Posted: Friday September 21, 2012 11:45AM ; Updated: Friday September 21, 2012 11:45AM

Christina Kim's Twitter psychology: Play well, tweet well

Story Highlights

LPGA golfer's tweeting is impacted by her results

Kim says her followers represent all facets of her personality

She wishes Muhammad Ali was on Twitter

As told to Alan Shipnuck

Christina Kim says her Twitter followers reflect all the parts of her personality.

Ian Walton/Getty Images

2012 Tweet Week

SI Photos

Ten Most Memorable Tweets of 2012	Top 15 Sports WAGs on Twitter
Sports Figures We Wish Were on Twitter	Memorable Athlete Twitpics

Christina Kim can be found on Twitter here: @TheChristinaKim:

How often do you check Twitter? Ten times a day. Minimum.

Who introduced you to Twitter? (LPGA player) Morgan Pressel.

Three people I follow in my sport are.....? Jane Park, Paige Mackenzie, and Karen Stupples.

Three people you would not think I'd follow are...? The Dalai Lama, Eminem, and Shane Battier.

I wish ________ was on Twitter? Matt Kuchar. Because every tweet would come with a smile.

An athlete from history I wish was on Twitter? Muhammed Ali.

Last time I got into a Twitter feud was? Five minutes ago. And five minutes from now.

Through Twitter, I've become friends with _______? All the guys in the band Shinedown.

Describe your Twitter followers? Collectively they represent every facet of my personality. Some are funny, some are grouchy, some feel fat, some are happy, some are sad. They're an amazing entity.

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On the LPGA tour the Twitter craze peaked around 2009. I can tell you the novelty has worn-off a bit because my timeline isn't as lively as it used to be. Personally, I'm tweeting less this year because I've been practicing a lot more. My tweeting has also been affected because my results have been pretty crappy. When I play poorly, I feel worthless. I can't imagine anyone would care about anything I'd have to say. Not tweeting is a way of punishing myself.

I do get a lot of unsolicited encouragement from my followers, but with my penchant for self-loathing I have a hard time accepting it. It feels patronizing when people tell me how great I am while I'm missing cuts. I also get my share of mean comments. There are a lot of Internet tough guys out there tweeting from their grandma's basement in a soiled Darth Maul t-shirt. They type things they'd never, ever have the balls to say face-to-face. I'm a girl. I can be sensitive, and it definitely hurts my feelings. But a lot of times I call them out; I've had plenty of 30-minute Twitter wars where I'm going back and forth with these guys. What's funny is that in the end they almost always back down and are apologetic. It's like they say stuff assuming no one will read it and once you confront them it inspires some actual human emotions.

Even though it has a downside, I still love Twitter. The LPGA takes me all over the world and I often get great advice from my followers on where to eat or sightsee or shop. Twitter has also saved my bacon a few times. I was playing a tournament in Phoenix when my MacBook Pro died. Within minutes of me tweeting about it a follower put me in touch with a repair specialist in the area. How cool is that?

When I first got on Twitter I gave away swag like a driver, a dozen golf balls, and tickets to tournaments. The problem is I don't have an assistant to help me with the follow-through. Right now I still owe people signed photographs going back to 2010. One of the dudes keeps tweeting at me about it! I guess I better send him the picture. While I do love Twitter's interconnectivity, these days, it's a lot harder to hide.