Rebounding After a Tough Tourney

[ThrowBot]

I just played my first tournament this past weekend. It was at my home course, a course I've averaged +3 on for the past few months. The pressure of the first tournament, the environment, plus the heat and humidity got to me in the second round. Although I some how shot two strokes better, I finished both rounds at a +9 and +7.

Dealing with the pressure of tournaments is so interesting. My rational mind tells me that it's all the same--still just throwin' some discs around--but it FEELS so different. It's an interesting combination of excitement and formality.

If you've only ever played casual rounds with friends, jumping right into tournament mode can be rough. There are so many aspects of disc golf aside from just throwing discs (courtesy rules, rigorous score keeping, marking your lie, etc). Depending on the friends you play with on a regular basis, those things may or may not be part of your casual rounds.

I find it very helpful to play in weekly leagues at the local course. It's kind of a middle ground: not as much pressure as a big tournament, but slightly more official than a casual round. It's a good opportunity to practice competing in a formal setting. That way when you get to a Big Tournament, it's not such a culture shock that everyone takes it so seriously.

 

[DearLeader]

This. You can get copies used for like $1 on Amazon. Easy read. Everything in it translates to any golf.

Nothing wrong, too, with taking a few rounds off. Like, if you usually play 3-5/week, take a week off.

I'm probably not gonna play any rounds this week, just maybe some field work and putting practice. I'll probably take an earlier suggestion and go out for a practice round with new plastic this weekend just to play a full round at low stakes....

 

[DearLeader]

I find it very helpful to play in weekly leagues at the local course. It's kind of a middle ground: not as much pressure as a big tournament, but slightly more official than a casual round. It's a good opportunity to practice competing in a formal setting. That way when you get to a Big Tournament, it's not such a culture shock that everyone takes it so seriously.

I wish there were more leagues in my area. This is a GREAT idea to get acclimated to slightly higher stakes rounds than just casual weekend rounds. The only options here are mini's, where I'm basically just paying to play with guys better than me. Which is fine, I don't mind paying my dues, but it can get expensive real quick when you're never finishing in the money.

 

[ThrowBot]

I wish there were more leagues in my area. This is a GREAT idea to get acclimated to slightly higher stakes rounds than just casual weekend rounds. The only options here are mini's, where I'm basically just paying to play with guys better than me. Which is fine, I don't mind paying my dues, but it can get expensive real quick when you're never finishing in the money.

Yeah, it's a bummer to pay into leagues and never get paid out. You could try to find one that pays out based on adjusted scores. For our small city park league we have a primitive handicap system--that way you are playing against your own average, not someone else's raw score.

 

[TheOtherBill]

I wish there were more leagues in my area. This is a GREAT idea to get acclimated to slightly higher stakes rounds than just casual weekend rounds. The only options here are mini's, where I'm basically just paying to play with guys better than me. Which is fine, I don't mind paying my dues, but it can get expensive real quick when you're never finishing in the money.

There is a Dallas-only facebook group that keeps track of all the local leagues and start-times, since there is one every day of the week, including weekends. I'd link it but can't access fbook from work.

My 3rd tourny was like this- total disaster, but on a course I had played a dozen times before. I finished just ahead two deaf guys who had only been playing a couple weeks. I decided to take some time off, and really re-evaluate why I was playing disc golf - was it for fun, or to compete? Local leagues helped by being enough of both aspects.

Towne Lake can really punch you in the groin sometimes too, even Adv players

 

[DearLeader]

There is a Dallas-only facebook group that keeps track of all the local leagues and start-times, since there is one every day of the week, including weekends. I'd link it but can't access fbook from work.

My 3rd tourny was like this- total disaster, but on a course I had played a dozen times before. I finished just ahead two deaf guys who had only been playing a couple weeks. I decided to take some time off, and really re-evaluate why I was playing disc golf - was it for fun, or to compete? Local leagues helped by being enough of both aspects.

Towne Lake can really punch you in the groin sometimes too, even Adv players

Haha yeah, it def punched me in the groin on Saturday. Certainly made me reevaluate my place in the disc golf ranks and provided fuel for improvement.

I'm a member of EDDGA and am on all the DFW dg pages, including the mini page that lists the minis going on every day. I just don't want to go and lose $10 every day at a mini when the only chance I have of cashing out is hitting an ace. The only league I'm aware of is the one in McKinney at Towne Lake. I'm seriously considering entering it the next time they do it.

 

[corin_brown]

There were multiple cases where I imagined how a shot would go, but once I did it, it turned out to be a terrible line or just an unnecessarily risky shot. This particular course has creeks running throughout it, with water in play on probably 15 out of 20 holes.

This was a big step for me when I began playing tournaments - when I started to incorporate strategy into my tournament game. It took an honest appraisal of my own game and learning when to be aggressive and when to be conservative.

I decided to deliberately assess each of my shots in a tournament by coming up with a defined plan for each shot and then turning my focus towards executing that specific plan for that shot. This routine also helped me keep my head level throughout a tournament round. The effect of this approach is that an entire tournament, which could be a daunting prospect, breaks down into easily digestible bits.

When I began to incorporate strategy into my tournament game, my scores began to improve immediately.

Another problem for me was not letting bad starts completely wreck my tournament. When this happens, I remind myself that 1) I shouldn't stop grinding because I still want my round rating to be as high as possible (or prevent it from going as low as possible, if I can help it) 2) if my play improves, especially if the tournament is three or four rounds, I can quite often move up the board or even win the tournament 3) the rest of the players in my division deserve my best game through the entire tournament - this is the essential aspect, as my Dad taught me, to the agreement to compete with anyone in any contest - you play out the string, no matter what. I think I've played around 50 tournaments and quit only once, not due to injury or some unrelated emergency. And that one time I withdrew was when I didn't come back to finish the tournament the following day.

Oh, and don't go OB.

 

[DearLeader]

Oh, and don't go OB.

Ha! If only. This would have saved me a minimum of 8 strokes on Saturday...

 

[TheOtherBill]

Haha yeah, it def punched me in the groin on Saturday. Certainly made me reevaluate my place in the disc golf ranks and provided fuel for improvement.

I'm a member of EDDGA and am on all the DFW dg pages, including the mini page that lists the minis going on every day. I just don't want to go and lose $10 every day at a mini when the only chance I have of cashing out is hitting an ace. The only league I'm aware of is the one in McKinney at Towne Lake. I'm seriously considering entering it the next time they do it.

The beauty of playing random draw double leagues is that sometimes you end up paired with some excellent players. My first time to a Tuesday dbls league I ended up paired with a the local pro who years later shot a -18 on that same course, he was extremely helpful and taught me a lot about being smooth and slow through my motion.

Having fun was key tho, being able to laugh off a griplock into the creek was about the only way I was able keep playing tournies.

 

[DearLeader]

Having fun was key tho, being able to laugh off a griplock into the creek was about the only way I was able keep playing tournies.

It took every ounce of my being to do this on Saturday!

I've been out to the Friday mini at BB Owen before and had a good time. I'll probably try out a couple of others once I finish school next month.

 

[DiscFifty]

I know they're not great ratings, I only mentioned it for perspective on how poorly I threw this weekend. I've thrown 900+ rated rounds before, just not consistently. I already know some of my weak areas, mentality and short game. I miss far too many putts inside the circle. I'd bump my ratings up 30-40 points or more if I just became automatic inside 25, you'd be astounded at how many birdie putts I miss. Field work is certainly in my near future. Throwing to a spot and laying off the driver is something I also need to try more. I try and make up for a poor hole by taking risks later on and often pay for it. Laying up is something I need to take more seriously.

Sounds like the technical skill is there, just need to keep dialing in that mental game. That takes time and is really not something you can prepare for by yourself or while playing with your typical casual groups. Try this once in a while...go play a mini in your area, but play in the open division for cash and make sure you're playing a mini that you normally don't play and none of your friends are in. It gives you that tournament feeling/experience but costing substantially less, plus you get to learn from watching players better than yourself.

 

[corin_brown]

Ha! If only. This would have saved me a minimum of 8 strokes on Saturday...

LOL. Exactly. Took me like 18 months to fully appreciate how much damage to my score penalty strokes could do.

 

[DearLeader]

Sounds like the technical skill is there, just need to keep dialing in that mental game. That takes time and is really not something you can prepare for by yourself or while playing with your typical casual groups. Try this once in a while...go play a mini in your area, but play in the open division for cash and make sure you're playing a mini that you normally don't play and none of your friends are in. It gives you that tournament feeling/experience but costing substantially less, plus you get to learn from watching players better than yourself.

Well this won't be hard in DFW, I can drive 30 minutes west and basically be in a new city.

LOL. Exactly. Took me like 18 months to fully appreciate how much damage to my score penalty strokes could do.

For real, it gives you a new respect for water hazards and mandos! They're not to be trifled with! Lol