Confidence problem

[gobber]

Basically I am struggling with my pitching and chipping and I am 100% certain it is a mental thing. I stand over the shot and expect to hit it badly so then of course I tense up and most of the time I do hit it badly! I have had a couple of rounds where I somehow just thought F*ck it and hit the damn thing and of course I hit the shots well, but I cannot sustain this train of thought. The rest of my game is fine infact it is as good as it has ever been I feel if I could sort out this part of my game I could easily get my handi to low single figures (currently 8).

My question is have any of you guys been though this kind of thing and how did you overcome the problem?

[ManchesterGolfer]

When I struggle with my pitching and chipping to get me back on track I just hold the grip as lightly as possable and concentrate on a good contact (ball before ground). I like to use my wrist slightly as well at the start of my takeaway (works for me). I try not to watch the ball after I hit it, keep my head as still as poss which stops me fatting or thinning the ball.

[Slingblade61]

I'd think about trying to pick that golf ball out of Manchester's avatar without damaging the goods.

[artfulgolfer]

how can we add anything more to slingblade's advice? thread over!

[BStone]

I'll try to follow that one by saying that when I have issues chipping, I will usually move to a stronger lofted club (9 iron, 8 iron) which forces me to focus more on putting a good swing on the ball rather than worrying about what might be happening.

[ezra76]

Preshot routine. I take three swings, hinge and hold. Third is the longest one. I absolutely, under no circumstances want to give up on the shot and decelerate. I also take no extra time. I have my target/landing spot and the green all read before I take these 3 swings and after the third it's adress, one look and go. I also putt with the near same routine. Back and though 3 times, throughstroke longer than backstroke. My standard answer to anyone chunking pitches and chips? Take half that backswing and add it the throughswing. Decelerated stabs don't work in the short game.
Hope something there helps a little.

[Eracer]

Originally Posted by gobber

Basically I am struggling with my pitching and chipping and I am 100% certain it is a mental thing. I stand over the shot and expect to hit it badly so then of course I tense up and most of the time I do hit it badly! I have had a couple of rounds where I somehow just thought F*ck it and hit the damn thing and of course I hit the shots well, but I cannot sustain this train of thought. The rest of my game is fine infact it is as good as it has ever been I feel if I could sort out this part of my game I could easily get my handi to low single figures (currently 8).

My question is have any of you guys been though this kind of thing and how did you overcome the problem?

I am struggling with the same thing. Badly. When I practice (and I practice chipping a fair amount) I chip very well. Out on the course, I've been suffering from a severe crisis of confidence. It's actually a running joke with the guys I play with regularly, although thankfully, they never say anything on the course.

I'm really concentrating on three critical things:

1. Keeping my head still (focusing on a spot until AFTER the clubhead has passed. I'm talking head very still - no up and down, no left and right. Your body can still turn through the shot with your head still. Good things happen when I do this.

2. The spot I focus on is one to two inches in front of the ball. I try to hit that spot with the sole of the club. Have you ever used your wedge to "blade" balls off of a practice green? Notice how you can hit the ball up into the air without even touching the grass? Trust the loft of the club, and hit down on the spot in front of the ball.

3. Accelerate the clubhead through the ball, even on short chips. Ezra's advice about practice strokes is spot on. Also, deep breaths prior to stepping into the shot help a lot.

I've had a lot of people tell me to focus on the exact spot I want to land the ball. I feel this is great advice, but is "level two" advice. I need to concentrate more right now on making good contact with the ball. Eventually, I feel that it will become more "natural", and I can focus on the distance of the chip.

I'm getting more confidence as I continue to practice and focus on these things. I've still got a lot of self doubt when I step up to short chip shots, but I talk to myself, telling myself to concentrate on the three things:

Head still
Focus an inch in front of the ball
Accelerate through the ball.

And I'm seeing results. Slowly, but I'm making more and more decent chips. I'm not where I need to be, but I think success breeds confidence, and eventually, by focusing on the three things, I will beat these CHYIPS.

Good luck.

[cypressperch]

feel that you are probably going to hit it poorly, two things come to mind.

(1) You lack confidence. The High Plains Drifter once said, "Its what people know about themselves inside that makes them afraid." Are you absolutely sure that you know how you want to play these shots? Have you practiced your short game as much as the other part of your game that you do have confidence in? Have you included in your practice carrying the ball specific distances with various clubs (or one club if you are going that route)? The short game involves the development of touch far more than with full swing shots where you basically know how far a ball carries with a given club and a full swing. Not being sure that you can handle a given shot will almost always insure that you will not handle it. Confidence is required, and that comes with good practice. Success comes more often the more we practice. Success brings the confidence. Eventually, what we know about ourselves inside makes us fearless rather than afraid.

(2) When that feeling comes that we are about to hit a shot poorly, there is usually something wrong at hand that we are subconsciously aware of, but consciously we can't quite figure it out. If we step away from that shot and give it another look, we might find the answer. Perhaps the lie is uphill or downhill and we are not making an adjustment for that, so it just feels wrong (and without the adjustment it IS wrong.). Maybe the grass is thin and we have a club with too much bounce. Maybe we are planning to hit a high, soft landing shot, and the shot really calls for a shot that stays low and runs. It could be anything, and our subconscious knows we have made a wrong choice and will not let us feel comfortable. So here comes the tension and a poor shot.

When we care a lot about our score, we can actually set ourselves up for self-fullfilling prophesies. We care so much that we worry too much. But if we are not careful, we can get so laid back that now we do not care enough to maintain our concentration. We have to find the middle ground between these two extremes. Somewhere in some book on the mental side of golf, a writer recommended that golfers try to achieve a state of "RELAXED FOCUS." That is the absolute best advice that I have ever come across concerning the very important mental aspect of this game.
In such a state you are RELAXED and therefore not overly concerned by outcomes which can build tension. In such a state, you are FOCUSED and therefore have retained concentration without which we will make many errors from not thinking things out.

The best of luck to you with your game. Sincerely, Cypressperch

[gobber]

Cheers guys, plenty to think about!

[artfulgolfer]

great advice from eracer and cypess... really helped me too. I really agree with cypress's 3rd point on caring too much. You have to find that balance between trying to hard and being to laid back. I refer to that mid-point state of "relaxed focus" as being "deliberate". Choose the exact target and shot you want to execute, pick the correct club, then be deliberate about making the shot... don't be ****y or laid back, and definitely not fearful or doubtful (from caring too much about the result)... being deliberate insures I accelerate through the shot and don't decelerate.