, slow your breathing, slow down your swing...all of this will slow down your heart rate and make it easier to focus and control yourself so you can make a good swing or putting stroke.
 
A little tactical breathing before my shot. Talk about everything except golf while on the way to the next hole and remember to enjoy the round/game. ​



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A couple of deep breaths and focus on the task at hand. In the end, it is just golf.
 
Like Tiger said, being nervous about your game is okay, that means you care about your game. Accept the stress, take a deep breath, and focus on process instead of results. Results can vary from one day to another, and there's no way of knowing how the day will turn out.

Stroke play is the most stressful for me, because I have to grind for four hours without let up.

Still, golf is golf. Once the game is over the stress is gone. And golf is never worse than real life, regardless of score.

I guess the stress is self-imposed, I grind because I want to post a good score.
 
During my second MC. I had a singles match I was really worried about. On the first tee, I was nervously swinging my driver back and forth one handed waiting to tee off since I was lead off. Well my opponent walks up behind me as I'm swinging my driver and sure enough. Hit him right in the family jewels. So, that's how I deal with the nerves. I assault my opponent using my club. :banghead:
 
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