March 5, 2011 - Monthly at Delaveaga
I played in the March monthly at Delaveaga. I did a little better than the previous monthly. Last month, I shot 20 over, this month 19 over. Last month, I was 6th of 7 in my division, this month I was tied for 12th of 15. Last month, there was high wind, but most of the pin locations were short, this month - no wind, but many of the pin locations were long.
In general, I was less nervous this month. Last month was my first monthly and everything was new. I had a better idea what would happen this month. But I definitely felt some nerves. Several times, I would come up to easy throws. In casual rounds, I will just throw the disc and it would land somewhere close to the basket. This time, I would just throw it and it would only go half way to the basket or it would sail past the basket. I would then wonder "How did that happen?" And I missed several short putts. Putts that are usually automatic for me.
Last time, I was much better at the end of the round than the beginning. This time, I tried to warm up more. I began with some putting practice. Then I went out and played 10 holes. I then returned to the parking lot to sign in. While signing in, I ran into a friend (John) who I have played with before. He had not warmed up and asked me to play 6 holes with him to warm up. It was fun to play a few holes with him. And I was playing really well. So I actually played 16 holes before the competition even began.
Once again, I played much better at the end than the beginning or middle. For the first 10 holes, I was 8 over. The second 10 holes, I was 8 over. The final 9 holes, I was only 3 over. Most of that was due to a single out-of-bounds drive. I really think that it was due to being extra nervous at the beginning and settling down towards the end.
I remember thinking to just not worry about it. This is only my second monthly at Delaveaga. I thought that the more I competed, the more that my nerves would settle down. Hopefully, I will be able to relax more. Now I am beginning to wonder if that will happen. Maybe I will always be nervous when competing? Maybe the secret is to learn to adjust my play to the nerves? Maybe I should do something to put more stress on myself when playing casual rounds?
I tweaked my back early in the round. It did not hurt too much, but it felt a little stiff during most to the round. I don't want to use it as an excuse, but I think it did affect my game. You would think that my back would get worse as the round went on, but I played my best at the end of the round. In fact, I made my best drive on the last hole, the 45th hole of the day.
Also, I lost my favorite forehand driver on the fifth hole that we played. I threw a nice drive on 27 that was drifting towards the basket, I was a little worried that it would hit some trees before fading back towards the pin. All of a sudden the wind pushed the disc straight up and over the trees. I couldn't find the disc, so I finished the round without it. I don't know that it cost me any strokes, especially since I had a older version of the same disc. But still, it is a bit disconcerting to lose your favorite disc towards the start of the round.
Enough of this whining! It was a fun round. My friend, John was in my group and the two other guys were fun to play with as well. While my score does not show it, I think I played considerably better than last month. It seemed like many of my mistakes were on easy throws or easy putts. I think that is mostly nerves. As I get more experienced, I expect that I will make most of these easy shots. So I am optimistic that I can improve my score in the future.
In general, I was less nervous this month. Last month was my first monthly and everything was new. I had a better idea what would happen this month. But I definitely felt some nerves. Several times, I would come up to easy throws. In casual rounds, I will just throw the disc and it would land somewhere close to the basket. This time, I would just throw it and it would only go half way to the basket or it would sail past the basket. I would then wonder "How did that happen?" And I missed several short putts. Putts that are usually automatic for me.
Last time, I was much better at the end of the round than the beginning. This time, I tried to warm up more. I began with some putting practice. Then I went out and played 10 holes. I then returned to the parking lot to sign in. While signing in, I ran into a friend (John) who I have played with before. He had not warmed up and asked me to play 6 holes with him to warm up. It was fun to play a few holes with him. And I was playing really well. So I actually played 16 holes before the competition even began.
Once again, I played much better at the end than the beginning or middle. For the first 10 holes, I was 8 over. The second 10 holes, I was 8 over. The final 9 holes, I was only 3 over. Most of that was due to a single out-of-bounds drive. I really think that it was due to being extra nervous at the beginning and settling down towards the end.
I remember thinking to just not worry about it. This is only my second monthly at Delaveaga. I thought that the more I competed, the more that my nerves would settle down. Hopefully, I will be able to relax more. Now I am beginning to wonder if that will happen. Maybe I will always be nervous when competing? Maybe the secret is to learn to adjust my play to the nerves? Maybe I should do something to put more stress on myself when playing casual rounds?
I tweaked my back early in the round. It did not hurt too much, but it felt a little stiff during most to the round. I don't want to use it as an excuse, but I think it did affect my game. You would think that my back would get worse as the round went on, but I played my best at the end of the round. In fact, I made my best drive on the last hole, the 45th hole of the day.
Also, I lost my favorite forehand driver on the fifth hole that we played. I threw a nice drive on 27 that was drifting towards the basket, I was a little worried that it would hit some trees before fading back towards the pin. All of a sudden the wind pushed the disc straight up and over the trees. I couldn't find the disc, so I finished the round without it. I don't know that it cost me any strokes, especially since I had a older version of the same disc. But still, it is a bit disconcerting to lose your favorite disc towards the start of the round.
Enough of this whining! It was a fun round. My friend, John was in my group and the two other guys were fun to play with as well. While my score does not show it, I think I played considerably better than last month. It seemed like many of my mistakes were on easy throws or easy putts. I think that is mostly nerves. As I get more experienced, I expect that I will make most of these easy shots. So I am optimistic that I can improve my score in the future.
posted by Steve @ 5:07 PM
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