ok anyone got any ideas for this, i play amazing at the range, i play amazing by myself, but when i play with anyone else i play like a total hacker.

today before the round i was hitting everythign dead straigth with a penetrating flight, on the course i drove ok but approach play was awful, after round back on range again everythgin straight and good flight.

it dosent matter who i play with i never play as well when with someone, i think its a concentration issue, when i play alone i am confident and sing to myself and feel in the zone, i never feel that way when i play with a partner.

any ideas?

this has only become apprent recently as before i played alone 9 times out of 10 now im a member of a club i play with another member most of the time

Spend more time competing against your fellow members and less time on the range. Anyone can play good shots when they don't mean anything.

At least play some practice rounds instead of range work. You'll learn a lot more in the way of course management and won't be so tempted to keep tinkering with your swing.

Stop playing with others and only play with yourself. Over time, you'll find that the more you play with yourself, the more you'll enjoy it.

I regularly play with myself 

I think Josh has been Playing with himself too much! his eyesight ain't what it used to be!  

Josh, next time we play I promise to keep Quiet as a church mouse! and not break your concentration once with aany banter or un-duly rowdy conversation!

It may make you play better but it will be a very Boring Game!

Fair deal?

1 Over wrote (see)

I think Josh has been Playing with himself too much! his eyesight ain't what it used to be!  

Josh, next time we play I promise to keep Quiet as a church mouse! and not break your concentration once with aany banter or un-duly rowdy conversation!

It may make you play better but it will be a very Boring Game!

Fair deal?

That would be a game worth going to, you being quiet

Josh, some people call it the 10yd rule, once you have played your shot, you do not think, worry or select a club until you are about 10yds, 3mts away from the ball, make this or something like it part of the routine. So banta away after each shot, when you get within the shot deciding area, quiet and get in the zone. to help out even more, once decided on club and target, before address, just see the shot, then go.

Hope this helps

Distance and conditions
Picture shot
Pick target
Pick club
Picture shot.
Hit Shot

Josh The Nosh wrote (see)

i will try it thanks all guys. i dont even know if it is the baner, i talk to myself alot when im alone maybe i just need to slow down a bit, looking back to yesterday i wasnt even taking pratice swings with approach shots

Josh, Last thing, which I forgot.

You talk to your self, well to combat that hum a tune in your head, find a good relaxing tune and just hum it.

Helps me

depends on how "amazing" amazing is compared to how "crap" crap is and who is the judge of your  tansitional switch from  "amazing" to "crap".

 If your  amazing at the range and crap were it counts it could be that at the range or alone on the course your just trying to impress yourself with good shots but when in company your trying to impress the company..

Thus, putting added pressure on yourself. Next time your lining up your approach shot don't think it has to be stuck 6 inches from the pin because your suddenly not alone - just get it on the green. That will do ya.

If ya get my meaning.....

 Joroni is quite right when he says: 

If your  amazing at the range and crap were it counts it could be that at the range or alone on the course your just trying to impress yourself with good shots but when in company your trying to impress the company..

I think far too often we are worried about how other people will view our performance rather than worrying about the game itself - the desire not to look stupid in front of your mates is quite pervasive. I had this epiphany recently when I had my career best round in a comp (12 under my handicap) but was playing with an old boy from my club who can be, shall we say, a bit hard work sometimes. During the course of the round he probably said "good shot" to me about 3 times in total, and NEVER mentioned "you're playign very well today" or "you could win this" - the two worst things anyone can ever say about your game.

As a result of this and the fact I refused to add up my score on the way round meant although I of course knew I was playing quite well, i really had no idea jsut how good it was until i'd finished.  So realising that no-one else really is watching your game or cares how well you play or not is the first step to playing with a clear mind free of some of the pressures to perform. 

these are all very good ideas, i proberly do think about impressing others more than i should, i will hum a toon i like that one. il try to just play my game instead of impressing others.

amazing to crap is like low 80s to high 90s.

It can sometime be really nervy when playing with others. Especially if you don't know the people you are playing with. I got nervous the first time i played with my friend 'slayer' both of us started badly but the competitiveness between us meant we both played better golf.

Another time was when i played with my uncle and his friends. One of which is a tour pro. Seenas i hit it ALOT less then all of them i had honors on every tee. The first tee they told me to play and i thought i would play it safe and hit my 4i. I stepped up on the tee and it felt like i had forgoten everything i had ever learned about golf. I was questioning my grip/posture/ball position... struggling to remember how i started the takeaway etc.

I just let my andrenaline takeover and stepped up and whacked my 4i. The ball went about 200yds before taking a massive detour into the woods on the right. They all laughed and told me to relax and i did. I can honestly say i learnt more about golf in that round then i had ever before. I played relatively well but felt really good after the round as i hadn't embarrased myself and learnt alot. They all complimented me on how well i'd done in comparason to the time i had played the game which was really good for the confidence.

The worst experience I had was when as a relative beginner, I was playing in a society, and  on the final fairway I was left with a 30 yd chip. Just to make it harder, the organiser was standing by the green with a video camera. My chipping at that time was a bit iffy, but the presence of a camera made it an absolute certainty that I'd duff the shot. It was not a good feeling.

To be honest I used to think this but in reality (in the cold light of day) my cock-ups on the range and on the course by myself went less noticed (by myself) than when I was with others which made me a little more aware about what I was actually doing and therefore the cock-ups more noticeable.

Also when out on my own I used to drop another ball and retry after a cock-up. It's amazing how selective my memory was on the duff I'd just performed, i.e., good drive followed by a naff approach. Re-drop, hit a good approach, 2 putts, par!

Or was it???

Josh The Nosh wrote (see)

the only time i played with a pro was last year, at birchwood in kent i wasnt nervous and played really well and got an 81, im sure ill get past it. i used to putt like crap infront of new people too but im over that putted very well yesterday

Josh,

This is something I suffer from because I often play on my own and have no distractions. So when I have a partner I make an effort to keep the chat going and don't really focus on my shot to come.

I am slowly working a way around this. I have worked on my pre shot routine and I am more than willing to ask my playing partners to keep it down if they are distracting me.

But more than anything I am realising that my focus has drifted and I will simply walk ahead of the group to give me plenty of time to "pull myself together" and think my next shot through. If I do this a couple of times I usually get back in the "zone".

I know it is said like a mantra by some people but a solid pre shot routine is helping me alot.

Went up the range today to try out some new driving techniques to great success, was hitting some of the best drives of my golfing life, so good in fact that i realised i was attracting the attention of some young guys, however once i noticed i had an audience it all went rapidly to pot and i hit a succession of awful duck hooks, guy thought "whats all the fuss about" and quickly dispersed, how the pro's do it in front of galleries i'll never know .