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Anger/Frustration/Temperment

Sandpiper3

Golf Course Designer
Aug 9, 2006
5,058
2
I talk to my ball a lot anywayz, so angry talkin comes in there too. Ive been trying to stop swearing as much in life anywayz, which the golf course really tests that when the ball just wont go where its suppost to. Ive noticed ive started to use the words frick and bugger alot:D, but sounds a little cleaner then f*ck sh*t b*st*rd :D

Ive also picked up an angry/frustrated laugh, my friend says he can never tell anymore if im playing good or bad, because either way im laughing. Whereas i used to get quieter and quieter and would seclude myself when i started playing worst.

Talking to the ball and laughing at bad shots has helped a lot though. It took so much power to get over the fact that one or two bad holes wont kill me, and one or two REALLY bad holes wont clear me over 80 quite yet:)
 

benk

Ben
Dec 4, 2006
84
0
asdf

I haven't thrown a club in 2 years, and am proud of it [ though its fun!! ]. For me, golf is a game, and I play it to have fun, especially in Tournaments. When I practice [ chipping and putting, on the range ], is the only time I get close to doing anything drastic. When I play, I'm just having a good time, even more so in a tournament. It's easy to get flustered, and I deffinally get that way from time to time, but I just breath in and out and remind myself that its just one shot, and also how lucky I am to be playing golf. I have always said I have more fun in tournaments then I do practicing.

But that's also how my personality is, but it works for me!
 

Bama Duffer

Well-Known Member
Mar 14, 2005
447
0
I used to have anger management issues. I've gotten a grip on them because I want to enjoy myself. I still thump a club head into the turf (NEVER on the green!!!) or mutter something nasty under my breath, but I try to keep it under control, or at least calm down before the next shot. Otherwise, I'm going to try to kill the ball and there's no telling where it will end up.
 

winders

Well-Known Member
Sep 23, 2006
103
0
Before I got into golf, I was a serious, tournament level, Skeet shooter. At the level I shot at, missing one target took you out of contention.

The best Skeet shooter to ever live is a gentleman named Wayne Mayes. He saw a very good shooter miss a target and get all pissed off that he had missed. Wayne said something to the effect of "that guy is not good enough to get mad because he missed". The implication was that no one was good enough to get mad when they missed.

That really hit home with me and it changed my whole outlook on misses. It was always difficult for observers to see if I was angry when I missed. But inside it was obvious to me that I let it get to me. After hearing that comment from Wayne, I learned to put the miss out of my mind and live in the moment. I wasn't good enough to get made over a miss and thinking about anything else but the next shot was a recipe for more trouble. My shooting improved.

The bottom line here is that no one here is good enough to get visibly angry over a poor shot. We are all going to make mistakes. If Tiger and Phil make mistakes, we certainly are going to make them. It doesn't do anyone any good when you get angry. Especially if you carry that anger on to your next shot or shots. That shot is done. Nothing you do will change what happened on that shot. The next shot is all that matters. Positive thoughts are critical to performing well. Dwelling on poor shots can only hurt your game.

Anyway, golf is a game and we should be enjoying our time on the course. We should look forward to the challenge of each new shot instead of dwelling on how we got there.

Scott
 

artfulgolfer

Well-Known Member
Jan 8, 2007
80
0
Great thread... I'm really impressed with how many golfers are working on controlling their temper or have already learned to. It's easy to let poor shots and bad bounces frustrate us, but it's just as easy to learn how to let it go and be more realistic and mature about our imperfections. It makes the game more fun and even reserves energy for that next great shot.
 

Stanters

Trinket King
Aug 13, 2006
1,096
1
I used to be bad many moons ago but I try my best to laugh off bad shots now.

A friend of mine played a par4 at my local course which has a pond right in front of the tee. 1st drive, splash, swears. 2nd drive splash, more swearing. 3rd drive splash followed by the driver and then the entire bag!!

He stomped off but after 100 or so yards turned back - he'd forgotten his car keys were still in his bag!!!

Cue a very undignified rummage in the pond to retrieve bag and keys while the 3 of us were by now having a near death experience due to laughter overload. I literally rolled around.

I often think how foolish he looked when I'm tempted to let off steam nowadays. Count to 10 - deep breath and move on.
 
Jun 24, 2006
1,948
9
At the end of last season I played alot of golf by myself after I closed the shop for the night. It only took me a couple days to realize I was having more fun by myself than when I play with other people. :real angry: (nice new smileies!)

I started thinking why?..why am I not enjoying playing golf with other people..OHH! I know, I get pissed off all the time. when playing by myself i just hit and walk, hit and walk. Don't open my mouth the entire round. Don't get mad after a bad shot since I wasn't trying to impress anyone, I diden't care.

When im at the golf course I have one of those dorky phil mickelson all the time smiles. When I'm playing bad, people always are saying to me "smile!" since there so use to seeing it. I must get a look on my face like im going to snap and rip out someone's jugular. I don't even notice.

I try though.

in 07 I WILL be a completely different person on the golf course. I will never get mad after a bad shot and swear, or other stupid pointless things.

I look forward to the new season. Improved swing, and improved mind.

should be fun.
 

cypressperch

Well-Known Member
Jun 24, 2006
681
3
Toledo Bend Lake, Louisiana
Country
United States United States
Any body remember the great Tommy Bolt?

He wrapped many a club around trees when he was in good form, which was fairly often. But a friend of mine put on the best show I have ever seen. He had a brand new Irving King driver, bright apple red in color. I guess he was about nineteen years old at the time. After hitting a drive straight as an arrow but only about 220 yards in lenth, something in his head must have snapped. He flung that club helicopter style about half-way up a live oak that was really thick with leaves and limbs. It stuck up there. He was not nearly finished. He climbed up that obstacle-filled tree, got on the proper limb, and started jumping up and down. After about ten minutes, the club falls to a lower limb that he can reach. I started to get the club, and he yells, "DON'T TOUCH IT!" He almost falls out of the tree, grabs the club from the tree, and starts to gouge that beautiful club with his metal spikes. Then he flings the club sixty or so yards into the pine forest, and we go on down the number five fairway. I asked if was sure that he wanted to leave that club back there, and he said, "Shut up! Let's play!" We finished the eighteenth right at dark and headed home. I then asked him what he would do if someone happened to find that club before he did? He tried to act like it wasn't that important, but after a while, we got flashlights and went back to the course. We could not find it. About a week later, he bought it from a caddie who had found it on his way home for twenty dollars. He got it re-finished, and it was as good as new. That was one cool dude!

I have said that I like Retief Goosen's swing more than any other, but the way he conducts himself on the course puts him in a class by himself. He is so calm, people like Johnnie Miller say that they would give anything to know what Goosen is thinking at times. I guess it comes from having your clothes knocked off you by a lightning stroke when you were young. Some say he is strange, and I guess he is just so calm that it does seem a bit strange or different. All I know is that I admire the heck out of someone who can control themselves that well. I have tried copying that style, but it is too hard to duplicate. By trying to be like that, I do think that it gets me away from being like Tommy Bolt and my ol' buddy described above.

Sincerely, Cypressperch
 

ualtim

Carrollton, TX
Supporting Member
Aug 20, 2005
7,779
2,331
Country
United States United States
Great Thread.

I have not thrown a club in over 25 years (building your own brings a greater level of respect for your equipment) since I was a pre-teen and did not know any better. About 12 years ago I drove a golf ball off the green with my putter after a 4 putt and took a small divot out of the green. I felt so horrible after that (and still do to this day) that I never did that again.

I get as frustrated with bad shots as anybody else does but I have found that by letting it go and concenetrating on the next shot, it allows me to keep my cool. Regardless of how badly I hit the shot prior, my goal is to still get the ball in the hole with the least amount of strokes and the only way to do that is to concentrate on the shot at hand rather than the shot that preceeded it. The worst level that I normally get to is my special word. I utter this word to myself and if I say it louder than I wanted to it normally does not offend.

Muck Fe.

Simple, elegent, and does not offend most people but still gets the point across and usually produces a small laugh.:laugh: Once said, the pressure is released and I can go about my business on concentrating on the next shot. When it comes down to it, golf is not a life or death situation. Its meant to be fun (unless of course your trying to feed the family with your golf winnings) and I try to keep it that way. The earth is still going to rotate, the sun is still going to come up, and my dog will still love me at the end of the day. After all, it could be worse. I could be at work rather than on the golf course. :D

ualtim
 

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