Mental game, balance between focus and relaxed?

[DiscGolfFev]

Background: I have been playing for 4 years, still have major form issues but I am sadly one of the better players in MA2 where I am at (not very competitive). I usually play doubles weekly and usually finish near the top and just got 4th in a singles tournament.

I remember been told I need to relax more, be more smooth, etc. But I found that during tournament I can be too relaxed?

Day 1 of tournament I almost had my 1st ace two holes in, then almost an eagle. So I was doing well, maybe I got too relaxed. Second half I missed few lines and only ended with -2.
Day 2, I started the round bit angry with myself and focused. Started getting birdies left and right. I ended the day with -8 and got 4th for the tournament.

Even then I did throw an jump putt when I should have just laid up and ended with a boggie, that shot alone caused me 3rd place. I think all the doubles game made me too relaxed and have the mind of having fun and try things. That might work well for casual games but for tournaments I need my game face on.

Is this normal? Or are relaxed during shots and focused mental game are just different aspects?

Thanks

 

[Sheep]

Finding your mental plane to be able to latch on and fly is probably the hardest thing about disc golf from a sense of competitiveness.

I can play a tournament and play really well for 9 or 12 holes, then I get bored if I'm with crappy players on my card who are not doing well. And I'm interested in being anywhere but there, and interested in doing anything except throwing good shots or making good putts.

Finding that mental solitude to focus and stay focused is the hardest thing I struggle with. And it will randomly pop in and out during a round. One hole I'll throw everything perfect, and the next hole I'll look like a beginner golfer.

My brain to busy processing other things and just looses interest in something.

I think part of keeping a good mental attitude is finding something to focus on. I was thinking about this the other day with Happy Gilmore. And.. He was talking about finding your happy place, to keep your focus.
Your place of solitude that lets you focus in and gives you purpose.

I struggle to keep myself in this area of focus, because I'll start thinking about what I wanna cook for dinner at hole 14. And If I need to go to the store, Did I pay the power bill? Man, I really hope my lady has sexy panties on tonight, I wanna see those.
You cant play golf like that.

Or like my round yesterday that wasn't terrible, but my "in the head" song was Aerosmith, Angel. Not a terrible song. But holy shit not a good song to stay pumped to, focused on or anything of the sorts. And it woudln't go away.
All I wanna do. ... AAAAAAANGEL, like, go away.
Trying to throw an upshot and all I can think of is how ugly Steven Tyler is.

 

[biscoe]

With enough practice you can develop the ability to switch your mental state back and forth between disengaged and engaged. If I am playing well i am generally not thinking about disc golf all that much, just focusing when the time comes to throw a shot.

 

[autocrosscrx]

I tend to do better when I'm focused. But I don't think many of us can stay focused the whole time.


Personally, writing out a plan seems to help. You can't plan everything and you need a contingency plan for abnormal weather, losing a disc, etc. But you can get some of the lift knocked out by having a plan to land to the left of the fairway on 11, throw a forehand chip shot to play for par on 13, be aggressive on 17 and so forth.

 

[ThrowaEnvy]

@DiscGolfFev

Yup kinda sounds like an average tourney for me...totally normal... a couple quick things..

Doubles gives you unrealistic expectations for a singles round. Fight the urge to think you are "behind" where you think you should be. There is no player B to bail you out.

Manage expectations, "There is nothing wrong with par" is one of my mantras. There is also no making up for the last shot/hole. Just the next throw.

Focus but don't overthink it, just play your game. I believe that's the relax part, if you end up over thinking you will forget how you normally throw. If I don't focus enough I tend to use a looser grip then I should.

Kinda sounds to me like you were hot out of the gate and maybe tried some more aggressive lines that snowballed into a series of rough holes. I've been there haha, kinda like the 2 beer savant sweet spot, 3 is too many and 4 makes it worse.. but when you are relaxed enough and focused enough you can light it up.

At the end of the tournament being able to maintain focus as you get tired is more important than being relaxed. That's where keeping fueled with snacks and water, staying dry, keeping your hands warm and having dry towels left will win rounds by a stroke or two.

 

[DiscGolfFev]

Thank you all for the great comments.

@Sheep This. I actually find myself doing worse when I am winning. "hard to to win a game you are winning" I am not sure what it is, maybe boredom like you said, maybe I feel bad for them. I learned to care bit less about their feelings and just pedal to the metal, if that means they feel bad because they got a boggie and I got a birdie, that is not my problem, not trying to sound like a jerk but I need to isolate myself.

@biscoe @autocrosscrx Sounds like having a plan and learn to disengage between shots is the name of the game! It did help it was played at my home courses and I have a general idea what to do. The visiting players definitely suffered from not knowing the course/not having a plan so I see what you are saying.

@ThrowaEnvy I get what you are saying. I do struggle with "par is enough" when the winning score was -11 or -10 in MA2! On the other hand, not going for par when chance of birdie is small definitely costed me, so I need to learn to differentiate which one the sitatuion is calling for.

When I overthink I end up releasing early, i.e. scared and not commit to my upshot.

The beer analogy is spot on. My buddy told me I should drink one BEFORE it starts just to relax me some. It has helped in the past but yeah like you said, find the "sweet spot" is important.

Both you and autocross hinted on managing late game is important and I definitely find myself much worse on 2nd half, I try to stay fueled but maybe I need to do more endurance exercises.

 

[Sheep]

Thank you all for the great comments.

@Sheep This. I actually find myself doing worse when I am winning. "hard to to win a game you are winning" I am not sure what it is, maybe boredom like you said, maybe I feel bad for them. I learned to care bit less about their feelings and just pedal to the metal, if that means they feel bad because they got a boggie and I got a birdie, that is not my problem, not trying to sound like a jerk but I need to isolate myself.

I play far far better when I play with better players.
But with my crap rating, or other issues that come about playing in any sort of sanctioned event, I rarely get to play with anyone my actual skill level. And I have a nasty habbit of playing around the skill level of anyone I'm playing with.

For me some of the boredom comes from dealing with the other players for so many holes and I just get tired from maintaining that level of focus for so long that I get bored and start playing poorly.

Or I run into the play a good hole, wait on everyone else for 15 minutes as they catch up to my shot, take my birdy. Then of course I have the box, do the same thing, and wait for them forever, and the next hole I'm so uninterested in playing at that time I throw a bad shot as I've lost all my focus waiting on them.

I play with better players who play fast, and this issue is greatly mitigated down to my consistency issues where I might be off and be the short drive, but I also don't dilly dally while I make the bad shot and get to my drive quick and make my next shot. Being courteous of those I'm playing with and not holding them up, but making sure to at least take some level of time to try and execute a good shot.

Meanwhile when its me waiting on them. I'm standing disc high with their disc and they are still fussing around at the tee pad 100 feet back. It just gets old, and I could care less for it. So I just don't play tournaments.

Or like the last sanctioned event that I played, my tag should have put me on chase card. The guy running it doesn't like me, so when someone showed up 15 minutes late after signups closed, he moved everyone around and put him on chase card, and moved me to a rec card. And the rec players were like "what the fuck is an MPO player doing on our card?"
And I'm like. I duno.
And one of the guys was pretty good, MA1 player who got stuck there. But the other 2 guys were true rec level players, which is fine if its a casual round, but as the one guy said and I quote "You guys take this way to seriously."
And I replied, "I have to, I'm playing for money."

If cards were set randomly on tournaments, It would be a far different ball game. There are players out there who always play together, and when they play together, they play really good. But you get them on a different card with odd ball people, they play poorly just like me. Drawing top players in doubles rounds, and watching them just eat shit because they are not playing with their other 3 normal buddies they card with or get carded with all the time. You go from 2 aces in a round last week to cant hit a fairway this week because you're playing with different people?
They are not cheaters, it just shows how card dynamics can be such a huge factor in peoples ability to perform. The more I play with some people, the better I play around them personally. Especially in a doubles fashion drawing them as a partner. I'm always going to play poorly with them the first 2 draws, but after that my brain adjusts to their play style and I can turn it up.

 

[ru4por]

With enough practice you can develop the ability to switch your mental state back and forth between disengaged and engaged. If I am playing well i am generally not thinking about disc golf all that much, just focusing when the time comes to throw a shot.

I am going to agree with biscoe here. 90 some percent of disc golf is a walk in the woods [if done correctly]. On any given hole, you only spend a minute or so, actually engaged in throwing the disc.

We all look for different things out of competitive golf. Strive to find that joy. I am hoping it is fun that drives most. Fun is sitting out there in the woods, it is simply our job to make sure we revel in it.

 

[ThrowaEnvy]

I will echo the sentiment that I play better with better players. Preferably pro women haha, gives me the best competition usually (even though it's not direct competition). I kinda like mixed cards that way as long as I'm not stuck with rec players. .My best card and tourney round last year was in masters playing with a pro woman, advanced and a pro man. I was trying to drive like a woman and putt like a pro. Point is it made no difference to my payout or theirs with what the rest of my group shot.

You are playing against yourself. If you are on a card with a hot player it's tough to remember. Kinda like par, there's nothing wrong with third place. There is often a bad decision or stroke that bumps you down a spot. Been a few times I've won or lost by a stroke.

Mistake minimalization , or birdies over ace runs is a solid strategy (if your course is that short). I get more aces when I'm not trying for one and more bogeys when I am.

I also play a good second round after a bad first round, nothing to win, just try not to lose, just trying to place.

With the beer be careful haha if you have alcoholic genes you process it more like a diabetic and sugar. Quick lift and a crash if you stop. I stick to Gatorade but usually pack an emergency beer or two. A second identical putter to switch to (because the first one sucks)... a comet as a safety blanket...anything to get my mental game back on track.

 

[biscoe]

We are all different and the fact that every round is different is one of the most attractive things about dg to me personally. I tend to play better when playing with people I don't know well whether they are better than me or not. My guess is my mind is less burdened with expectations of my play relative to theirs.

 

[Nick Carroll]

For me disc golf hasn't been so much about scores, winning, placement in a field, or rating. Even if I'm the one scoring on the card. I don't know why, but it is. And most people I play with are focused on those things. What I find myself focusing on is execution. Can I execute a shot? Did I execute the last shot? What did I do wrong? What did I do right? But the interesting dynamic is having conversations with these people and they're always looking through that lens, and I'm not.