Controlling anxiety during a tournament

[NevinW]

I'm playing in more Senior tournaments these days and controlling my anxiousness during the round is an issue.  I'd like to hear some tips on how you deal with tournament jitters.

Edited June 7, 2023 by NevinW

[Pepperturbo]

I been playing in tournaments for near 15yrs, near all that time been a senior too. LOL.  The only remedy I know of for being anxious is repetition.   The more you play in events or for more $$$ and/or with high profile golfers, the more you will be comfortable with the conditions.

[getitdaily]

Are you anxious in that you're in a hurry to get to your ball and hit it? Or is it anxiety about where a shot is going to go?

[SNIPERBBB]

As said above, repetition.

 

Also learn to cut down the extraneous thoughts out. Ideally you really don't want anything going through your mind as you're about to pull the trigger. 

[NevinW]

Mostly anxious about results and making mistakes.  

[Ghostwedge]

5 minutes ago, NevinW said:

Mostly anxious about results and making mistakes.  

Why would you think about mistakes and results ? Mistakes happen in golf all the time, so do lousy shots. The results are the results.....

Stay in the moment, trust your routine and sign your card after the round.

[otto6457]

Process. Focus on the process and not on the results.   Rock solid and unchanging pre-shot and post-shot routine.  That's actually about all you can do. 

 

If you're really serious, something like DECADE helps put you in automatic mode.  Golf almost becomes paint by number.

 

As silly as it sounds to some, meditation can make a big difference for many people.  It can give you the ability to observe your anxiety as an impartial observer, and give you tools to use to minimize it's effects.

 

All of this is really based on how serious you are and how much time and energy you want to invest. 

[Sp4zRX]

I’m not good enough at golf to play any tournaments that are worth anything but I have experience playing in bands on stage in front of a lot of people. Stage nerves never go away, you just have to learn to deal with them. 
 

First, you have to accept you are only as good as you are and your not miraculously going to perform better than you are capable of. You know going in, your going to hit a bad note (shot) here and there and that’s OK! The show still goes on and it’s going to be fun! Keep things in perspective, you’re not performing heart surgery, you’re just playing some music (golf). If you don’t perform well, nobody dies and nobody really cares. 
 

Second, learn to trick your mind in to interpreting that anxiousness as excitement rather than fear. I don’t feel like looking up the science on it right now but basically nervous fear and excitement release the same chemicals in your brain so you can choose how to interpret those nerves. Be excited rather than nervous. 

[Fuscinator]

Performance anxiety usually comes from three sources - failure to prepare, trying to do something for which you are poorly qualified, and/or an incorrect assessment of risk. 

Failure to prepare is pretty obvious. If you don't practice and haven't at least had a look at the course layout, you won't do as well.

In golf, being poorly qualified means trying shots you can't make with clubs you can't hit.

Being more nervous about playing golf than you are about driving to and from the course is an example of an incorrect assessment of risk. If things go very badly while playing golf, your worst fears of scoring poorly and looking stupid will come true. If things go badly on the road, you could end up dead, or very badly injured. That's worse than looking foolish. In that case, you either need to get less nervous about golf or more nervous about driving.

 

Let's say, though, that you're  a careful driver and a diligent and sensible golfer, who practices and plays within himself, and even if you know it's just a silly game, you still can't help getting all nervous about it.

Nervousness and excitement are both fueled by adrenaline. A good way to get rid of the unwanted edge that comes with both is to get rid of the excess adrenaline. Using a rowing machine, stationary bike, mini-trampoline, doing Yoga (Vinyasa is perfect) can all help you do this, so even if you have some less than helpful thoughts in your head, those thoughts don't have the fuel they need to run your game off the rails. 

 

Edited June 7, 2023 by Fuscinator
I can't spell.😏

[OttoVonBizMarkie]

On the course, meditation - Once you get the repetition down it makes it much easier to focus on mindfulness (for me this is focusing on my breathing). From there, it's a lot easier to focus on the present task than that drive you hit into the heavy rough on #4.

 

Off the course, yoga - I started doing this in the past year and it has made a huge difference in my perception of things. The stretching is nice, but just focusing on things like weight positioning and breathing make me feel much more in control of what I'm doing.

 

 

[Sp4zRX]

6 minutes ago, Fuscinator said:

In that case, you either need to get less nervous about golf or more nervous about driving. 

 

I love this analogy 😂 This really shows how skewed our perceptions can be. I will definitely be communicating this to my girlfriend who has a lot of anxiety issues. 

[iacas]

You could go one of two ways:

• Unless it's like 111 or 61, realize that your life isn't going to change much at all, and nobody but you really care about your score, regardless of what you shoot.
• Tell yourself that nerves mean that you care, and that everyone is nervous, and this is why you're doing it - because you care. Embrace it. I've heard this described as "just get the butterflies in your stomach flying in formation."

There are other ways, but one of those two might be a good starting point.

[Pepperturbo]

When people do things they are not accustom to, they encounter various degrees of anxiety.  A good example was in my late 20s, walking onto a stage to speak in front of 500 people.  I thought I was going to barf my guts up.  It took four walks onto stage before I wasn't thinking about barfing.  The same happens when you are about to jump out of a perfectly good plane.  Presuming you're attempting something that isn't normal for you, anxiety is present.  The question is, can you still do what's expected of you, or in this case, without embarrassing yourself, hit the ball, as eye's stare.  The more you're out of your comfort zone, the easier the task gets.  If you shy away from challenging yourself, you're in for a lot of frustration and disappointment.

Edited June 7, 2023 by Pepperturbo

[Kuuuch]

Other than what’s been said, I see a big difference when I stay away from caffeine before a tourney. Makes me more anxious and amplifies any nerves. I can drink 1-2 huge cups of coffee during a work day and be fine but 1 cup before a big tourney and I’ll get shaky with the putter for the first couple holes.

[sjones130]

Playing in tournaments often is the cure. 
 

I had not played in a tournament in a year and I played (and won) a member-guest recently and I was super anxious / nervous. Unusual for me. Even though I grew up playing tournaments weekly as a kid, just the fact that I hadn’t done it in a while got to me. 
 

the more often you play the less you get nervous. 

[Justsomeguy]

Everything above but additionally: Follow a routine. Removes variables. Comfort in the routine.

[Mrgreen36]

Alcohol 

[Valtiel]

Nihilism helps, I find. 

[naval2006]

When you’re trying to score in golf you need to find your way to feel calm and optimistic about the round. Avoid the big numbers and ideally, accept good and bad shots similarly, don’t get emotional. 
 

Some kind of routine to stick to is of real help, especially on the green,  better for all your shots. And never giving up in the quest for your lowest score for the day is a must.  Now some days things go sour no matter what. Being too harsh upon oneself is not a good idea on one of those days.  Tourney golf is a path of self discovery. The more you compete, the more you’ll figure out. 

[SNIPERBBB]

11 hours ago, Kuuuch said:

Other than what’s been said, I see a big difference when I stay away from caffeine before a tourney. Makes me more anxious and amplifies any nerves. I can drink 1-2 huge cups of coffee during a work day and be fine but 1 cup before a big tourney and I’ll get shaky with the putter for the first couple holes.

straight heresy there.

[Fuscinator]

5 hours ago, Valtiel said:

Nihilism helps, I find. 

Could lead to slow play, though.

 

Caddie: You want that number again?

 

Golfer: No, I just want to stare into the existential void a little longer...

[F1Aussie]

16 hours ago, NevinW said:

I'm playing in more Senior tournaments these days and controlling my anxiousness during the round is an issue.  I'd like to hear some tips on how you deal with tournament jitters.

I used to find a hip flask of port works pretty well. And I haven't tried it myself but I have heard a bit of a choof works well, lol

[SollyinGA]

I play in a lot of tournaments. I used to struggle with nerves too, but I’ve told myself that ‘it is what it is’.

 

If you are like me, you put a lot of thought and practice into your game. Once it’s tournament time, it’s time to let all of that go and see if all of that has meant anything.

 

I think of tournaments as checkpoints. Nothing more nothing less. Just try to let go and see if all of your hard work has done anything.

 

There are times, I don’t play up to my standards, but most of the time I can see the fruits of my labor.

 

It’s a marathon. 
 

incidentally, I’ve won a lot of tournaments with this process, but I can tell you I could care less. My only goal is to get better and improve.

[Nels55]

15 hours ago, Fuscinator said:

Being more nervous about playing golf than you are about driving to and from the course is an example of an incorrect assessment of risk. If things go very badly while playing golf, your worst fears of scoring poorly and looking stupid will come true. If things go badly on the road, you could end up dead, or very badly injured. That's worse than looking foolish. In that case, you either need to get less nervous about golf or more nervous about driving.

Not really, I mean how often do you veer your car right off the road and into the woods?  The only thing to fear driving to the course is another driver or a sudden and very serious mechanical failure.  Both of those are out of your control.  Now if you are going to drive in the Indy 500 then you have something to fear and get nervous about.

[MelloYello]

I think it mostly comes down to experience.

 

If you play tournaments more often, your nerves will calm down a bit, enough that they're not even necessarily a bad thing anymore.

 

You'll eventually evolve to where tournaments actually end up being the most fun thing there is to do. 

 

But you have to do them enough that you establish some familiarity with that "nervous" feeling as well as a little bit of history doing well with it. 

[Ty_Webb]

I used to have trouble with my "inner voice" talking to myself and being less than helpful. There were a few things that helped me to deal with that. One is DECADE gives me the comfort to know that I've picked the "right" (or at least right enough) target, which stops me from second guessing myself and the other is the realization that everyone has that inner voice and we all say bad things to ourselves. Knowing that helped me to just let those thoughts go. I still get them, but I don't let them bother me.

 

The other thing I do, which may sound a little silly, but it works is getting my kids' names printed on my ball. Whenever I'm having a bad day on the course, I get a constant reminder that there are more important things than my score. That really helps me to keep things in perspective. 

 

And CBD...

[Fuscinator]

51 minutes ago, Nels55 said:

Not really, I mean how often do you veer your car right off the road and into the woods?  The only thing to fear driving to the course is another driver or a sudden and very serious mechanical failure.  Both of those are out of your control.  Now if you are going to drive in the Indy 500 then you have something to fear and get nervous about.

It wasn't a comparison of personal execution. I was comparing when things go wrong in both situations and one's relative nervousness over each. However, if you want to look at it from your point of view, in 2022, alone, there were over 42,000 car accident fatalities, while on the other hand, no golfer has been killed by an alligator since 1970. 

[Pepperturbo]

16 hours ago, Justsomeguy said:

Everything above but additionally: Follow a routine. Removes variables. Comfort in the routine.

Very important. 

 

Having a routine that leads up to whacking the ball, keeps the mind distracted from other influences.  The problem with newbies, the mind tends to be inundated with golf do's and donts; combined with pressure of playing by ALL-THE-RULES, execute your best shot for the lowest score, anxiety is sure to mount. LOL.  That's why I focus on golf and keep conversations to simple jabber.

[ferrispgm]

21 hours ago, NevinW said:

I'm playing in more Senior tournaments these days and controlling my anxiousness during the round is an issue.  I'd like to hear some tips on how you deal with tournament jitters.

 

I'll preface this by saying I don't play in tournaments anymore as I just don't have the time.  But, I used to play a few back in my PGA days and ironically I would play better in tournaments than on a casual round.  The problem was that my best game then wasn't as good as it is now.  Even now, in events, I tend to play better than a casual round.   I think there are a couple reasons for this:
 

1.  When I play for something, I don't care how I play.  I figure I'm a nobody so nobody will care what I shoot because the next day, no one is going to remember. Of course I want to do well, but worrying about it isn't going to change anything.  

 

2.  I would practice a good amount beforehand so when you get to the course, you know you have done the work.  Your swing is what it is on tournament day, trust it and just hit the shot. It's the same when someone gets nervous on the first tee shot...as I do when I haven't played much.....I stand up there and tell myself before I swing, "Trust it" and let it fly.  All you can control is your swing on that shot.

 

Another thing, don't worry about mistakes.  Don't look at them as making mistakes but creating learning opportunities....helped me a ton.

 

 

[Justsomeguy]

1 hour ago, Pepperturbo said:

Very important. 

 

Having a routine that leads up to whacking the ball, keeps the mind distracted from other influences.  The problem with newbies, the mind tends to be inundated with golf do's and donts; combined with pressure of playing by ALL-THE-RULES, execute your best shot for the lowest score, anxiety is sure to mount. LOL.  That's why I focus on golf and keep conversations to simple jabber.

"All the rules" totally resonates. I remember being a younger attorney and being so concerned with procedure that although I was always prepared for it and prepared on the merits, the procedural worry of having missed something caused unnecessary stress.