Over the summer i was playing reeally good and was shooting in the low 70's high 60's-68,69: on 7,000 yd courses now in my last few tournaments im havin some trouble keeping it under 78!!!! My mental game has gone for s*** and i think i am making good decisions but apparently im not....its a big tournament year to wrok toward college and i am currently playeing like an idiot!!!! Does anyone know of any real good books or anything else that i can read or do to helpmy self get out of this slump ...which is coming at a very inoppurtune moment!!!!

If it's your putting, try Putting Out of Your Mind by Bob Rotella. If you are just struggling overall mentally, try Zen Golf by Bob Rotella. Both are really great reads.

Pard, it sounds as if your simply putting an inordinate amount of "pressure" on yourself......pressure that is TOTALLY unnecessary and destructive.......EVERY competitive golfer gets nervous.....thats good.....but to allow yourself to be destroyed by "anxiety" is a terrible habit to ingrain......I KNOW, I did this to myself for years.....won a lot of tournaments and NEVER truly enjoyed them due to anxiety/pressure that I was putting on myself......terrible habit.....took me until I was in my 30's and got some "perspective" on life to finally change......

Remember this, it IS just a game! Yes its VERY important to people like ourselves, but, its NOT the determinant of your lifes happiness..... Its NOT the determinant of your self-image......You practice and prepare as best you can.......you practice and prepare yourself fully......you analyze the course and forumlate a game plan that fits YOUR game......you make the COMMITMENT to COMMIT yourself to every shot.......then you stick your tee in the ground and give it your best......handle the results of each shot, no matter whether good or bad, as nothing more than what they were.......a golf shot.......add em' up at the end.....post your score......go home......analyze what you did well......the mistakes that you made......learn from both.......then start the process all over again.........

Golf is a very tough game at times......can be very depressing IF you allow it too.....which is ridiculous if you think about it.....its a somewhat silly game where we take some sticks and whack a ball around a coupla' hundred acres of real estate trying to find a lil' 4 and 1/4 inch hole in the ground......but, it will HOOK a person if they actually give it a go........

Don't let this "hook" turn into something that dominates your life......it might be VERY important to you, but, keep it in perspective and NEVER let it "rule" your life.......let golf be a very important part of your life pursued with passion/ambition/discipline and keep it in perspective......after all, it IS just a game!

You adopt this "attitude" and I'll virtually guarantee you that your scores will come back down and you'll see results that are better than you ever imagined!

My friend, I suffer from the EXACT same affliction and I've read almost every book published on the mental game of golf. I try to boil it down to this:

Put yourself in the best mental and physical position to hit the next shot as well as you can. Have a mental routine as well as a physical one. Think of NOTHING other than hitting the shot in front of you as good as you possibly can. Once the ball leaves the club...forget about it...find it and repeat the process. Rely on the process entirely, not the results.

It is very easy to say and very, very difficult to do. Focusing on the process takes practice and eventually you'll be able to accept the fact that you either did or didn't put yourself in the position to hit the best shot possible and leave it at that.

Good luck...it takes a lot of self control and effort.

AMEN!!

Thanks for the input guys, i will definately take it to heart. have a few tournaments coming up and will definately get myself into a better physical and mental position. I am really looking forward to the tounament that i have in 1 month a Trump National in Bedminster NJ. and another at newport national...Thanks guys anymore input would be great!

My problem is more anxiety than anything.

We joined a new club in February and it is extremely TIGHT. There are houses on both sides of the fairway on almost every hole. My biggest fear is to pull out a 3 wood and hit it either left or right and into someone's dining room.

I've tried to quit baby swinging and trying to guide the ball so much and that has helped. But I still struggle. I have got to work on that.

I played with one of the older guys last weekend and he gave some great advice. That was to picture the shot and pretend you are at the range, then let it rip.

I just seem to get out there and see how tight it is, then go into a shell both mentally and physically. Some of the fairways are only 75 yards wide on the par 5s.

Did I mention that it was tight?

One mental bandaid I've tried that seems to work is that I tell myself I'm 6 over par standing on the first tee and need to get 6 shots back throughout the round. For some reason people play more relaxed after they feel they are "out of it". It basically frees you up to make a better...less tense swing. That is of course just a bandaid and I would rather see you focus on the process but in the interim the occassional bandaid sometimes helps

that has ben my problem lately..... once i shoot my self out of a tournament ill finish my last 5 holes by playin them in like 2 under...i know exactly what ur saying.