People I need some help curing my nerves while playing pennants and those bigger events. I’m sure we all get nervous but I look at my opponent and always think he cannot be as nervous as me “can he see me shaking”. From this stems loss of concentration and confidence and ultimately self destruction.
Eg: First tee shot on my third pennants match drive went 25 meters.
I will be playing my forth pennants match this weekend. Any advice?

Robbo
Effective players learn to use breathing techniques to keep stress levels to tolerable levels. This must begin before even reaching the first tee.
Put simply learn to inhale and exhale smooth, deep breaths while keeping your eyes on the horizon (looking down at the ground tends to stimulate thinking – and in this case worrying).
Good luck with correct practice it can be tolerated

Visit our Golf Psych area – There’s plenty of info there about this common problem.

http://www.iseekgolf.com/go...

It all starts with the setup, get your routine in place, use the same setup for every club. Focus is the best way to relax and having a set routine for every club setup focuses you in the best possible way. The rest of the world just fades away while you concentrate on the setup.

I can be so nervous that I am shaking before my setup and after I hit the shot, but because my focus is on my setup and then my swing (which is the same for every club too) those nerves aren’t a part of that routine so they just aren’t there.

Robbo, it is only pennants mate….just don’t think that it is a big deal…just think of it as another round….I personally have the same issue but I have mine on the greens trying to close out a match…what’s the worst that can happen? – you lose and life goes on.

Clear Keys is something that I have tried and failed at but it is a great way to clear your mind of any good or bad thoughts…I know there have ben many posts on Clear Keys…I use a ‘sort of’ Clear Key…I use it before I start my pre-shot routine rather than when I am swinging.

Or you could just try to visualise your opponent naked :)

Pennants or matchplay. A wonderful game. The thing with pennants is that you are only playing against one person, be it for the team. Why get nervous about playing against just the one person? You are in the team because you have ability or perhaps your club is in a lower division and you are there to make up the numbers but who cares? Being nervous on the first tee is because you have fear or fear of people watching you, fear of hitting a shot 25m etc. Your mates know how you can hit it and if they are a gelled pennant team, they will be there on the first tee providing support and more importantly, having a joke. They will also be there on the fairway watching you if you game is a close one…well I hope.
I can honestly say that I really cannot remember the last time I had nerves on a golf course being pennant specific. I know the guys I am playing against (some are mates) and some I just know who they are from playing in other events I do as well from time to time. We are there to beat eachother and there are mind games when taking club selections all the time. At the end of the day, win or lose, you have a beer or a gatorade and move on.
I really do not have an answer to beating nerves ROBBO. Every person is different and prepares differently for golf being pennants. What I can say is that you have to trust your game and when you doubt it, shit can and will happen. Just keep it simple mate.

Great post praningka! Our pennant teams are very supportive of all their team members and offer great mateship and encouragement at all times, regardless of how you may be playing. Pennants is one of the best parts of golf as far as I’m concerned.

Brett

I’d like to get back into Pennants but I really can’t see myself getting down to a low enough handicap (we have noone over 2 I think)....I’d like to see an ‘A reserve’ pennants group that allows the other half of A grade to have a go….you know, 6-12 handicaps dont really get a shot at Pennants and I agreee with BM, Pennants is the best part of golf.

Thoughts?

Don’t worry about nerves. Remember that your opponent probably feels exactly the same so do whatever you can to make him think you haven’t got a care in the world.

Robbo, having played pennants for the last 8 years i think i’ve worked match play out. play the course. you’ll have to react to what he does later in the round but for the first 9 focus on your game. the first tee shot is always the most nervous one use that energy and just make a smooth swing. good luck! match play is pure golf enjoy it.

cheers sb

Robbo,
Best way to combat nerves is in your preshot routine, the longer you stand over the ball, the more nerves creep in, same with putting.
Work on your pre – shot, stand behind your ball select your target, take a deep breath to relax you, walk in set up, take one more look at the Target, look back down at the ball fire away straight away, same with putting, practice this on the range .
By doing this doesn’t give you time for the nerves to set in.

Thanks to everyone that replied.
I can’t help but think matchplay and in particular pennants is slightly more stressful and tense than when you’re playing against the course and yourself. The consequences are more dramatic (win or loose) Helping the team and the club to a win vs letting the team and the club down in a loss.
Having only played 3 matches it certainly is a different experience and I don’t remember ever being as tired after a round of golf as after my first match. I’m still looking forward to my next game but was after something that could relax me and enhance my enjoyment of the game.
I received two other suggestions today; one from a young fella while on the practice putting green, and he said,
“Just put a big grin on your face as your addressing the ball, a grin like you know exactly where the ball is going to go no matter what” So I gave it a try on the putting green, what an interesting an enjoyable way to play golf, give it a go and let me know what you think.

The other suggestion from a mate who said,
“Take two Valium and I’ll wake you up when it’s over”
I’m not recommending the second suggestion.But am considering it.

Regards, R0BB0

Robbo, next time you feel the butterflies say two things to yourself:

1) Good, this feeling lets me know its game-time

2) I feel wretched at this moment but you know, this is why I play golf – its why I practice, I LOVE this feeling!!!!!

Reframe the feeling dude, use it to your advantage.

ps the other guy is just as worried as you!

Golf is all about consistency, if you get nervous every time you hit the ball then good, it becomes part of your routine. But if you don’t get nervous every time then your routine is off when you get nervous. You need a routine that is repeatable, this is an absolute, it is not negotiable, without a set routine, that is repeatable every time you hit a ball, then you won’t repeat your swing. Those peaks and troughs are due to a lack of consistency and why we all go back to basics sometimes.

Get nervous, but not during your setup and swing unless it is part of your setup and swing.

This applies in any sport, I can bet my bottom dollar a Rugby League player goes through the same pre-match routine every week, right down to the lucky socks or whatever. It’s part of being in the game. It is harder for us because our game is repeated at least 70 times a round, theirs is repeated only once a week.

This is what makes Golf so hard, the difficulty in getting it repeatable. Consistency is the key, thinking is the key to consistency, practice and change until you find a consistent setup which results in a consistent swing, Driver down to Putter…

FYI, Thanks for good advise, won my match 1 up.

Robbo,

Congratulations!

How did you do it?

Well done Robbo!

Thanks for asking Dart;
Had to tough it out. The match was never more then 1 up either way.
A couple of good bits of advice stuck with me. Taking a few deep breaths before I played a shot needed to combat a good shot played by my opponent. Tried not to over analyse and think too much about the what if’s and what could be’s.and just putting a good swing on the ball. I was probably a bit to conservative/nervous and could have attacked a bit more, but I didn’t think the opportunity was there to do so as he was a very solid player and hit it straight up the middle with a slight draw all day,(except on the last hole when I could see HE was a bit nervous. Tough finishing hole 205 meter par 3 with out of bounds all the way down the right and behind the green, three rows of trees line the left side all the way to the green which was protected by 2 bunkers. He hooked into the trees and I took a couple deep breaths and laid a 4 iron on the front right of the green. Job done, with a sigh of relief. Team won 3 to 2.5 with all 3 of our matches won on the 18th.
(tough day) and another matchplay learning experience. I’m sure talking about it on the forum helped me as well as the advice received. I think I could possibly become more comfortable with the matchplay format with more experience.

Again thanks to all.

Regards R0BB0

Did anyone think to mention Clear Keys so far?

Live4 mentioned it but that’s all.

Robbo,

That will help someone else for sure.

Played a Belfast and District match yesterday. Scratch singles, probably the same as pennants.

I was put out number 7 in the anchor role.

We were 5.5 to 1.5 down from the first away leg (I didn’t play in it).

Being out #7 meant I had a good 45 minutes waiting to tee off and I can tell you the butterflies were having a party in my stomach! Just before I was due to tee off, I reminded myself of something I heard Jack Nicklaus once said – “Its good the butterflies are there, it means its game time and it means it ‘means’ something”

Absolutely blasted my drive down the first about 40 yards past my opponent :)

Like R00B0 it was nip and tuck the whole way round, never more than one in it until I won 14, 15 and 16 to close out the match 3&2.

Sadly the team lost 3-4 overall and we are out.

Hope it helps to hear that a 3 handicapper feeling very good about his game suffers the same nerves as everyone else.

So, HERE I GO AGAIN.
Our team has progressed to the pennant final to be held this Sunday 18/05/08.
Strangely though I don’t feel as nervous as previous matches, maybe it’s still too early in the week. I have been practicing the last two afternoons after work and am going to play the designated course tomorrow arvo.

Any other advice or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated.

R0BB0

The practice round is exactly that – practice for the main event.

Play each hole backwards ie – work out where you want the ball to land, then work out where you need to be in the fairway to get it there, then work out whether you need driver, 3 wood or an iron to get you to that spot on the fairway.

Look for the paces to ‘miss’. Not that you want to miss greens but it is important to be aware of where the bother is without fixating about it.

On your practice round find out if the pins will change or be in the same spots. If they’ll change try to find where they will be.

On par 3s hit multiple shots with different irons. Know the shortest iron that will get you just on the green, what it takes to hit the middle and what will take you through the back.

On par 5s assess whether they are reachable and worth going for.

Find out if the wind you have on the day you play the practice round is the prevailing wind and how likely it will be the same on the day of your match.

Most matches are won by one player ‘losing’ the game rather than the other guy winning. Playing to your handicap will normally be good enough to win against another player of similar ability.

Finally, be very aware of the best way to score on the last 6 holes in case you are down.

Great advice Styles, there is a spot on my pennant team being held just for you if you can get over here in time!

Robbo, the only thing I could add to Styles advice is just to try to forget it is the final and take that pressure off yourself. Play to your own strengths, concentrate on what you are doing and let the matchs around you take care of themselves.

Best of luck, hope the bounces all fall your way!

Brett

BM, I’d love to, but not this time I’m afraid :(