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Playing well when playing through

baldguy

baldguy

Part-Time Sasquatch
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Corinth, TX
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Today I went out as a single, trying to move through the course quickly. Easy enough to do on a Thursday afternoon. I blazed through the first 5 holes but caught up to the crowd on the 6th. a long uphill par 5. I could see a 5-some in front of me and a 4-some up on the green. I patiently waited and gave them plenty of time to move up before I hit each shot on the next couple of holes. On the par 3 8th, I arrived to the tee just as the 5-some was getting to the green. They waved at me to play through and they all cleared the green. Certain that I would shank or top it and send it dribbling at their ankles, I tried to shake off the nervous feeling and get one on the green. I stepped up, took a deep breath and hit one of my best tee shots I've ever hit on that hole. 7i to a back pin placement that was only about 7 feet long and 2 feet left. Feeling really good about having overcome the nerves and smiling at the "nice shot" calls from the 5-some, I drove up and parked next to the green. Looking at about an 8-foot putt with very little break I felt somewhat confident I could sink the bird and really fool these guys into thinking I knew what I was doing :D. Then, of course, I left my birdie putt short.. like not even close. I thanked them again and tapped in the 2-footer for an embarassing par. Then I played the 9th and caught up to the 4-some on the 10th and they let me play through... here come the nerves again. I don't know what made me pull driver in that situation but I did... and I topped it about 180y. at least it was still in the fairway!

I'm sure many of us have played through another group at some point. Does anyone else get nervous and feel like they have to perform in front of this audience that was nice enough to stop so you could get done more quickly? Any good stories about bouncing one off a tree (or another golfer!) in a situation like this? Would love to hear them!
 
I struggle when playing through, but not because I'm nervous. It's more that I speed up and rush through the hole to get through. Its like I feel that my playing through inconveniences them so I play fast to minimize it and it sometimes backfires into a big score.
 
EaglevsFalcon said:
I struggle when playing through, but not because I'm nervous. It's more that I speed up and rush through the hole to get through. Its like I feel that my playing through inconveniences them so I play fast to minimize it and it sometimes backfires into a big score.
Click to expand...

^^^^ This exactly
 
Not when playing through, but I'm always playing with someone else so that probably helps.

I do screw up when a group is close behind and I start to feel rushed.

I also did pretty poor on the last scramble I played. I wasn't nervous and all my drives were great, but I couldn't hit my 3W to save my life and was pulling all of my irons. This after I looked like a pro on the driving range when warming up for the scramble...I don't know it it was nerves trying to perform well for my team or what. We weren't rushed.
 
Ive done awful a few times playing through. It's like im doing well and playing quickly so I catch right up to a group. I then think everyone is looking at me like "ok this guy is fast so he must be good" ill admit I feel some pressure. I don't usually screw up but there's definitely been a few times where I shanked a tee shot in front of a group. Sucks but hey it happens and those times have helped me so now it's easier and easier if I catch a group
 
Playing through hasn't bothered me for a long time. Even if I do happen to screw up and mess up some shots while playing through, I am going to be long gone before they have a chance to remember how poorly I played through.

I don't think about having to hit a good shot, because ultimately, whatever is going to happen will happen. I don't get too cocky when I do well, and I don't apologize if I screwed up in the pass. I thank them for letting me through and go on my way.
 
If folks let me play through, my main concern is that I hold them up as little as possible. Sometimes I jog between shots to get out of their way faster. Sometimes I walk to my ball off to the side of the fairway so they can hit shots while I'm getting to my ball. Sometimes I go around them so they don't have to stop playing at all. I guess I feel more anxious about getting out of their way than I feel nervous.

baldguy said:
...Does anyone else get nervous and feel like they have to perform in front of this audience that was nice enough to stop so you could get done more quickly?
Click to expand...
 
I admit I do get the nerves and rush through the hole, but I try to tell myself that I'll never see these people again and who the heck cares!

I'm flying solo tomorrow and I can see from the available online tee times that I'm most likely going to be sandwiched between at least a couple groups unless I can get out before them.

When I find myself stuck like that I usually just take my time and get some extra practice as Long as nobody is on my heels.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I feel rushed too .. If I'm by myself and just having fun with no score . I will drive to the next tee and go.. Instead of the hassle of being waved up
 
I know the feeling of rushing yourself in this situation but I can quite often execute a decent shot still.
 
EaglevsFalcon said:
I struggle when playing through, but not because I'm nervous. It's more that I speed up and rush through the hole to get through. Its like I feel that my playing through inconveniences them so I play fast to minimize it
Click to expand...

Me too
 
I concentrate so much when playing through that I generally hit a pretty good shot. I need to bottle that focus for the rest of my game.
 
Nervous might not be the right word, but it definitely feels like extra pressure. When you hit that ball and it's good, it's a great feeling though!

I do tend to play better under a bit of pressure, but when playing through I also take a little less risk. On a par3 I won't always attack the pin for example, or I might grab a club shorter (or longer) on other occasions. :)
 
I get a little squirrely when playing through because I try to rush, it happened to me the other day.
 
To me, this is as nerve wrecking as when you hit it on someone else's hole and they're waiting for you to hit. Just gotta take an extra breath and swing your swing
 
I don't get nervous, but I start playing fast. That gets me out of rhythm and I end up usually just pull hooking the crap out of my shot. Then it takes me a couple of holes to regroup.

~Rock
 
McRock said:
I don't get nervous, but I start playing fast. That gets me out of rhythm and I end up usually just pull hooking the crap out of my shot. Then it takes me a couple of holes to regroup.

~Rock
Click to expand...

Same. I don't really feel pressure aside from the pressure to hurry up, which is generally a bad thing for me. Stupid too, because I can put space between any group I'm playing through at a normal pace.
 
I'm like the others where I rush and that causes problems. Playing while anyone is watching adds a little pressure but I think speed is my real killer.
 
Jacqui used to not like it, but after a while she started putting her drives far and down the middle like she usually does, and it doesn't bother her as much.
 
We had a slow group wave us up to hit on a short par 3. All 3 of us chunked it in the water, pretty embarrassing.
 
I've had plenty of great holes when playing through and a number of not so great holes. The good thing for me is that I tend to play better when I'm playing fast. Maybe it's because I don't have time to over think a shot?
Some of my best shots have come when I have a number of people watching me tee off or hit on a par 3. I enjoy having the adrenaline pumping, and want to hit well, so I tend to maybe dial up the focus just a bit more. Had this happen this last weekend actually. We were on a 200 yard par 3 that was playing into the wind a bit. My parents, wife and kids (plus the 3 other guys on my scramble team, and the 4 others on the other team) were all watching and I hit the closet shot to the pin. Then on the next hole, a par 5, I striped a driver perfectly down the left side of the fairway. I hit these two hole so well that the guys on my team thought it would be good if my parents, wife and kids followed us around the rest of the round! lol
 
I play by myself quite often and have to admit that I hate being waved through. I can almost guarantee that my next drive will be topped or an otherwise embarassing disaster. I tell myself that it'll all be forgotten in 5 minutes but is impossible to shake the feeling. I'm the same on any tee where people are watching as well - something I need to sort out!
 
When I play, it's almost always with my mom, who routinely shows that no matter how old you get, your mom can still kick your butt. We play pretty quickly, as in if we were by ourselves, we could play 18 in around 2 hours. When we get the opportunity to play through, I'm always nervous and sometimes hit well but usually hit pretty crappy. But when she hits, she crushes it. I asked her why once and she said, and I quote, "I like playing in front of people. I wish I always had an audience."


Tapatalkin away
 
I am in the same boat, when I know there are a lot of eyes of people I don't know on me, I feel the pressure (even though nothing is riding on it). I continue to work to manage the pressure in a positive way, though overthinking it would likely prove disastrous.
 
It used to rattle me a lot more than it does now. When I eventually realized that the groups I'm going through probably aren't all scratch golfers (a fact they'll more than prove if you pay attention while behind them), I'm now more relaxed. It doesn't really impact my tee shot anymore but I still do rush a little going to my ball, chipping, putting etc... but really I shouldn't. As others have said, you'll be well past them in no time.
 
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