Golf dreams, (while sleeping). Not day dreams.

[Millbrook]

Jung said;

 

“Dreams are symbolic in order that they cannot be understood; in order that the wish, which is the source of the dream, may remain unknown“.

 

As golfers we all want to improve so the secret fear which we do not wish to acknowledge is that maybe that we will not improve. Or, in Jungs interpretation, it is the desire to improve 'against the odds' which is not being acknowledged.

 

We face failure every time we play yet we all remember the shot which brought us back to try again. The desire to improve is in conflict with an assessment of our current skill level.

 

It's perhaps significant that in the recurring dreams posted it is an external agency preventing us from success or even being able to play/hit the ball rather than a dream where the ball is hit badly which would be the dreamers own responsibility.

 

I like the theory stuff here, but I'm not sure what you mean by the last part. As a haver of the dreams being described I would add that I never experience fear of a bad shot in said dreams. It's just the setup is all crazy in weird dream logic ways that would never be encountered on a course. What would be the root fear under this theory? Is it to say that the external agency is a form of blame-shifting at a subconscious level and we simply fear failure? Or is the fear really that things totally beyond our control (or comprehension?) will prevent us from improving?

 

I think you can liken these kinda golf dreams to other 'can't get where I'm going type dreams'. I haven't been in school for a few years, but still have recurring dreams about having a final exam somewhere and I realize I haven't attended the course all semester and I can't find the place where the exam even is. And I was a really solid student and had little to no anxiety about actually taking exams. I feel like it's the same underlying fear but manifested in golf - but I don't know exactly what the fear is.

 

I'm no expert but thought I would throw the theory bit in to see if it resonated with anyone.

 

The exam dream is very common and is said to be about the fear of failure. However this could be on the subconscious level - perhaps fear is too strong a word for some cases, maybe it could be thought of as being aware of the consequences of failure. I had an exam dream coupled with a bit of girlfriend rejection last night but it's years since I sat an exam and an equally long time since I've been married.

 

Like your exam dream something out of my control was preventing things going smoothly with the exam ( regarding the girlfriend bit we actually got it together, woke up a bit, dozed off, the dream continued, and I got rejected). Pahhhhh.

 

In the golf dreams where the golfer is prevented from doing something I think there is a difference between the golfer who goes onto the first tee with nerves and the golfer who lacks those nerves but is still keen to succeed.

 

The first golfer is thinking 'what if I screw up the tee shot/make a fool of myself etc. The second golfer does not have the same (or any nerves) so what can stop them succeeding - subconsciously it has to be an outside agency.

 

Perhaps another way to think of it is to do away with the word 'fear' and think - what is the underlying desire. In this case it is success.

 

Words like fear, failure and anxiety tend to have negative connotations. I don't fear driving but drive with a positive alertness to danger at times, other times you could say I'm normally attentive.

If I saw a dangerous situation and latter had car crash dreams would I suddenly have developed a fear of driving or could it just be my subconscious reminding me to be attentive. If I explored my feeling about it it maybe the root cause of my dream was not about me but seeing the dangerous situation made me fearful of my wife driving as she is not very confident and may not have managed the situation well.

 

Again I'm no expert but would hazard a guess that the sort of recurring golf dream you and others are having go like this in explanation;

 

I like my golf

I want to do well and enjoy it.

I want to improve

I'm confident/comfortable when I play

I'm looking forward to playing.

I may have a bad shot or too but that's golf

My score does not define who I am

 

Subconscious says 'Well then the only thing that can bu$$er you up is something totally outside your control'. This comes out as a dream.

 

Maybe then it can be seen not as an underlying fear but more of - what it would take to stop you succeeding - whether that be golf or an exam?

[knockdstiff]

^^^^Interesting thoughts. Seems that we're all stuck with these unless we stop wanting to improve. And I don't want that.

[Millbrook]

^^^^Interesting thoughts. Seems that we're all stuck with these unless we stop wanting to improve. And I don't want that.

 

Firstly may I repeat that I'm not an expert but thought I'd throw out some thoughts to see if it resonated with anybody.

 

You make an interesting point and I think the real issue is whether someone who has the dreams would rather they disappear.

 

If so then I would suggest two possible routes.

 

Firstly, if the explanation I floated as a possible cause rang true for someone then if they were to say to themselves 'OK I'm happy with what I'm doing to improve it's going to take something totally outside my control to derail me and I can live with that', and see if that impacts on the dreaming.

 

The other route is, when the dream occurs, for them to ask themselves 'What does that dream mean to me'. The answer will not come straight away but posing the question to their subconscious may well provide an answer. The answer is likely to pop into their mind sometime later - I think of it as a 'thought bubble' it'll just come to the surface.

 

When it does just ponder and play around/question it.

[lchang]

A couple new variations from last night:

 

1) I grab a club from my bag and as I stand over the ball, the shaft appears to change into a cord or rope. Just hanging limply. So I go to the bag and select another club. Same problem.

 

2) I explain the rule (and the reason) behind hitting a provisional to a beginner in my group. He can't understand. I keep explaining it over and over.

 

It's weird waking up from dreams like these!!

[McCann1]

let me start off by saying I am a huge huge huge tiger fan but I'm also super competitive almost to the point where I can't play games "for fun"

 

Okay so I sometimes have this dream where it's Tiger and I coming down the stretch on Sunday in a major and Tiger is charging. I have zero majors, but tiger has 14. It's become a two man race and during a pivotal moment with not many holes left I face a difficult shot that I already know I'm going to pull off. If I do pull it off then Tiger has no shot of claiming his 15th major and he goes on to never contend in a major again but I the young pro claim my first. Or, and this is usually where my dream cuts out, I contemplate purposely hit a less than stellar shot, Tiger completes his comeback, and rides off into the sunset being the all time major winner. I usually spend what seems like an enternity debating my decision and then I wake up right before I decide what I am going to do

[uitar9]

No dreams but using past rounds to get to sleep. Very rarely get past number four

[knockdstiff]

let me start off by saying I am a huge huge huge tiger fan but I'm also super competitive almost to the point where I can't play games "for fun"

 

Okay so I sometimes have this dream where it's Tiger and I coming down the stretch on Sunday in a major and Tiger is charging. I have zero majors, but tiger has 14. It's become a two man race and during a pivotal moment with not many holes left I face a difficult shot that I already know I'm going to pull off. If I do pull it off then Tiger has no shot of claiming his 15th major and he goes on to never contend in a major again but I the young pro claim my first. Or, and this is usually where my dream cuts out, I contemplate purposely hit a less than stellar shot, Tiger completes his comeback, and rides off into the sunset being the all time major winner. I usually spend what seems like an enternity debating my decision and then I wake up right before I decide what I am going to do

 

^^^Found Y.E. Yang, guys

[bestrnd35]

So glad to know that these dreams are normal. Can't swing the club because there is no room. Keep picking up the tee and moving it and the same damn thing happens.

 

Different sport but same concept in a dream. I try to play baseball and no matter how hard I try, I can't get the glove on my hand. It won't fit and if by chance it does, the ball just hits it and drops. Glove doesn't fit? Maybe that is an OJ dream.

[PaulCar65]

I have the cannot swing dream. Also have the exam dream and haven't been in school for 25 years. I also have the dream of about to tee off but it's already dark. That one always pisses me off.

[lchang]

New variant last night!  This time, I couldn't get my glove on--the pinky finger just wouldn't get into the glove!  🤷‍♂️

[Hawkeye77]

10 hours ago, lchang said:

New variant last night!  This time, I couldn't get my glove on--the pinky finger just wouldn't get into the glove!  🤷‍♂️

5 years a long time to wait for a different dream - you need to get out more. 
 

Freud would have a field day with this one!

[Pinky5]

On 11/27/2016 at 9:06 AM, uitar9 said:

No dreams but using past rounds to get to sleep. Very rarely get past number four

This is an interesting concept. I may give it a try.

[uitar9]

7 hours ago, Pinky5 said:

This is an interesting concept. I may give it a try.

Damn, four years ago. I still use that technique. After a while, I started "starting" at different holes. Not just 1 and 10. and started setting the flag in different positions. Just to stir up the process so it still keeps working. 

[Pinky5]

13 hours ago, uitar9 said:

Damn, four years ago. I still use that technique. After a while, I started "starting" at different holes. Not just 1 and 10. and started setting the flag in different positions. Just to stir up the process so it still keeps working. 

I did this last night and fell asleep in about 5 minutes. It was pretty enjoyable as well, almost like being on the course haha. Ill definitely be doing this a lot.