You Can Still Play Great Golf While Nervous

Practical Golf Articles
#21

I think most recreational golfers should work to improve their full swing. Better swings will mean more accuracy, more consistency, AND more distance. And as you say, more distance off the tee means shorter irons to the green, but better swing mechanics will also mean that more of those short irons will be from the fairway.

I’d take issue with “invariably”. I know a bunch of guys who can really move it, and most of them are straighter than I am too. I do know a few wild ones, but most guys with good mechanics are both long and straight.

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#22

100% agree… the only people I know who are both long and wild are athletic and don’t play much golf…

Long and wild is a miserable way to play lots of golf… and I speak from experience. You quickly learn to rein it in, either by slowing down or improving accuracy (and usually a combination of the two).

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#23

Yes!
(I was trying to say something like that, thx.)

I’ll change that to “often”.

Yes.

I’ll guess that you guys play on better courses with better golfers than I do. My observations from where I play is that “often” the longest hitters get into trouble off the tee…

#24

Honestly, I mostly ply with older guys at a club… they both play a lot of golf and don’t have high swing speeds.

I have played with two former professional athletes (a pitcher and a running back) who swing pretty hard… but they are former professional athletes. Honestly, the football player needs to improve his turn and could generate a ton more swing speed.

I’ve said this before, but my dad is 6’10” and once held the world record for the worlds fastest serve… I’ve been out driving him since age 15 because while he’s more athletic, he never built a proper swing.

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#25

Sweet spot, hitting the ball with leverage > speed

Worlds fastest serve though!! Pretty cool

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#26

Yeah, it’s one of those fun things I get to tell people… He played tennis at Tulane, which had clay courts… Apparently his record at home was abysmal and he was undefeated on the road… Serve and volley just doesn’t work as well on clay! (nor does being 6’10")

In a similar vein, my sister is 6’ and played college squash after quitting the tennis team… Apparently women’s squash is much more of a finesse game and she was like a bull in a china shop just hitting the ball as hard as she could… They’d put her against the best players on the other teams because some of them couldn’t adjust to her play style, so they’d have a shot of their worst player getting a win, and allowing all the other players to have easier opponents… Good times!

My family is just good at hitting things hard, I guess!

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#27

Anyway… That was definitely a really interesting article; and fun to learn about Player vs Performer types.
(…now the big question is: which one am I :thinking:)

@jon - I hope you can get Kent to contribute more articles like this!

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#28

glad you enjoyed it! Kent is working on several articles as we speak :grinning:

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#29

Sounds good … looking forward to them! Thx

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#30

Agreed.

Nervous
Tired
Hungry
Excited
Bored

They all affect or patterns in relatively predictable ways. When I get nervous, my likelihood of hitting it left increases.

It’s not necessarily about getting rid of those human emotions, but understanding those patterns and implementing something to neutralize it before anything harmful comes from it. I wrote an article on this here - https://www.adamyounggolf.com/vital-skill-to-play-your-best-golf/

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#31

^That^ is a gold nugget / pearl of wisdom … THX!!!

Really great - and helpful - article :+1:
(…have saved it and will be re-reading it over time…)

Thanks @Adamyounggolf!!

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#32

What is your shot shape? My shot shape is almost always right to left. But when I get nervous, I hold on and hit a block of even a weak push fade.

When I’m nervous, and I realize it, I can talk myself into making a good swing. The trick for me is realizing it, which I need to get better at.

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