Dealing with Pressure

[Diane]

Ok - here's the scenario - you're playing with a partner and money's involved. You decide how much because everyone plays for different stakes. Your partner is now out of play with a penalty and it's two against one. The pressure is on you to win the hole now. What usually happens - do you get nervous and not play your game? Do you try to go for the green? Or do you lay up? What strategy do you employ?

[JPsuff]

Quick story:

I was playing a best ball match once with a friend of mine and we were a team playing against two other guys. I was sizing up a birdie putt on one hole (about 12 feet or so) and I sort of casually went after it, missed and settled for a par, which is what I thought we needed to stay tied. It turns out I was wrong and my friend said to me afterwards that we needed that putt.

I told him that I didn't realize that and I smiled at him and told him that next time he should let me know.

Well, on the very next hole, I was again looking at a birdie putt of about the same length and just as I was getting ready to set up, my friend leans in and says out loud, "We need this putt!"

I lookeed at him and said, "OK."

I then proceeded to roll that putt dead into the cup.

I said to him afterwards, "See?" "I told you to just let me know."


I prefer to have something riding on a shot or a match. I like "having" to make a putt or stiff an approach shot. If I'm just out there playing for fun, I sometimes find it difficult to keep my head in the game. But if it's for money or even just for bragging rights, I tend to focus better and play better.

I need a "reason" for doing something. I don't think of it as pressure. I think of it as fun or exciting.




-JP

[Darth Fader]

I find that i will hit more shots the way i want to when there is something at stake,a little bit of added interest focuses the mind.

[jwaldrop]

Most of the time I enjoy the pressure of knowing something is on the line. I tend to be better under pressure. I think it is focus.

[PA PLAYA]

Team events are not my favorite format. Too many times I've been given a partner that just doesn't come close to playing to his handicap, leaving me to carry both of us. It becomes a mental grind, two against one. So in this scenario, I wouldn't feel uncomfortable, because it's very common. LOL...

I'd simply play the way I usually play, trying to make the lowest score I can on each hole and not factor in what is happening around me. I have no control over how my playing partner is playing or how my opponents are playing.

[Golfaddict]

Depends on the day of the week and how confident I'm feeling. Some days I thrive off of it and others I'll choke.

[Leaguegolf]

Originally Posted by PA PLAYA

I'd simply play the way I usually play, trying to make the lowest score I can on each hole and not factor in what is happening around me. I have no control over how my playing partner is playing or how my opponents are playing.

I'm with you on this one PA PLAYA. I have no control over what my partner does just as I have no control over what my opponent does. I'm playing to win and winning means making the lowest possible score I can on each hole.

[Wazmankg]

I enjoy pressure that comes with playing for something against someone. It helps me focus. I'm not so good with self-imposed pressure ... if it's just me and the course and I'm going for a low score. If that makes any sense. My favorite round last year was with one of my buddies(abouta 8) against 2 of his friends I'd never met...4-ball skins I guess you'd call it. They were both in the 10-12 range. I'm a 14. It soon became obvious that my partner was off that day. He's one of those guys who'll shoot a 75 one day and a 105 the next. And he was really off. It was basically going to be me against the 2 of them. We still wound up about 5 holes down to them but I had a few wins and carryovers and the days low round (82). He kept apologizing which was silly... it's not as if we were playing for big money. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

[Bigvivec]

I fall apart like a cheap suit...


I have no idea why...I am a pressure performer at work and in my younger days I played soccer at a fairly high level in front of thousands of paying fans...and played well...but when it comes to golf I just can't handle the squeeze...in fact, if I am playing with someone that I don't know who is a medicore to poor player, that is the guarantee that I will do worse than they do...

My achilles heel and something that I am working on...

[DIETER]

Most every time I play, it's for money (it's always match play) so I'm actually in this situation pretty often. The answer is, it depends what's happening with my opponents - I'll do what I have to do to win the hole....or at least try to. Do I get nervous?. No, I enjoy the added pressure. It makes me focus and think about my shots a little more. Mostly we play a $5 nassau so it's not like I'm gonna be out big bucks if I lose - but I like thinking what it's like for a pro who's tyring to make a putt for say, 3rd place. The difference could be a substantial sum. It could be the difference of making the cut, or passing Q school, or making the money list, etc. Although the pressure is not obviously not the same, in my little world at the time, it means something to me....and I like that.

[indacup]

I pretty much agree with Player and League...with added input.

Aside from playing to win...the other thing is taking into account how you play has been so far...what has been your strong point up till that point? Has your game been dialed in enough to go for the green or is a cuations approch to minimze error they answer?

Last thing you wanna do is do something different than what has worked so far.

[Texas Wedge]

I can go either way, but probably more often than not I perform better and don't play any different than I normally would (as far as taking a risky shot, etc.). I've watched my partner go OB on a day where I haven't been playing well and then I step up and smoke it right down the middle and end up saving the hole for us. I've also had my partner in his pocket and had a 3 foot putt (with a huge break in it) and 3 putted. Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug.