Mentally broken after first tourney

[aphilso1]

I didn't jive with tourneys. The slow pace is what killed me. That plus playing two rounds in a day...it just made me feel like I wasted an entire Saturday. I can easily play two rounds in 3-3.5 hours by myself, or 3.5-4 hours with friends. Dragging it out to a 9+ hour event drove me absolutely bonkers, and my scoring reflected that. I had to come to terms with whether the benefits of tourneys (competition, and maintaining a PDGA ranking to objectively track progress) was worth the negatives. For me it wasn't so I didn't renew my membership.

OP, I think it's worth making a list of your own +/- of the tourney experience to determine whether it is worth it to you. There's no shame in enjoying disc golf as a hobby but not playing rated rounds.

 

[chevis]

I didn't jive with tourneys. The slow pace is what killed me. That plus playing two rounds in a day...it just made me feel like I wasted an entire Saturday. I can easily play two rounds in 3-3.5 hours by myself, or 3.5-4 hours with friends. Dragging it out to a 9+ hour event drove me absolutely bonkers, and my scoring reflected that. I had to come to terms with whether the benefits of tourneys (competition, and maintaining a PDGA ranking to objectively track progress) was worth the negatives. For me it wasn't so I didn't renew my membership.

OP, I think it's worth making a list of your own +/- of the tourney experience to determine whether it is worth it to you. There's no shame in enjoying disc golf as a hobby but not playing rated rounds.

^this. i never got a pdga, cuz it never seems worth it... i get you pay for entertainment, but i get more annoyed with tournaments than entertained (& i've won a few).

 

[acrosley]

Many of my best tournament rounds involve a considerable amount of looking for arrowheads or mushrooms. Helps to not fatigue the mind over dg by not focusing on it when it is not the matter at hand.

In a similar vein Danny Lindahl in one of his videos said he tries to think about anything but disc golf when he's playing.

 

[txmxer]

I've got a lot of character defects. I'm confused by your grammar.

I took issue with your statement that the remedies offered are of little help. Particularly when you offer no alternative.

That's the "secret". You have an answer you are not sharing.

Everyone here that has played this sport or any other sport has dealt with a lackluster performance. I'd guess that most of the solutions offered are things that have worked for that individual. So they are in fact potential remedies.

 

[txmxer]

there was an article floating around about performance. It was based on the performance of jet fighter pilots and what kind of motivation would help the pilots improve their performance. They tried various forms of reinforcement both negative/berating and positive encouraging.

I don't remember all the details--maybe someone else can chime in if I flub this.

The study concluded the reinforcement didn't really alter the outcome. Ultimately we all tend to play to our mean. You'll have some days you play better than your normal capability and some days will be worse.

You don't want to get too down on yourself for your bad days and you don't want to develop unrealistic expectations based on your hero days.

And as this is a hobby for everyone here, the saying is "he (or she/they/it) who has the most fun wins".

I tell myself that after pretty much every round. I got to play disc golf. It's a good day.

 

[ThrowaEnvy]

Tournament.

Think about that word, it's a "Tournament" of potential champions, someone will be the best, someone will be better than you, more than likely. There is always someone else in line to be the best. It's stiff competition and it's a test of endurance.

Mental, physical, there's so many factors. Did you pack a sandwich? Hydrate properly before the round and not drink all night? Did you bring water and towels? Got some rain gear? Got some "not greasy" snacks? Fall for the cheap 5 meat greasy pizza at the concession instead? Did you stretch? How's about a good poop today? How's your home life? Wife mad as hell you went to this tourney that you planned 2 months ago instead of staying home because your kid got the sniffles? Did you wear your lucky shirt? Did you forget a disc at home in your car? Did you lock your car? Is the guy beside you busy tellingyu how the only disc he ever needed was an Aero and he doesn't know why they kept making more after that? Or the guy that's constantly calling foot faults? Or keeps throwing a disc and yelling crap and turning away from the shot so you have to look for an extra few minutes since he's a dumbass? What about the guy moving in the bush ahead of you trying to look like he's "still" but he's moving, might as well be waving at you.. How about the puddle you stepped in and now your right foot is soaked and it squishes every time you throw. That crappy shot 3 holes ago where you lost the lead etc etc.

There's many factors, the more you forgive and forget, the less you pay attention to the crap the more likely you can just play your own game. It's not easy, it's a tournament, you decide what you take away from it.

I enjoy them, but it's more about seeing my friends than the round I lay down, but "has been".. Might, again.

 

[ThrowaEnvy]

I timed out.. Haha imagine that...

When I won the triple Crown it was a rough day, played the pace going in to the third course, it was late, we were the last group and we had to pickup the temp baskets and move em out as we played. I was playing with a dear friend "Bobby Da Clown" (he gave me a CE leopard, great guy). He's infamous for slow play, and stopping his shot to tell a story. Casual rounds he's fun, brings extra beer even paid for a "caddy" to pack a full cooler of beer a few times. Great guy, haha not the best to play a tournament with last round with a storm coming in.

We're about 6 holes behind, lumping our way along, packing baskets and telling stories and this storm rolls in. It turns to heavy rain and light wind. I'm getting soaked, Bobbo is still playing slow and I'm losing rythm... caught a sweet lone bird, 5 holes left. Took a par that should have been Bird, no biggie...

Rain keeps on coming, I don't have anything dry except the crack of my ass, maybe. 4 holes left, wet, cold, crappy, everyone else is in the clubhouse, dry, smokin weed and drinking beer after their 8/9 HR epic day....

Catch a few more rough holes par, bogey, hit the last one and roll down the hill, crap upshot, and a double tap...

We get back, "what did you shoot?" ****ing **** **** bloody crapped it for -10... ****ing stupid bloody crap. "Are you sure?"

"Yes of course I know how bad I **** the bed!"

Well you just won by a stroke!

Good thing there wasn't one more hole for me to fall apart on

 

[itsRudy]

How can i strengthen my mental game during my future tourneys?

Play more tourneys. Anxiety goes away.

 

[armiller]

I haven't played tons of tournaments and am not particularly good, but I've played enough to have one or two memorably good rounds as well as many more disappointing rounds with particular holes or shots that haunted my dreams and waking moments for weeks to come.

My advice is to use the memory. In particular, dwell on the particular shots and where your decisions or execution went wrong. As you get to know your game, your mental game, and how you perform in tournaments, you can identify areas for work (putting and shot making) and more specifically improve decision making. Some bad/haunting shots are actually not bad decisions, but just bad breaks. More often, you can identify some thought or decision that led you astray, and that can help in future tournaments.

 

[Armus Patheticus]

I took issue with your statement that the remedies offered are of little help. Particularly when you offer no alternative.

That's the "secret". You have an answer you are not sharing.

Everyone here that has played this sport or any other sport has dealt with a lackluster performance. I'd guess that most of the solutions offered are things that have worked for that individual. So they are in fact potential remedies.

I only meant that I don't think "sports psychology," or whatever it's called, treats the underlying causes of emotional immaturity.

 

[Nick Pacific]

I didn't jive with tourneys. The slow pace is what killed me. That plus playing two rounds in a day...it just made me feel like I wasted an entire Saturday. I can easily play two rounds in 3-3.5 hours by myself, or 3.5-4 hours with friends. Dragging it out to a 9+ hour event drove me absolutely bonkers, and my scoring reflected that. I had to come to terms with whether the benefits of tourneys (competition, and maintaining a PDGA ranking to objectively track progress) was worth the negatives. For me it wasn't so I didn't renew my membership.

OP, I think it's worth making a list of your own +/- of the tourney experience to determine whether it is worth it to you. There's no shame in enjoying disc golf as a hobby but not playing rated rounds.

You can always play rated rounds in a sanctioned league. If there isn't one local, you could start one. Make it simple, one dollar to play, have people do their own registration and live scoring online. You wouldn't even have to do any ace pool/ctp/side bets if you didn't want the hassle.

 

[Nick Pacific]

I only meant that I don't think "sports psychology," or whatever it's called, treats the underlying causes of emotional immaturity.

A lack of emotional immaturity isn't typical of a problem for everyone seeking to improve their skills in a sport. Sports psychology uses knowledge and principles borrowed from basic psychology. There were all sorts of tricks, concepts and ways of thinking I learned from reading those books that I wasn't even aware of.

The trope that "you don't know what you don't know " is very applicable here.

 

[txmxer]

I only meant that I don't think "sports psychology," or whatever it's called, treats the underlying causes of emotional immaturity.

Everyone is unique. Just like everyone else.

Different things work for different people. Look at the putting tips. One person visualizes, another blanks their mind, and a third does something else.

Never a one size fits all.

On the emotional side, sounds like he's never been competitive so maybe a née experience or maybe hasn't been competitive in years?

Regardless my one and only tournament went much like his did. I was bummed after rounds 1&2 on Saturday. Sunday it was pouring rain. I scored similar, but played better given the conditions.

I however did not feel like competitions were not for me. I've always enjoyed competing. If I don't play well it makes me more determined.

 

[Armus Patheticus]

A lack of emotional immaturity isn't typical of a problem for everyone seeking to improve their skills in a sport.

Of course not!

That judgment was based on the dramatic original post, and thread title. Maybe it was wrong.

 

[Three Putt]

The rounds were on the same day, and its my first time playing 2 round in a day.

At the end of the day i was pretty exhausted both physically and mentally. That might have been one of the factors as well.


Im 30. But i do get your point.


thank you all for your comments i didnt expect to have so many replies! I was probably too hard on myself as well. I took a few days off disc golf and went out on my course with my girlfriend today and enjoyed my time. Now im practicing on integrating an x step on my throws so it feels like im starting from scratch. I will definitely join more tourneys and learn to get my mental game up on point!

We can oddly talk about anything for a long time.

Disappointment over what you perceive to be a failure is what it is. I'm sure we all have been there. Disc golf is a hobby, though. It's supposed to be fun. It's about a lot more than the score you shoot.

I find myself on disc golf holes all the time wonder why I'm wasting my time there. Then I take my next shot. I'm no good at disc golf; never have been. Second round bottom card is my home. I've never hit an ace. I've never had anything close to what anyone would consider success on the the course. It seems like I've wasted a lot of time doing something I'm not any good at. When I think back on it, all I really wish is that I had more time to waste doing it. The score is just a number, I've decided not to let the number tell me how much I enjoyed my day. I've had a lot of fun sucking at disc golf.

 

[ballgolfconvert]

We can oddly talk about anything for a long time.

Disappointment over what you perceive to be a failure is what it is. I'm sure we all have been there. Disc golf is a hobby, though. It's supposed to be fun. It's about a lot more than the score you shoot.

I find myself on disc golf holes all the time wonder why I'm wasting my time there. Then I take my next shot. I'm no good at disc golf; never have been. Second round bottom card is my home. I've never hit an ace. I've never had anything close to what anyone would consider success on the the course. It seems like I've wasted a lot of time doing something I'm not any good at. When I think back on it, all I really wish is that I had more time to waste doing it. The score is just a number, I've decided not to let the number tell me how much I enjoyed my day. I've had a lot of fun sucking at disc golf.

It is great that this works for you. For me, as a whole, I need to be proficient or at least have a chance to gain proficiency for an activity or sport to be enjoyable, but if you can enjoy it while sucking, more power to you.

 

[ray1970]

We can oddly talk about anything for a long time.

Disappointment over what you perceive to be a failure is what it is. I'm sure we all have been there. Disc golf is a hobby, though. It's supposed to be fun. It's about a lot more than the score you shoot.

I find myself on disc golf holes all the time wonder why I'm wasting my time there. Then I take my next shot. I'm no good at disc golf; never have been. Second round bottom card is my home. I've never hit an ace. I've never had anything close to what anyone would consider success on the the course. It seems like I've wasted a lot of time doing something I'm not any good at. When I think back on it, all I really wish is that I had more time to waste doing it. The score is just a number, I've decided not to let the number tell me how much I enjoyed my day. I've had a lot of fun sucking at disc golf.

Man, that would break me mentally. Kudos.








(Sarcasm intended, obviously.)

 

[Three Putt]

It is great that this works for you. For me, as a whole, I need to be proficient or at least have a chance to gain proficiency for an activity or sport to be enjoyable, but if you can enjoy it while sucking, more power to you.

You have to understand yourself and know what works for you.

Obviously playing disc golf for over 25 years I've encountered a lot of people who were driven by competition. For those people, the end result was the only factor they judged an activity on. All of those guys were better players than I was. The whole "I'm going to go with the flow and not let it bother me" doesn't fuel improvement in your game, so their focus on the result and motivation to have a better result helped make them better players. So on that side, their approach was much more effective than mine. If you want to improve as a player, you can't settle for mediocre results.

On the flip side, those guys from 25 years ago are gone. They hit a wall and stopped improving, got older and saw their skill erode, found some other outlet for competition that they were better at and moved on, etc. I'm still here. I liked a lot of those guys and I try to get them to come out and throw, but they won't. I get it; it's no fun for them. Why do something that isn't fun?

It's all in how you are wired and what makes you tick. Based on your posts, it really no shock to me that what makes you tick and what makes me tick are different. It really shouldn't be a shock to you, either. There is no right or wrong to it, you gotta do you.

 

[ray1970]

You have to understand yourself and know what works for you.

I can't speak for the OP but I know three months into my disc golf journey I knew I wasn't very good and I wouldn't have even considered playing some sort of competitive event. Props to him for jumping in head first I guess.

 

[discerdoo]

I can't speak for the OP but I know three months into my disc golf journey I knew I wasn't very good and I wouldn't have even considered playing some sort of competitive event. Props to him for jumping in head first I guess.

It took me a little over a year before I entered a weekly mini as rec, and I just wanted to not embarrass myself. Took second and moved to IM after that.

Gotta say OPs result is not a surprise after playing 3 months, being mentally wrecked by it is kinda dramatic though.