Going Mental

[Rickg1]

I entered my first tournament wkend before last. My game was ok except for my putting. Took me until today to figure out where I broke down. I wasn't focusing on a particular part of the basket not to mention a particular chain link. Missed two eight footers, two ten footers and two twelve footers, two fifteen footers, all for birdie The good news--I didn't finish last(that was my goal).

So--where does your game break down under pressure and what do you try to do to prevent it?

 

[mike]

i find that i can put better in the beginning of a round....whereas my drives are lacking my normal D...once i get warmed up...my putts fall apart and my drives are cranked!

i know...messed up

 

[twmccoy1]

I played my first tourny this weekend any my putting was actually decent. I didn't have any real easy misses and I did sink about a 30 footer for bird. I didn't do anything different, just went out and played like it was a practice round.

 

[Blake_T1]

i find putting breakdowns to be more about confidence than anything else.

most players psyche out and putt weak, causing a breakdown in the mechanics and subsequent misses.

if a 20' comebacker yields no fear, it's a lot easier to run everything and give it the power it needs to get there.

 

[TROTTER]

Played with the local disc club the past weekend for the first time.

It was my first round ever without throwing "extra" discs...

Two deuces, lots of pars but I blew up on a basket where my Pro Rhyno rolled down the hill three times for a 7.

It was brutal.

Enjoyed.

Got a lot of tips. A fella showed me how to level out my puts by changing my grip.

Should have played with others who know what they are doing a long time ago...

Much fun.

 

[Smyith1]

i was having that problem and i got over pretty easy. i think the best thing to remember when playing is to relax and don't even think about the fact you are in a tourney. think of it more as playing with some new guys you just met or a league night. and above all have fun. also find whatever keeps you calm. sometimes when i blow up i meditate (in my own way) for a little bit and when i am calm again i continue. sometimes time limits dont allow for this but try to work in any kind of techniques that keep you relaxed. my friend listen to music while he plays and ignores everybody. well anyway good luck in getting your mental game straight and hopefully i'll see you in the big time tournaments when we are both good enough.

 

[thatdirtykid]

I have had trouble playing tags/tourneys or just playing with a group, especially new people. I play great early in the round, but once my partners and I get friendly and chat more, I tend to loose focus and not pay as much attention to my putts. I think I get alitte more concerned to my response to a joke an opponet told right before I step up to my marker... Its a personal problem, and once I discovered it, I have been able to fix it... for the most part :roll:

 

[trogdor1]

One of the better putters in the Denver area once told me, "Go at the basket. Don't try to drop the disc in. When you try to drop in, you end up going around the basket." His wording was better than mine.

When I'm in a slump, as soon as I remember these words, I get out of it.

This goes with Blake's comment of not putting weak.

Something else that helps me is a realistic self image. If you're playing with better players, you start to feel like you SHOULD hit those 30 footers, and start to lose confidence in your 20' putts. For me, a 30 footer is not a high percentage shot, so I try not to let it bother me too much. When I can let these long misses get out of my head, I hit a lot more of the ones I should be hitting.

 

[presidio hills]

i've always thought the key is to practice plenty and know your form. practice lets you hit those putts so you know they are makable. the best practice is at a range where you are hitting most (80% lets say) of your putts...
practice hitting putts at only 20 feet out... see what it's like to throw putts in over and over again. this will boost your confidence. practice longer putts too, but focus on a good part of your session dealing with a range where you can hit 'em over and over again. this may humble you with how close you need to be, but you will practice consistent form.
also, some of my best rounds of putting are when i'm giving good runs at the basket from 40'+ out but none are going in. the score says nothing about my putting, but i know that i'm doing good so when that 20 footer comes i'm thinking "i'm ON it today" not "i need to AT LEAST make this easy putt, i've missed everything today"

 

[TexasOutlaw]

Does the group you are playing with change anything? I notice that with some people, I have good rounds, yet with other I cannot do anything right. Unfortanately, it's my local course where some of the latter play.

I know with some groups, I just plain have fun without worrying about the results; this translates to a decent score/round. On the other hand, the atmosphere created by others is not conducive to disc.

 

[jiwaburst]

Does the group you are playing with change anything? I notice that with some people, I have good rounds, yet with other I cannot do anything right. Unfortanately, it's my local course where some of the latter play.

I have a big theory about this. I'll write it in long form if anyone is really interested, but the short answer is of course who you play with affects you. The people we are with affect how we feel, and our own feeling can certainly affect how we play.

Pick your competeive endeavor of choice: softball, hoops, chess, sales, political debate, even marriage and friendship sometimes, there is vibe going on in all these things, especially when someone has a piece of their self-worth tied into the 'outcome'.

You know the Eastern stories of martial artists having battles with eachother just by sizing eachother up? This is an extreme extension of this principle, that the vibe, force, or feeling coming from someone is actually a tangible thing.

But bringing it back to disc golf. It's up to each of us to evaluate when to try and overcome this tendancy to tilt when playing with certain people, and when to decide that its not worth it to constantly take on some peoples' stuff.

 

[freeus]

Holy thread resurrection Batman!

I track all my rounds on a spreadsheet. There's one guy I play with fairly regularly that just seems to psych me out for some reason. There's no real negativity. He's better than me, but not tremendously so. But statistically, my average score when playing with him is a full 9 strokes worse than playing with anyone else or by myself. Every time I play a round with him, trees seem to jump in front of every disc I throw. Seriously. What's up with that? :shock:

 

[GorillaTactics]

Does the group you are playing with change anything? I notice that with some people, I have good rounds, yet with other I cannot do anything right. Unfortanately, it's my local course where some of the latter play.

I have a big theory about this. I'll write it in long form if anyone is really interested, but the short answer is of course who you play with affects you. The people we are with affect how we feel, and our own feeling can certainly affect how we play.

Pick your competeive endeavor of choice: softball, hoops, chess, sales, political debate, even marriage and friendship sometimes, there is vibe going on in all these things, especially when someone has a piece of their self-worth tied into the 'outcome'.

You know the Eastern stories of martial artists having battles with eachother just by sizing eachother up? This is an extreme extension of this principle, that the vibe, force, or feeling coming from someone is actually a tangible thing.

But bringing it back to disc golf. It's up to each of us to evaluate when to try and overcome this tendancy to tilt when playing with certain people, and when to decide that its not worth it to constantly take on some peoples' stuff.

I completely agree with this. There is a noticeable difference in my game when everybody on my card is positive and congratulatory toward each other. There are unfortunately some asshats who like to be over-competitive dicks...tuning them out is the hard part, but if you can learn to just blow it all off, your game will be the better for it. I'm still trying to master this, it's tough to keep your mental energy up and create your own positive environment despite somebody else talking a lot of crap and gamesmanship.

There are two different weeklies I try to play in Austin, and one has a noticeable difference in overall "feel"...everybody I have played with is there to have a good time and we all play better golf because we all get stoked for each other. I tend to get a bit more stressed out at the other one. Of course, it is also at a much more difficult course, but there seems to be a lot less bro-ing down going on. There's still a lot of cool people, but it's just not quite the same, it seems.

 

[tushamajig131]

My game breaks down after a couple of 4's or 5's. I just have a really toughtime picking myself up and executing after that. Sometimes, if its early enough a couple 3's will get me back on track, but second round troubles have been plaguing me this year. Guess I should register for more tourneys

 

[masterbeato]

Go with a gameplan, and know what you can, and can't do. Golf is more about playing within yourself. Competitive play only comes into play when your on the top card playing against the people you know you have to beat. But as of right now, just play within your game and you will learn a lot.

Don't go for broke on the first round. Just play your game and have fun. Don't try to be the hero, just play your game.

The hero is where you can play within yourself and know what you can and cannot do, and do it.

 

[sweeper]

I'm not a ver skilled player, but I tend to have very good rounds in tourneys and weeklys and the like. I'll throw out some of the thinks that have helped me, either from my own head or the heads of those I have played with.

Putting:
1. Throw it at the basket. The disc can't go in if you don't!

2. Don't think! That's for practice putting. You really need to have your form down before you start a tourney. Its too late to make changes once you are out there.

Other:

3. Don't think-- about your score. Each shot should be the best, smartest shot you can make, it doesn't matter if its for 2 or 3 or 4. Each shot is not affected by the previous one. Your body knows how to throw. Let it. Pressing is bad.

4. Have fun. Please! Smile, talk, enjoy it. I have found this is a great way to avoid choking.

(If I think of other stuff, I mite post it later.)
Sweeps

 

[jayne1]

Ah yes, the mental game. I have a lot of trouble forgetting bad shots and moving on. I'm a decent player who plays sanctioned tournaments. I've only been playing for just over a year, but I'm hard on myself and expect more out of myself than what I am capable. Even while playing rec rounds, I find myself angry often. I have been more than ready to quit the sport I love on more than one or two occasions. I get so angry that I know it'd be better for me to quit than to let the sport drive me crazy. After discussing this with one of my friends a few days back, he suggested I take the time to not keep score and just go have fun. Do field work. Practice putting. Go play rec rounds and let them truly be just that- rec rounds. I played two rounds today and I can say in all honesty I have no idea what I shot. I went back in my head after and tried to figure it out. I couldn't. But you know what, I had a great time out in the beautiful weather playing an awesome sport. I hope I can carry this attitude with me into leagues and tournaments.

 

[masterbeato]

Rec rounds are suppose to be fun. If you try and play a tourney in a rec round, then why?

What will happen if you shoot your record round? Nothing, no money, no nothing. I shot my record and what did I get. I got knowledge knowing I can shoot that score in a "rec round".

As for tournaments and competition. Get "Mean", you have to get mean. Doesn't matter what your score is in a tournament, as long as you are hanging and paying attention to what the other player are doing on each hole, then just try and do better than they do. If they shank a shot into the woods on their drive, and you step up and park the shit. Get your attitude rolling, get your ego up, and play to win. Beat the crap out of them guys because if you don't get mean, they will.

Most of the time on days I don't get mean I just enjoy playing golf. Most competitive rounds I play I don't get mean because I don't feel like it. On days I do get mean is when I shoot them guys up and I literally get pissed at them because I know I'm going to win. But I don't get pissed at myself because my game sucks. If you beat someone, your game does not suck. Because you know someone out there shot worse then you.

Go out there and let them shank their shots, that gives you the opportunity to keep parking the holes and making sick putts and throw in's and make them feel like they are shyte. That's what you gotta do is make these people feel like their game and everything that they have worked on over the years they have been playing, was worth nothing and meant nothing.

Make them remember and keep it in their head that today they are going to lose. Make them not even try to beat you anymore. Your attitude is being sick and tired of these people beating you, and get really mean and show them that everything they did in disc golf, all the hard work and advice they seeked out, all the putting, all the driving, all the field work, all the rounds and good scores during rec play and tournament play didn't do a goddamn thing to their game, and all they wanna do is go home and die, because their game sucks and they don't wanna play anymore.

That's the attitude I had during the second round of the tournament I won. I had nothing against the people I was playing with, that's just my competitive side of my game. I know it's pretty satanic and evil, but hey, if you need to win don't just think it, do it.

 

[jayne1]

Haha. Nice. You keep telling me to get pissed. Thanks for finally explaining it. I'm enjoying my rec rounds where I'm finally not keeping score.

Threw over 200 discs with some field work yesterday, played a round at Acorn. Played 18 at Bethel today, followed by Lakewood League, and a round at Hanson with some side putting games. I for sure am putting in the practice. Now all I gotta do is get pissed!

 

[Mars Volta]

i find that i can put better in the beginning of a round....whereas my drives are lacking my normal D...once i get warmed up...my putts fall apart and my drives are cranked!

I think it has to do with the "if I make this putt I will be doing better than (insert name here) " mentality. And when your drives are cranked you get a lot more 20-30 footers...